The Young Professionals of Chattanooga (YPC) and the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce congratulate 25 members of the 2019-20 class of Protégé Chattanooga. This diverse group of early and mid-career professionals represent a variety of industry sectors across the Chattanooga region including hospitality, financial services, nonprofit, public relations, education and more.
Pictured above: 17 of 25 class members at a reception for 2019-20 Protégé mentees.
Designed to help emerging talent develop their professional and civic leadership skills, Protégé Chattanooga is an immersive, team-based mentoring program. Over the course of nine months, participants will connect with their peers and distinguished community mentors to develop and enhance their potential as emerging business and civic leaders in the Chattanooga area.
“I highly recommend Protégé. The monthly sessions offered an opportunity to connect with other young professionals who wrestled with similar growing pains that accompany early years in the working world. I was inspired by the passion the cohort displayed. The mentor sessions continue to make me reflect on my path. To see established leaders in Chattanooga is one of the most encouraging pieces of this experience. After graduating from Protégé, I've pushed myself to give back both in my job as an educator and in the community as this year's Protégé chair,” says Jamison Shimmel, Protégé Class of 2018-19 and 2019-20 Protégé Chair.
Members of the 2019-20 Protégé Chattanooga cohort include:
- Shawnice Beard, Quality Management Liaison, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
- Zac Beker, Programs Administrator, The Company Lab
- Kenneth Burke, Director of Marketing, Text Request
- Mackenzie Burysek, Event Sales Manager, LEO Events
- Marvin Campos, Bilingual BSL Life Coach, Partnership for Families, Children and Adults
- Emily Danek, Associate, Transparency Health
- Zach Davis, Application Engineer, Ingersoll Rand / Trane
- JP Evans, Business Development Manager, Southern Spear Ironworks
- Erin Farris, Realtor, Crye-Leike Realtors
- Madyson Foster, Program/Marketing Manager, Junior Achievement of Chattanooga
- RaShunda Hackett, Claim Quality Supervisor, Cigna
- Rachel Hargis, Corporate Social Responsibility Specialist, Unum
- Ji Heo, Founder, TeslaBros LLC
- Kelly Helton, Assistant General Manager, Moxy Chattanooga Downtown
- Opeletia Helton, Owner, Power Up Kids
- Taylor Hurley, Real Estate & Development Assistant, HUTTON
- Cameron Lawson, Manager of Transmission & Interchange Services, Tennessee Valley Authority
- Marley Lentz, Director of Mind Control, Office Furniture Warehouse
- Kevin Love, Director of Operations, TechTown Foundation
- Chantel Pitts, Financial Services Representative, First Tennessee Bank
- Shaina Rantung, Assistant Account Executive, Q Strategies
- Daniel Staub, Real Estate Agent / Founder, Blackbird Properties at Keller Williams Realty
- Kacey Swindell, Director of Sales, Moxy Chattanooga Downtown
- Julia Vachon, Account Executive, Waterhouse Public Relations
- Julia Wilhelm, Communications Specialist, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
Learn more about Protégé Chattanooga here, or contact Diane Parks at [email protected]. Young Professionals of Chattanooga is a program of the Chattanooga Chamber Foundation.
