URISA is pleased to announce its inaugural Vanguard Cabinet. The Vanguard Cabinet (VC) is a new URISA initiative to engage young GIS practitioners, increase their numbers in the organization, and better understand the concerns facing these future leaders of the GIS community. The VC is an advisory board made up of URISA young professionals who represent the young membership of the organization. The Cabinet’s mission is to collaborate with URISA’s Board of Directors and Committees in creating and promoting programs and policies of benefit to young professionals. Comprised entirely of passionate young members selected from different geospatial disciplines, the Cabinet aims to position URISA as the center of opportunities for creative young professionals who are committed to improving URISA and the geospatial profession via innovation, collaboration, networking, and professional development.

Applicants submitted a resume and answered questions related to the mission of the Vanguard Cabinet. A Steering Committee reviewed the submissions and selected the first five members of the Cabinet:

• Ashley Coby – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Rachel Kornak – Ann Arbor, Michigan

• Ashley Littell – Bowling Green, Kentucky

• Carlos Silva – Richmond, British Columbia

• Jennifer Weisser – Dayton, Ohio

Each is profiled online (http://www.urisa.org/vanguard) and will serve a two-year appointment. Five additional members will be selected in January, 2012.

Clare Brown, GISP, Vanguard Steering Committee Chair commented, “We were very pleased with the response to this new URISA initiative and the applications we received were quite impressive. We’re looking forward to supporting the Vanguard Cabinet and their ideas!”