President Bob Hendriks and Treasurer Deborah Free have quietly announced resignation from their
Young Photographer’s Alliance (YPA) positions as of December 31st 2014.
Free co-founded YPA with Jerry Tavin in 2009 to create opportunities that would inspire and empower young, gifted photographers. With a background in photography and agency relations, it was only natural that she utilized these well-honed skills in an educational and outreach context. Her passion and drive for the organization inspired her to create the internationally respected mentorship program, which has recently completed its fifth year, of which she has coordinated four. The resources she has supplied have had a positive impact on the photographers that have been fortunate enough to participate, facilitating rich artistic and professional experiences.
Hendriks joined YPA in July 2012 first as a board member. His dedication and enterprising approach to re-shape and re-organize YPA made him the best candidate to replace Tavin as President in June 2013. Many exciting and successful events have taken place under his tutelage, including the inaugural Gala event that occurred this past November at the Morgan Library and Museum. In addition to this role, which is completely volunteer-based, Hendriks runs his own visual content production company Bob Hendriks Concepts and is managing director of In Transit Images. Rotating leadership was a concept that Hendriks felt strongly about, so as to always keep momentum within the organization. After a year and half of successful endeavors, he felt it was time to pass on the opportunity to someone new.
The decision to resign from YPA has been bittersweet for Free – “It’s been a long road, with a lot of time and effort extended into creating and running YPA. Though I’ve enjoyed the journey I find myself at that stage in my life where I need to focus more on my career as well as taking care of our elderly parents, all of which will require much time and energy.”
Hendriks and Free will be stay for a transitional period of two months, allowing their successors to take full control as of the end of February. Currently the positions have not been filled, but the board is in the process of determining who would be best suited to fill the very large shoes that have been left behind.
Should there be any questions regarding this matter, or if there is interest in joining YPA as it embarks on a new chapter, all inquiries can be sent to
vasb@lbhatcubgbtencurefnyyvnapr.bet.