ypccgr.com
Young Professionals of Color Conference
Please stay tuned for information about the upcoming 2025 YPCC Event!
Thank you to those who attended in 2024
About
YPCC creates a space for young professionals of color to gather and engage with peers and leaders in the Grand Rapids community. The conference encompasses fresh and innovative sessions that engage young professionals and offer career-changing and inspirational business advice. Leaders from our community and well-known speakers share their insight, knowledge, and expertise, helping future leaders navigate their way through their professional careers.
What do you get when you combine aspiring young leaders with Grand Rapids’ thriving business community?
Amazing opportunities, as we’ve seen every year since 2012.
As Grand Rapids has grown, so have diversity and inclusion efforts from the business community.
That’s why the Young Professionals of Color Conference (YPCC) exists.
2024 Event:
October 16th, 2024
Keynote Speaker:
Carlos Cubia
Chief Inclusion, Equity, Diversity and Sustainability Officer for Corewell Health™
Carlos Cubia, is responsible for developing and engaging Corewell Health in system-wide, transformational diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability strategies. As a visionary and innovative leader, Carlos is known for thinking differently about what is possible. He applies his extensive experience to creating an inclusive, diverse, safe, and equitable community and enabling Corewell Health to achieve its vision of a future where health is simple, affordable, equitable, and exceptional.
Carlos is passionate about caring for the whole person with respect and dignity and building a world where health and well-being are within reach for all.
Warner Norcross is sponsoring an Afterglow event directly following the 2024 Young Professionals of Color Conference. This event is open to the public and provides the opportunity for young professionals to network with each other, along with conference participants and presenters.
Attendance is free for this event and provides an excellent opportunity to build your contact portfolio and enhance your career path goals.
(Attendees of the Young Professionals of Color Conference are asked to please register for this event so we have an appropriate accounting of who plans on attending.)
Afterglow Event: 4:30 - 6:30
Breakout Sessions
Navigating Politics at Work
Presenter | Charissa Huang – Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge
Generational Diversity
Presenter | Matt Yuill – Change Management Professional, DEI Practitioner, and Workplace Referee
Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck, Begin Navigating Home Ownership and Building a Pathway to Retirement
Presenter | Dondrea Brown – Young Money Finances
Stressors Surrounding Belonging
Presenter | Hilda Martinez-Gutierrez – Art of Mind
Charissa Huang
Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge
Charissa is an experienced attorney with a demonstrated record of service and leadership. She earned two bachelor's degrees from the University of Michigan, and earned her law degree from Northwestern University. Charissa is the oldest child of Taiwanese immigrants. Following completion of her law degree in 2011, Charissa returned to West Michigan to practice law with Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge, which is a firm of over 60 lawyers that has built a reputation for excellence in litigation since 1941. Clients Charissa has represented include people in a wide variety of civil rights matters involving race, gender, disability, religion, sexuality, due process, and free speech issues, numerous non-profit organizations, and a variety of businesses of all sizes.
Matt Yuill
Planned Parenthood
Matt Yuill (he-him) is a change management professional, DEI practitioner, and workplace referee. As a transnational Korean adoptee who grew up with golabki and The Monkees rather than kimchi and K-Pop, he has embraced what it means to navigate life and change through an intersectional lens. Matt aims to translate his lived experience and expertise into an actionable practice that demystifies change management and cultivates a culture of accountability inside and outside of the workplace. Matt earned a Masters degree in Higher Education with a focus on diversity and social justice education from the University of Michigan. He currently serves as the Chief of Staff at Planned Parenthood of Michigan where he is responsible for developing and driving implementation of the organization's strategic plan.
Dondrea Brown
Young Money Finances
Meet Dondrea Brown, a relentless advocate for financial literacy and an influential force for the younger generation, who strongly believes in creating spaces filled with smiles, laughter, and learning. Dondrea carries the philosophy that everyone is entitled to control their narrative, a conviction deeply rooted in his personal journey that made him determined to be the last generation to start from scratch. As an NFEC Certified Financial Education Instructor and the Founder and Executive Director of '1428 Financial Wellness' and 'Young Money Finances (YMF)', Dondrea is dedicated to empowering families to cultivate healthy relationships with money.
Hilda Martinez-Gutierrez
Art of Mind
Hilda Martinez-Gutierrez is the founder, principal consultant and lead clinician of Art of Mind where the mission is to cultivate a culture of positive psychological health in communities and workplaces.
Hilda's journey as a licensed professional counselor has been diverse and enriching, from working in drug and alcohol prevention in predominantly Black and Latinx communities, assisting executives with anxiety and work-related stress, to offering mental health training in various settings including religious, corporate, and university environments.