Much like the Olympics, the 12-month delay in round two of the Future Female Leaders series only made it more special, writes James Raynor.
On one level you could view FFL as a way to learn techniques and build profile. But it is so much more. Storytelling is a powerful tool to unlock every challenge and opportunity we face. It’s a way to build understanding and bridges.
That’s why (Grosvenor’s community engagement manager) Nicola Rochfort’s speech about how to respect young people as experts in placemaking struck such a chord with the audience. We routinely spend most of our time debating things like amenity and viability with the same kind of people, over and over again. But what about the rest of our communities – like the 25% of the UK’s population that’s under 19? Politically and socially, they’re highly engaged and open-minded. But here we learnt that 89% of young adults had never been asked their opinion about the future of where they live.
How can that be right, when they are the people who enjoy, or suffer, the consequences of decisions we make the longest but have the least say?
Nicola’s speech was humorous and eloquent. She enabled us to step back and view ourselves as young people might. Through the Mayfair Youth Forum and Voice.Opportunity.Power projects she showed us how to involve young people on their terms to unlock their ideas and get their buy-in. Her delivery was polished and call-to-action powerful.
We didn’t just learn to appreciate the art of public speaking and the guts of the people standing on stage. Through the power of storytelling a roomful of people were persuaded to take a fresh look at the way they work and how we make and manage places.
James Raynor is chief executive of Grosvenor
