Are We Developing Tomorrow’s Chamber Leaders?
Whenever I run into the twenty something's of the world I am amused by their reaction when I explain what I do for a living. Most of them have little idea what their local Chamber of Commerce or EDC does in the community. Additionally, almost none of them see how it should matter to them.
All joking aside, as the baby boom generation gradually heads toward retirement we will be looking to the younger generation to steer our organizations forward. Unfortunately, as a whole I see a massive brain drain in the future if we don’t collectively begin doing a better job recruiting and developing our next generation of leadership.
From the Toledo Chamber of Commerce website
Today’s young business minds generally do not see why community involvement should be a staple of their career goals. In the ‘I want it now, generation’ there exists a perceptual disconnect between professional motivations such as money, prestige, and accomplishment and community involvement. Simply stated, we are just not cool to the younger generations.
The Toledo Chamber of Commerce has implemented a program that is getting hundreds of younger professionals involved in Chamber activities. The program, called EPIC (engaging people, inspiring change), has three goals:
- Developing future business and community leaders.
- Providing emerging leaders with a voice in the future of the region.
- Attracting and retaining diverse young talent in the area.
Having only been in operation for 8 months, they already boast over 100 members. They have already made an impact on the community and the Toledo chamber in many ways. Group committees have raised corporate donations and started several new chamber initiatives.
“It's extremely important to the economic growth and well-being of our area that next generation of leadership is ready to roll," said Wendy Gramza, Executive Vice President of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce.
It is my opinion that each of us should aggressively ignite initiatives similar to the one instituted at The Toledo Chamber of Commerce if we care about the quality of leadership driving our organizations in future decades. Failing to address this now may create significant leadership shortfalls in the future.
