Kicking off its new year, Young Professionals of Odessa is planning a mixer for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Milson’s Legends Honky Tonk Saloon, 6900 Sleepy Hollow St.
“There’s going to be food, prizes, networking, drinks, games — the whole nine yards. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Chair Julie Prentice.
YPO’s financial year runs from October to October, but this is the annual event to welcome everyone back after the holidays, get people back to the organization and let them know what’s going on throughout the year and how they can get involved and join in. The organization is a program of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce.
“It really is bringing our membership back together and then welcoming new people, as well,” Prentice added.
She encourages people to attend.
“It’s going be a lot of fun. You’re gonna meet some new people, have a chance to win some prizes and have a great time and it’s from 6 to 8 (p.m.),” Prentice said.
Prentice, who is an attorney with the Jimenez law firm, is running unopposed for Ector County Attorney. Lee McClendon is currently the county attorney and is not running, she said.
The primary is March 5. She became YPO chair in October. She was vice chair before that and held several other positions in the organization.
She decided to join because of the networking opportunities and the people.
“I met a couple of their members out doing different stuff and had gone to a couple meetings. Then I got with Leadership Odessa, and there were a bunch of people there” who wanted her to attend the YPO meetings, Prentice said.
She hadn’t been to one for a while, but when she returned, she became “super-involved.”
“I loved it. We do so much as far as giving back to the community and working with everybody in the community. That’s where my heart’s at and I love it and so I joined,” Prentice added.
The big event that YPO organizes every year is the Permian Basin Leadership Summit. The event was developed from conferences that YPO members had attended professionally. The summit is being planned for September 2024.
“The Odessa Marriott just agreed to be our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for that this year. We’re really excited. … We’re going to have it at the Odessa Marriott. We actually started it last year, so this will be our second one. We bring in speakers from all over. We have some local. We open it up to anybody and then we have panels that decide who’s the best presentation and what we want to put forward, but basically to help Odessa develop better leaders, honestly,” Prentice said.
You have to be 40 or under to join YPO, but the kickoff mixer is open to everybody.
People over 40 can still be involved, Prentice said.
“First of all, we just started an advisory council that we’re really excited about, which is for people that are over 40 that give a lot to the organization, whether that’s opinions or help or just anything really. But we’ve got an amazing group that have volunteered to do that to help with YPO. … We also have members that have gone on to do great things, come back and give back, sometimes that’s speaking at PBLS; sometimes that’s giving us a volunteer opportunity; just various things like that,” she added.
“We actually have members that are over 40 still come back to our events and hang out. They don’t get the membership rate … but they come and they’re still hanging out with us,” Prentice said.
Many members have become leaders in the community.
“For example, Dustin Fawcett was on our board and he’s now county judge. I actually am running for county attorney and I’m unopposed for that. Kaylie Banda was our chair last year. She’s the director of finance for the City of Odessa now, so we have people that go on to do some pretty great things,” Prentice said.
She added that YPO is a way to grow new leaders, encourage new ideas and hear some positive viewpoints.
“And definitely new connections and friends. We actually had a mini retreat, and that was one of the things that kept coming up is connections and friendship. We want to be trendsetters and on the verge of pushing forward in Odessa. But we also definitely want that connection and friendship and networking and to expand the network and make sure everybody knows. I think a lot of people stay home in Odessa and we want to make sure that people come out and network and get to know each other. I think the idea kind of starts with Leadership Odessa, where we learn to network with each other,” Prentice said.
“It really has helped us grow Odessa,” she added.
Prentice noted that YPO wants to branch out with book clubs and yoga for example to reach more people. They also attend RockHounds and Jackalopes games.
“We’re looking at doing some breakfast options. We’re looking at if you like yoga, let’s get you into yoga. If you like book clubs, let’s do a book club; whatever people can come network and join and feel good about we’re going to try to do,” she added.
To those interested in joining YPO, Prentice said it is an “amazing opportunity” to network, have fun and meet people they wouldn’t ordinarily meet in their day-to-day lives. These can become lifelong bonds and help them grow professionally and personally.
Prentice has lived in Odessa for 11 years. She spent most of her time in the Dallas-Fort Worth area previously, where she went to law school.
She moved west because she had some family in Midland and there was the chance to work in the District Attorney’s Office.
“I started out at the District Attorney’s Office and I got to try cases that most people wouldn’t get to try for three or five years into their career. But because it’s Odessa, it’s a little smaller. I got the opportunity to try bigger cases sooner,” Prentice said.
She decided to run for county attorney because her heart drew her back to public service.
“I’ve always felt that I needed to serve the community and serve people. My heart just kept calling me back to it. There’s so much that I can do for the county that needs to be done and so I wanted to go back and serve,” Prentice said.
“I’m excited for it,” she added.
Prentice has been with the Jimenez Law Firm for two years. It provides family law and criminal defense.
“Before that, I was actually in the DA’s office and the county attorney’s office as an assistant,” she added.
