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76 MACONMAGAZINE.COM The Young Professionals Network (YPN) is a program of the Chamber designed to help connect young professionals in the Middle Georgia area who are interested in meeting new people and getting more involved in the community. YPN offers social and professional networking opportunities and a series of Lunch & Learn seminars with professional development topics. All young professionals are welcome to attend events and activities. For more information or to get involved with YPN, contact Lynn Farmer at lfarmer@ maconchamber.com. The Business-Education Partnership was formed as a recommendation from the ongoing One Macon Community and Economic Development Strategy. As one of the three pillars of our community (schools, jobs, places) the Chamber was pleased to have been able to support an innovative program launched at two of Bibb County's elementary schools. The Leader in Me is a Stephen Covey program that modifies "The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People" for actions and awareness geared toward an elementary-aged child. Thanks to the generosity of our members during the Total Resource Campaign, The Leader in Me was launched at both Burdell-Hunt and Sonny Carter elementary schools, enabling over 1,000 students to benefit from this program. As these children are our future workforce, we will continue to support education initiatives through the Business-Education partnership in an effort to help Dr. Jones meet the goal of having a 90% graduation rate by 2025. 1,000+ Elementary school participants 345 Young Professionals attended YPN socials and seminars this year YPN Stetson Lunch & Learn Series During 2015, the Stetson Lunch & Learn Series was launched and Macon's young professionals had the opportunity to attend four professional development seminars. Each seminar was presented by a professor from Mercer's Stetson School of Business with topics that included "Millenials and Managers: How to Survive and Thrive" and "Successful Negotiating." Nearly 200 young professionals attended these four seminars making new friends and business connections along the way. Young Professionals Network YPN Social at Twang