The concept of young professionals was first introduced by the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) in 1993. ACHR’s Young Professionals Program was developed to orient and initiate young professionals’ involvement with urban poor communities and to support young professionals who have already started community work.

The definition of young professionals in the program is a combination of two notions, those of “being young” and “being professional”. Being young means:

  • Being at the early stage of a professional career
  • Being open to the diversity of social dynamics and willing to share his/her time and energy
  • Carrying an attitude of learning from the communities

Being professional means:

  • Being in the stage of developing expertise in his/her own field and concerns on the role professionals have to play in society
  • Serving as a catalyst to enhance the integration of community efforts

Young Professionals are those individuals aged 19-40 years old who are still in college, have just graduated or newly graduated professionals in the field of human settlements.

The Young Professionals Program of TAO-Pilipinas, Inc. primarily targets those who are young in the practice of their profession and have the interest to work on issues affecting the poor, such as university students in various disciplines, academics, and allied professionals. The program provides them with a venue for action and social responsiveness in issues of human settlements and security of tenure in the marginalized sectors.

Know more from the Young Professionals website.