About – Hamilton Young Professionals

A bit about us…

Hamilton Young Professionals, founded in 2011 under the name “Momentum”, aimed to create networking opportunities for young professionals in the first 15 years of their careers.

Over the last eight years, Momentum has seen many team members and trialled several organisational structures. Today, Hamilton Young Professionals, aka HYP, gains its strength from a group of six individuals dedicated to carrying on the legacy Momentum started.

With many lessons under the belt about what works and what doesn’t, HYP is poised for an exciting and prosperous future.

What we stand for…

Mission

To provide high-quality networking opportunities for Waikato’s young professionals.

Vision

To be an intimately connected network of young professionals in the Waikato Region.

Purpose

To solve the lack of face-to-face networking opportunities available to Waikato’s young professionals.

Values

Connecting Human resources to social and environmental causes.
Inclusiveness of every type of young professional.
Growth and development of Waikato’s young people.
Creating life-long social bonds and professional networks.

Goals

Increase our member database year on year.
Provide consistent, high-quality and relevant networking events.
Increase participation of young professionals in local community initiatives.

What we do…

Professional Networking

Six professional networking events each year.

Social Engagements

Bi-monthly social gatherings – because its not all about work.

Community Connections

Fostering socially responsible young professionals.

Professional Networking

We run ten events a year that provide professional and personal development opportunities for young professionals. Events centre around thought leaders discussing relevant topics such as first home buying, the future of Hamilton and how to start your own business. They also might run workshops on how to manage your time, achieve a work-life balance, and how best to use social media. Events are catered with food and drink to provide an atmosphere conducive to building connections. Plus, who doesn’t love free food and drink?

Social Engagements

We understand that sometimes the best networking happens when you’re not wearing a suit and tie. So we organise monthly social gatherings to tone down the formalities and turn up the engagement. Social gatherings also include social sport activities, bowling, movie nights, going to the rugby and entering a team in a local quiz night. These gatherings are initiated via social media and are based on a user-pays system. While these events are run for social purposes, HYP firmly supports drinking responsibly and will not tolerate disorderly behaviour at its social events.

Community Connections

There are countless community initiatives happening in the Waikato that could do with some extra hands, and extra hands we have. Our third offering focuses on connecting young professionals with volunteer and community groups, so that we can give back to the society and environment we live in. HYP does not run its own community events, but rather promotes the initiatives run by existing notfor-profits get our own members involved. Such initiatives include volunteer programmes, charity events, environmental work, and neighbourhood clean-ups.

8

Founding members

50+

years experience

24+

Flat whites/week

36

Events and counting