Thank You to our Outgoing YANG Council Members

We wanted to express our sincere gratitude to Cotter Collins, Kenny Bridges, Joe DeLorme, and Melissa Petrucelli for their service to the YANG Community. We appreciate your support in all the engagement efforts throughout the years and grateful for your active leadership as a dedicated steward of the community.

"There is no better professional networking and development organization than YANG.  During my time has a YANG council member I was able to sharpen my fund-raising, negotiation, collaboration, and of course, networking skills. Not only did I hone my skills, but the relationships I was able to develop with Aftermarket peers, as well as Aftermarket leaders have been invaluable. YANG also afforded me the opportunity to go above and beyond in professional development as I researched and published the YANG Effect and was able to attend the Auto Care Connect conference multiple times. There are many projects associated with my job that I gained prior experience through YANG that made future projects easy and, in the end, gave SMP a better employee. Nowhere else would I have gotten my foot in the door with the Auto Care Association and been given the opportunity to call on Congress, all while volunteering! I’d suggest that any Aftermarket professional under 40 with aspirations to move up in this industry to be involved with YANG and try to get on the YANG Leadership Council."

"As my term on the YANG Council has come to an end the career growth and connections made will last a lifetime. YANG is a passionate group of the next generation of leaders in the automotive aftermarket. It’s been a honor to work with everyone involved in YANG and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this amazing group."

"Serving on the YANG Council afforded additional opportunities to collaborate, learn/ develop and network. It also provided a platform that enabled me to support and influence my peers and our industry for the better. The most memorable moment during my council tenure was leading the Events subcommittee. I played a key role in planning and executing a successful YANG program at Connect 2024 and it was a great experience."

"I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to serve on the YANG Council. The past two years have been rewarding and presented me with many enriching experiences including leading the YANG Professional Series, lobbying for Right to Repair in Washington, D.C., networking with peers and moderating a leadership discussion at the Auto Care Connect Conference. I can't wait to see what the new YANG Council has planned!