UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has announced the five recipients of its 2024 Next Generation Leadership (NGL) grant.
The 2024 NGL grant winners are Ana Carolina Aguilera – institutional affairs coordinator, FEXPOCRUZ (Bolivia); Celia Hidalgo Calvo – digital strategist, IFEMA Madrid (Spain); Alexander Caspari – manager corporate development & sustainability, Koelnmesse (Germany); Lesley Gurney – senior marketing & communications manager, ICC Sydney (Australia); and Nadja Hutton-Mills – business development manager for Europe & Middle East, August Robotics (Germany).
The 2024 NGL mission focuses on Artificial Intelligence (AI), and NGL grantees will assess the strategic and operational potential of the rise of AI for the exhibitions and business events industry.
Awardees will kick off their project during an in-person workshop at the UFI European Conference in Zurich, Switzerland. There, they will receive mentorship and support from leading global industry executives, and develop their project online over seven months. The programme will culminate with a group presentation at the 91st UFI Global Congress in Cologne, Germany.
Now in its eight edition, the NGL grant is designed to identify and nurture emerging talent within the exhibition industry. To be eligible, candidates must have worked for less than 10 years in the exhibition industry and show clear initiative for driving change in their fields.
The grant programme is sponsored by Clarion Events, dmg events, Informa Markets, and RX.
