Hope College junior Alex Corbin of Holland has received a leadership award from Holland Young Professionals (HYP).
Corbin received the Development Matters award, which recognizes an intern or someone in a similar position “who shows great potential for future leadership in our community.” It was among the inaugural HYP Leadership Awards presented on Thursday, April 14, during the organization’s annual dinner, held at Baker Lofts.
Corbin is active in a variety of community organizations.
He is the talent and innovation coordinator with Lakeshore Advantage, working with HYP and the West Coast Chamber of Commerce to implement the Smart Coast Initiative showcasing the beauty of living and working in West Michigan. He held the position as an intern during the summer of 2015 and was subsequently invited to join the Lakeshore Advantage team.
He has been on the staff of the Tulip Time Festival across the current school year, helping coordinate and execute logistics. He had previously been an operations intern with the festival for two years.
He also participated in the Holland Mayor’s Roundtable this year, serving as a panelist for discussion on how the community can continue to attract young talent to start their careers in the area.
Corbin is majoring in management and minoring in political science. On campus, he has spent the past two years serving as a residence assistant. As a freshman, he helped start the Durfee Christmas Project through which the students living in the residence hall have continued to provide gifts, dinner and activities for families in the Holland community on Christmas morning.
The mission of Holland Young Professionals is to lead the effort to develop, establish and promote opportunities for young professionals in West Michigan and enhance the region’s ability to attract and retain young professionals. The organization, which kicked off with its first event on Dec. 2, 2003, now has a network of more than 400 members. HYP was founded by Barry Rice, Mat Nguyen and Robyn Wennersten. Rice is a 2003 Hope graduate and Nguyen is a 2000 Hope graduate; they serve respectively as director of strategic growth and president of Worksighted in Holland.
Also during the banquet, HYP presented Community Matters, Equity Matters and Leadership Matters leadership awards, and named a Young Professional of the Year.