Press Release, Emerging Leaders Deliver New Opportunities
March 29, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 29, 2007
London, ON—The first Emerging Leaders community projects are off to a fantastic start.
OnBoard! seeks to establish Emerging Leaders on city-wide boards, councils and advisory bodies and MentorNET aims to develop a city-wide mentorship network connecting established business and community leaders with promising emerging leaders.
The London Arts Council was the first organization to support OnBoard!, with the appointment of Andrew Francis, owner of the Alex P. Keaton and convener of the L.O.L.A. (London Ontario Live Arts) festival, to their board. Kadie Ward, a graduate student at The University of Western Ontario and owner of Pensells Copywriting, recently joined the Mainstreet London/London Downtown Business Association board, and Josh Morgan, Recruitment & Development Officer for Western’s Local Government Program, has joined the London Public Library (LPL) board. Both Museum London and Hospice of London have also committed to Emerging Leaders board positions, with the individuals to be determined.
London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best is serving as the community champion for OnBoard!. In her State of the City address, she challenged other business and community leaders to get involved with and also to support the various community development projects Emerging Leaders will roll out later this year.
MentorNET is one such project, which has engaged The Honourable Chris Bentley, Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, as its champion. At their fourth and final Think Tank this evening, Emerging Leaders will announce that nearly a dozen Londoners have already signed-up to be mentors, including Fanshawe College President Howard Rundle; Ted Hewitt, Western’s Vice-President (Research & International Relations); Chamber General Manager & CEO Gerry Macartney; Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best; Helen Connell, United Way of London & Middlesex Executive Director; and John Kime, President & CEO of the London Economic Development Corporation.
OnBoard! and MentorNET are the first in a series of Emerging Leaders community projects that will act on recommendations made by London’s 22-44-year-old demographic to help make London more attractive and competitive for the future. Each project will also fulfill the Emerging Leaders’ goal of facilitating connections between generations.
“Providing a bridge to connect current leaders with emerging leaders has always been one of our main objectives,” says Lindsay Sage, Director of Marketing & Development for the LPL, who co-chairs Emerging Leaders with husband Jeff Sage, Assistant Manager of Marketing & Communications at Fanshawe College. “We are so pleased with the response from the community and the recognition by leaders like Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best, and we’re confident we can make small, positive changes in the community by working together.”
“As city leaders, we have consistently identified this demographic as critically important to the future of London,” says DeCicco-Best. “That is why I am proud to play a leadership role in supporting the innovative Emerging Leaders community initiative.”
An Emerging Leader is someone who:
- Is between the ages of 22-44
- Is creative, entrepreneurial, and innovative in thought process and action
- Is community-minded and/or interested in issues and challenges facing the London community
- Demonstrates community leadership or intentions towards same
- Is willing to contribute meaningfully to think tank sessions and share knowledge and ideas with peers
For more information, please contact:
Marcia Steyaert
Emerging Leaders Steering Committee Member
519-661-2111 ext. 80229
Emerging Leaders aims to develop the next generation of local leaders in business, technology, education, research, political, creative and cultural sectors by targeting London’s 22-44-year-old population, a demographic of creative and entrepreneurial thinkers, to connect them to each other and to the London community in general, as well as provide an avenue for this demographic to weigh-in on some of the city’s most important questions (i.e. attraction and retention, issues surrounding organic growth and entrepreneurialism, community investment and philanthropy etc.)
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