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The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) is proud to announce the new members of the ICCA Future Leaders Council. With this eight-member council, ICCA aims to empower the rising stars in the association meetings industry to extend their influence and make a lasting impact. Council members will work alongside senior industry leaders, sharing ideas and strategies to keep ICCA current, relevant, and positioned as the thought-leaders for the association meetings community.

“When I stood for election as ICCA President, it was clear to me that our association needed to evolve to ensure we meet the future, strategic needs of our members. By engaging with the young leaders from across our global regions, ICCA will benefit from the ideas, passion and commitment they bring to our industry and I will be  excited to hear the new ideas and strategies that will be developed by our inaugural ICCA Future Leader Council members,” said James Rees, ICCA President.

Candidates were nominated by their employers to serve a two-year term on the Council and participated in a rigorous selection process. The members must be younger than 33 years of age at the time of their nomination and have a minimum of two years’ industry experience. Furthermore, they represent the diverse regions and sectors of ICCA’s global membership, from Calgary to Sydney.

“Now, more than ever, the ICCA community must chart a creative, innovative course to a better, brighter future for our industry. At ICCA, we sincerely believe that we can achieve this by listening and learning from our next generation of leaders. In turn, our established leadership will guide, support, and elevate these future meetings industry advocates,” said Senthil Gopinath, ICCA CEO.

“The meetings industry has been challenged tremendously by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a crisis that has impacted everyone worldwide, but in different ways. We feel confident that by bringing together our industry’s best and brightest from diverse backgrounds we can develop holistic strategies for transforming our industry into one that will thrive for the next generation and beyond,” Gopinath continued.

The ICCA Future Leader Council members for 2021-2023 are:

  • Mariya Al Hashar, Sr Business Development Executive, Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre
  • Kaili Cashin, Marketing & Communications Manager, Calgary TELUS Convention Centre
  • Javier Contreras, Commercial Manager, CentroParque Convention Centre
  • Diana Frederiksen, Business Development Manager, Stockholmsmässan Congress & Exhibition Centre
  • Jess Lamb, Client Engagement Manager, BESydney
  • Doreen Richter, Project Management Congresses, Messe Frankfurt
  • Hyo-In Son, Assistant Manager, Convention Marketing, KINTEX
  • Ernest Van Sitters, Event Sales Executive, Cape Town International Convention Centre

The ICCA Future Leader Council has already hosted its first meeting on 31 May. The Council members will now tackle two separate challenges. One project will be an idea selected by the ICCA Future Leader Council themselves and an additional strategic project will be allocated by the ICCA Board.