It is a humbling time to be leading the WPA NextGen as many of us look forward to returning to the West End and await the beginnings of a road to recovery.
Without doubt this past year has been unprecedented, yet the creativity and resilience of Westminster’s communities despite the challenges has given new meaning and purpose for the built environment to ‘build back better’.
The young talent in our industry has a key role in that dynamic, and as a NextGen Committee we know that we have an important part to play in bringing the views of our members to life to support them in driving that future change.
Over the last two years, we’ve positioned ourselves as a go-to property network for the next generation of leaders to broaden their industry knowledge and expand their business networks. But we plan to progress these objectives even further during the next year with a forum of educational, engaging and innovative content to benefit all of Westminster’s young real estate talent.
Our dedicated work programme is designed to be a connector of people and a source of information. To do this, we’ll be focusing our efforts in three specific workstreams:
- How to – an educational forum that gives NextGen members an insight into how certain elements of our industry work, such as Net Zero Carbon pathways or the City Plan.
- Speak to – an engaging initiative that gives NextGen members the opportunity to speak to leading industry professionals about their career experiences.
- Come to – an interactive platform that brings our NextGen members together at events – albeit currently virtually!
We look forward to working with the WPA Board and Executive to achieve our ambitions, as well as with stakeholders at Westminster City Council, the University of Westminster, and our sponsors Gardiner & Theobald.
If you have any feedback on our programme or would like to submit any ideas for future workstreams, please do get in touch. In the meantime, you can meet our Committee here or keep up to speed by following us on Instagram.
Amanda Sheppard – Chair (Grosvenor GBI)
Ciara Daffy – Vice Chair (CBRE GI)
