Editorial
Front Page - Friday, August 27, 2010
Young professional aims to make a difference in city
David Laprad
Elizabeth Crenshaw moved to Chattanooga three years ago to work as a research associate at EPB. She also serves as the president elect of the Young Professionals Association of Chattanooga.
- David Laprad
For the last few decades, the people of Chattanooga have worked hard to turn the city around. As good stewards of their resources, they made sacrifices to turn Chattanooga into the kind of city that would attract likeminded people. A profile of one young professional who moved to Chattanooga three years ago suggests their efforts were not in vain.
Her name is Elizabeth Cren-
shaw. A striking, self-assured 25-year-old, she moved to Chattanooga three years ago to work as a research associate at EPB. While the job was a factor in her decision to leave her hometown of Columbia, S.C., Crenshaw was also excited about the opportunity to become a part of a community focused on sustainability and other “green” initiatives.
“I wanted to live in a city where there was a movement toward environmental stewardship, because that’s my passion,” Crenshaw says.
Crenshaw’s concern for the environment grew out of her experiences growing up in a city in which a chemical company had dumped waste. As she watched her parents contribute to the clean-up effort and struggle to prove culpability, and as she saw her neighbors suffer from health problems they claimed were a result of the dumped waste, a passion for helping others took shape inside of her.
“Through that experience, I became passionate about the environment, primarily because of how it can affect the health of people,” she says.
Crenshaw says EPB’s sensitivity to the same issues make the non-profit power and communications company an ideal place for her to work.
“I have friends who work in environments similar to EPB, and they don’t feel like they can follow their passions or make a difference. That’s not true for me because our mission is to help people. Everything we do is about how to make Chattanooga a better place to live,” she says.
For example, Crenshaw’s employer supported her efforts to obtain her LEED certification, and allows her to contribute to a number of the company’s sustainability efforts.
“EPB recently made environmental stewardship a priority by writing it into its corporate plan. I’ve been working on ways we can meet those goals,” she says.
A typical day for Crenshaw also involves tracking a plethora of information that can affect EPB and its operations, from what the company’s competitors are doing, to what’s happening in the regulatory realm, to the emergence of new technologies and efficiencies. Then, at the end of the year, she helps to put together a strategic assessment report for EPB’s higher-ups. While she says her work is “exciting,” it’s also mentally consuming.
“My work is so intellectual, I think about it all the time. If I’m reading the paper or watching the news, I can relate what I’m doing back to my job,” she says, laughing.
To take her mind off work, Crenshaw runs, does yoga and dabbles in photography. She also serves as the president elect of the Young Professionals Association of Chattanooga, or YPAC, as the kids are calling it. Crenshaw joined the organization soon after moving to Chattanooga, partly to force her to socialize.
“I really wanted to make friends, so I found YPAC online, and started going to their luncheons. I also joined their events committee, because I knew I’d have to attend the events I’d helped to plan. It’s tough moving to a new city, and it’s easy to be shy and stay home, but YPAC is a great resource. I’ve made several close friends,” she says.
Crenshaw says the more she became involved with YAPC, the more impressed she was with the vision of its board, which is centered on making the association an economic force by encouraging other young professionals to move to Chattanooga.
“We want to put an end to the belief that Atlanta is the one place where you can find fortune and career. This city has a lot to offer,” she says.
When Crenshaw becomes YPAC’s president in 2011, she hopes to increase its outreach efforts, as she believes it’s im-portant to extend a welcoming hand to the young profession-
als coming to the city to work, and to help them establish
social connections.
“If someone doesn’t feel connected to his community, he’ll leave, so part of our mission is to retain the people who move here. I want us to be there with open arms when someone new comes to the city,” she says.
Prior to moving to Chatta-nooga, Crenshaw earned a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing at Warren Wilson College, a small liberal arts school in North Carolina. Crenshaw immersed herself in the school’s sustainability-focused environment, which includes a 300-acre working farm and 600 acres of maintained forest. Like her classmates, she was required to work an on-campus job and perform 100 hours of community service.
Crenshaw did not, however, feed any pigs. Instead, she worked for the Environmental Leadership Center, which endeavors to raise awareness of environmental realities and encourage young people to become concerned citizens.
Since moving to Chatta-nooga, Crenshaw has made the most of her time. She exercised her writing muscles by contributing to the “Shades of Green” column published in “The Pulse,” has purchased a home and is now engaged to be married.
Crenshaw has also “fallen in love” with the city.
“I have really appreciated how open and welcoming Chattanooga has been to me. The sense of community has been inspiring. It made me want to get involved, it gave me a sense of optimism about the future and it made me feel like I’m a part of something bigger than myself,” she says.
“I feel lucky to not only have a job with a company that’s a part of the environmental movement, but to also be a part of an organization that’s contributing to that same movement. If you come to Chattanooga with a good work ethic and a passion for something, the city will put you to work."
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