On a summer evening in Chicago, hundreds of young Catholic professionals gather aboard a boat on Lake Michigan. It’s a night full of networking, dancing, new introductions, and plenty of laughter. While some have been attending these events for years, others were experiencing their first YCP Chicago event.

That’s part of what has made the YCP Chicago’s annual boat cruise such a staple of the Chicago Catholic community, and why, after 10 years, the organization has developed a reputation that extends beyond the cruise itself.

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Since its launch in 2016, YCP Chicago has hosted over 130 events and welcomed over 9,400 attendees. The organization has built a community of nearly 2,000 young professionals throughout the Chicago area. YCP Chicago now has 158 Belong members from over 100 employers and 37% of first-time attendees to YCP events have returned to another YCP event within a year.

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But the impact of those numbers is best seen in the people behind them.

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When Michael McLean discovered YCP Chicago in 2023, he was attending Mass on Sundays but felt disconnected from his faith throughout the rest of the week. At his first YCP event, a simple introduction led him to a parish community that would eventually become an important part of his life. Today, McLean serves as YCP Chicago's president.

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"My Catholic faith is now a core part of my identity," he said. "I'm passionate about YCP because I'm a living example of how it renews faith and changes lives one small gesture at a time."

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That kind of transformation is at the heart of what YCP Chicago has spent the past decade building. Through executive speaker series events, networking happy hours, retreats, professional panels and service opportunities, the chapter creates multiple ways for young professionals to find community and grow in faith. 

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The chapter's resilience has also been central to its success. Instead of going dark during the pandemic, YCP Chicago moved events online, hosted virtual Holy Hours and Daily Masses, and partnered with YCP Cleveland for a joint speaker event. By the time people could gather in person again, the chapter came back stronger than ever.

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For Vice President Yamilette Ayala, that sense of community is what makes the chapter's impact so lasting.

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When Ayala moved to Chicago in 2023, she struggled to find community while balancing graduate school and a full-time job. After attending her first YCP event, she found people who shared her faith and aspirations, and many became close friends.

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"My hope is that every person who attends a YCP Chicago event for the first time leaves having made a new friend," Ayala said.

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That community extends beyond YCP itself. Ayala has watched members become leaders throughout Chicago's Catholic community, from volunteering at parishes and ministries, to serving during the 2024 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage.

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"We're not just creating a network of young professionals. We're helping form the next generation of Catholic leaders who are actively serving the Church and making a difference in our city," she said.

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The chapter's 18 “YCP Gives Back” service events since 2022 and 9 retreats with more than 1,000 attendees are other examples of that broader mission.

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And then there is the boat cruise.

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Each year, roughly one-third of cruise attendees don't attend another YCP Chicago event that year. For many, the cruise is an easy first step into the community. It's a chance to bring a friend, meet new people and experience YCP in a relaxed setting.

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"The cruise is often someone's entry point into the chapter," McLean said.

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For Peter Blute, CEO of Young Catholic Professionals, that ability to welcome people and form them into leaders is what makes YCP Chicago significant beyond its own chapter.

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Chicago was YCP's ninth chapter and has grown into one of its largest, including hosting the largest chapter event in YCP history with over 550 attendees. But Blute said the chapter's greatest impact is the pipeline of young Catholics who are formed through YCP and then take what they've received into their parishes, workplaces, and communities.

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"There is clearly a hunger YCP is serving by offering a community of peers and role models striving to live out their calling as Catholic professionals with confidence and hope," Blute said.

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After 10 years, YCP Chicago is still growing. The chapter has added 36 memberships over the past year and has reached 144 ZIP codes across Chicago since the beginning of 2026.

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For McLean, the next decade is about taking that impact even further: making YCP Chicago known to every young Catholic professional in the area and becoming a place where people can grow in faith, friendship and their profession.

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The boat cruise may just be one night each summer, but its impact lasts far beyond the water. For a decade, YCP Chicago has been creating the kind of community where one invitation can lead to a friendship, one conversation can lead someone back to the Church, and one small "yes" can change the course of a life.

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And after 10 years, the chapter is just getting started.

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