Michael Brown (FL ’14), associate relationship manager, PNC Bank

By Michael Brown, Focus Louisville – February 2014 –

A couple of months ago, I made a big change in my life when I moved to Louisville, a city in which I knew not a single person. Having just recently graduated college, where I was also part of a fraternity that participated in a lot of volunteering around the community, it was my goal to learn more about my new hometown and some of the nonprofit programs currently in existence. The only problem was I had no idea where to start. The answer to my questions? Focus Louisville.

In the three days, we saw some amazing things around the city. In my personal favorite part of the program, we got a firsthand look at the new economic development plans down in SoFo (South Fourth Street). Since my background is in economics, it was incredible to see the introductory efforts of the city in motion to develop the retail side of downtown. In addition, for the volunteers like myself in our group, we learned about the thousands of different opportunities that we, as residents, could get involved with. I thought it was amazing how much the city is trying to improve from the inside out!

Since I am brand new, I really haven’t gotten to see much of the area outside of my work downtown. But participating in the Focus Louisville program allowed me to learn so much about the city and gave me an opportunity to network with other ambitious volunteers like myself from around town. Now, in just three days, I’m beginning to feel like I can call myself a Louisvillian. Thanks Focus Louisville!