ULI Sacramento’s Young Leaders Group (YLG) was represented at the October 2014 ULI Fall Conference in New York City. Notably, the Sacramento District Council participated in the Global Young Leader Chairs Network event on October 21 along with dozens of representatives from Australia, China, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Spain, and the United States. There were several take-home messages for Sacramento.

What we do well

Many of the international representatives from nascent district councils were interested in how to compete with other young professional groups. The message from Sacramento was delivered loud and clear: don’t compete—collaborate. Sacramento YLG leadership works closely with industry groups like the American Planning Association (APA) Young Planners Group and business groups like the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s Metro EDGE. Young Leaders from Australia and Germany were so impressed with the size and scope of the Young Professional Summit and the Year of the YP efforts that they had the concepts presented for the entire convening.

What we can do better

Representatives from the Young Leaders Groups in ULI Los Angeles and ULI Orange County described efforts to do joint programming. By comparison, ULI Sacramento and ULI San Francisco have very active Young Leaders Groups, and yet there has been no concerted effort at joint programming. Since the 2015 ULI Fall Conference will be held in San Francisco October 6 through 8, this could be an excellent opportunity to collaborate on events in the coming year. We can think more broadly about regional collaboration efforts. Hot topics like water infrastructure and high speed rail will require statewide regional collaboration over decades. Inevitably, today’s young leaders will be tomorrow’s industry leaders on these very topics.

What’s NEXT?

The ULI Fall Conference featured the inaugural NEXT Leadership Initiative Summit. The NEXT Leadership Initiative is open to ULI Full Members between the ages of 35 and 45 who have served in leadership positions in ULI, such as in the Young Leaders Group. Alumni of Sacramento YLG are an influential group that includes recognized industry leaders and several Sacramento Business Journal 40 Under 40 awardees. The Young Leaders Group can play a key role in creating a robust ULI Next group. For more information, visit http://uli.org/programs/leadership-programs/next.

Bernadette Austin, Co-Chair, ULI Women’s Leadership Initiative and Young Leader Member