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Young Professionals

Rising Star Award | Convention Scholarships

The Young Professionals Initiative (YPI) links individuals from all aspects of the IAFE – fair staff, fair board members, and associate members – who are all under 40 years of age.

The mission of the YPI is to provide a venue for young professionals to guide the future of the fair industry through leadership development, mentoring, incentives, education, and idea sharing with IAFE.

The YPI are involved in special social, networking and educational sessions at the IAFE's Annual Convention and the leadership team is working with zones and state/provincial associations to identify young people throughout all regions to insure they get involved.

Other YPI activities and programs include:

• Rising Star Award: The recognition of an outstanding young person leading the way in the IAFE will be made at the Annual Convention.
• Convention Scholarships: Most IAFE Zones offer scholarships to help young professionals attend the Annual Convention & Trade Show.
• YPI VIP: Each issue of Fairs & Expos features a YPI "VIP", a profile of the Association's up and coming leaders. You can view the most recent edition here.
• Mentoring program: YPIs are connected with IAFE leaders and veterans of the association. Send requests for mentoring info to iafe@nullfairsandexpos.com.
• Social Activities: Many IAFE meetings – Convention, Zone, Conference, etc. – have special activities scheduled for YPI's. Check the program for each as they become available.

Send name and contact info of potential YPI members to Chelsea Rosenberger at chelsea@nullnorthidahofair.com or Bobby Fogle at bfogle@nullthegreatfrederickfair.com, 2011 YPI Co-Chairs.