By: Kevin Thomas ~Staff Writer~

Brett Sanders, the Assistant Athletic Director for ticket sales at Xavier, was named [at the beginning of January] as a member of this year’s C-Change class, a program from the Harnessing Young Professional Energy (HYPE).

HYPE is an initiative of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber to bring together young professionals in the Cincinnati area who are in the business world as a way of networking and a way to give back to the community. It has been creating jobs for young professionals and backing events and projects for several years.

“The Cincinnati Chamber is committed to expanding the region’s talent base through attraction, development and connection.” said Jill Meyer, the president and CEO of the Cincinnati Regional Chamber.

“C-Change develops the leadership skills of young talent by connecting them, meaningfully, with resources, community leaders and other young professionals.”

The C-Change program has been around since 2006 and is for young professionals who are in their 30s to early 40s and are, according to the HYPE Cincinnati website, “seeking to enhance leadership capabilities and impact the community.”

The class for this year is made up of 56 different people from all over the business community.

Sanders applied for the program in September of last year, after hearing about it from a former coworker, Caitlin Carducci, here at Xavier who took part as a member years ago and spoke highly of it.

“She was a part of the program a couple years ago,” said Sanders.

“She spoke very highly of the program. I had been kinda thinking about that and I talked to my boss about it, said that I had been thinking about applying. They encouraged me to do so and I was fortunate enough to be accepted.”

The 56 will split into different groups to come up with project proposals and then initiate them for this current year.

The projects will be focused on something in the city that will benefit the greater Cincinnati area.

Sanders said that he was interested in doing something relating to sports and athletics, as it is something that is an important part of his day to day life, though he is more excited about the idea of simply being a part of the program.

“I’m just excited to be able to participate in a program that will enhance my leadership skills,” said Sanders. “[A program that will] make me a better leader here, make me a better person in general, [give] me the chance to network with other young professions in similar life stages, with similar career aspirations, and most importantly, [give me the chance] to do something that’s going to leave a lasting impact on the greater Cincinnati community. It’s an awesome opportunity. I feel very fortunate to have it. I’m really excited to see what the next year’s gonna have in store.”