The Young Generation Leadership Retreat was held virtually via Zoom on Saturday, April 10th, 2021. The participation list consisted of KSEA YG Members that are currently serving in or recently held notable leadership positions such as within the KSEA Executive Committee/Directors Committee (EC/DC), YG Committee, YG National Board, Local Chapter President Chair, Ygnite, and UKC Young Generation Forum / Professional Forum (YG/PF). The goals of the retreat was to bring awareness to each of the working groups within KSEA leadership where YG have been prominently placed and to have structured conversations to brainstorm questions and ideas to help contribute to the future of KSEA.
The retreat began with quick individual introductions and icebreakers to begin establishing connections among participants in a casual setting before quickly shifting to focused discussions.Subsequently, as one of the starting sessions, participants were sorted into workstreams (e.g. Ygnite, UKC YG/PF), an avenue for YG leaders that have already been working together during the current 49th administration to deepen relationships and also have a space designed to brainstorm for the future. In cases where alumni of certain leadership positions were able to attend, it also gave an opportunity to share lessons learned from previous administrations. The four groups were categorized as the following:
1. “HQ”: participants that interact directly with EC/DC and Headquarters such as Publication Directors, Local Chapter Chair, etc.
Some highlights from this breakout include identifying some misconceptions and perceptions that impact the encouragement of YG participation in YG, such as the misconception that “Young Generation” in KSEA equates to only undergraduate student members. In reality, the definition of YG is much larger and diverse, and while within KSEA, the awareness has increased and improved, there has still been a sentiment that graduate students and young professionals hesitate to join in YG events due to this misconception. Additionally, there is also an atmosphere on both the local and national level where KSEA members that joined as YG members are still viewed as a “YG” even after many years of KSEA involvement.
2. “YG National Board”: past and present directors of the YG National Board that mentor and assist YG Groups
In this breakout, members of the YG National Board were introduced to the greater community of YG leadership that is available as support and resources. The YG National Board members communicated the difficulties with motivating and actively engaging YG Groups, which the past directors were able to offer advice on. The YG National Board was initiated relatively recently in KSEA history, so it was a great opportunity to have discussion on how the YG Committee can help the YG National Board to focus on supporting YG Groups.
3. “UKC YG/PF”: Chairs and Co-Chairs of the 2020 and 2021 YG/PF organizing team
The discussion centered around lessons learned from past UKC YG/PF with the upcoming YG/PF Chair. Participants of this breakout pondered if there would be increased publicity expectations due to the approaching 50th anniversary of KSEA and also established a line of communication to continue discussion throughout the year.
4. “Ygnite”: Chairs and Co-Chairs of the 2020 and 2021 Ygnite organizing team
Similarly, the upcoming Ygnite Chair and Co-Chairs also received advice and shared experiences from the previous Ygnite leadership. The year 2020 showed an overall decrease in registration and participation (not just for Ygnite, but many events across all workstreams and areas throughout KSEA), and the Ygnite workstream breakout brainstormed ways to monopolize on the post-pandemic excitement by optimizing communication channels with the target demographics.
After regrouping and sharing brief summaries of each workstream, the retreat participants were then assigned into new small groups to discuss focused topics such as existing member retention, new member acquisition, and YG-to-greater-KSEA integration. This allowed the YG leaders from different workstreams and responsibilities to get to know one another and discuss experiences and thoughts, with an overarching goal of collecting diverse perspectives from the YG leadership. Some areas discussed were mid-career professionals giving back to KSEA, digital / social media engagement, and events targeting specific demographics.
At the end of the event, the retreat participants provided very positive feedback, requesting to potentially hold an in-person or hybrid YG Leadership Retreat in the fall of 2021. Finally, not only did the retreat hold constructive discussions on YG matters, but it also proved to show benefits in gathering the majority of great YG leaders that care so much about the future of KSEA in a single venue.
YG Committee Chair: Dennis Cha
YG Leadership Retreat Organizing Team: Stella Chun, Stella Ryuhwa Kim, Clara Kim, Jonathan Young Kim
KSEA e-Letters 