What is Young Professionals of Discover (YPOD)?
Young Professionals of Discover is a voluntary, employee-led group whose goals and volunteer interests are aligned with the organizational mission of Discover. The group is interested in promoting developmental, networking, and leadership opportunities for young professionals through volunteer work, especially through members sharing their personal and professional insights and experience.
In addition to the donation, during the 2021 Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates Career Development Conference, a number of Discover YPOD group members volunteered as judges for JAG student competition entries. To prepare for this role, over 30 YPOD members participated in a JAG New Volunteer Orientation prepared specifically for the Discover team.
What has JAG accomplished with employee resource groups?
JAG has a long history of partnering with Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), like YPOD of Discover. Within a company, ERGs are often their own organic cluster for philanthropy with passion for service, that then leads to company stewardship efforts - like YPOD’s support of JAG participants across Arizona!
JAG’s ERG relationships have sometimes begun with an event as simple as a backpack drive and donation to a JAG Middle to High School Transition program. Over time, these initial engagements have led to larger collaborative events, like a career exploration event where ERG members meet with JAG participants to share their experiences in their industry and entry-level employment opportunities. For JAG’s annual Career Development Conference, a number of industry ERGs often volunteer to judge and provide feedback on student competition entries, which include mock interviews and draft cover letters. In the past, we have seen JAG participants hired by ERG companies after members review their competition entries. Because building participants’ professional network and available career opportunities is an important aspect of the JAG Program Model, Discover’s ERG participation helps to support JAG participants’ personal and professional success. Thank you again to Discover’s YPOD, we look forward to what we can create next!
More about JAG
All JAG programs are based on the evidenced-based national model developed by Jobs for America’s Graduates. JAG Arizona is consistently exceeding the JAG National Standards, and continues to be recognized for outstanding performance in the network. More information on the Benefits of JAG can be found here, and more information on donating to JAG can be found here.
(602) 216-9503 I info@jagaz.org