Seeking inclusion and work-life integration? Answers entice facility and real estate professionals at NextUp, Sept. 30 – Oct. 2 in Chicago

by Eileen McMorrow

The Leadership Summit for NextUp is just a month away and promises many opportunities for women in facility management (FM), real estate, design and architecture to explore how another community of support, outside the existing industry conferences, can be career enhancers.

NextUp’s mission focuses on women’s empowerment, retaining women in the leadership pipeline,  and expanding inclusive leadership capabilities. “There are so many industry associations, but none that address the needs of women specifically. NextUp is designed from the ground up with women in mind and everybody’s allowed in,” explains Danit Schleman, vice president, Strategic Value/Regions and Development, NextUp. Speaking to women and their allies, she says, “In our community of support, we are helping you to recognize what matters to you, not just doing your job better. It’s about integrating work life with home life and how to do this.”

NextUp helps members build skills like advocating for themselves, inclusive leadership, and bridging divides on complex topics like equity and inclusion. “A person may have many strengths in facility management, but still not have the negotiation skills that we can help them bring to the workplace. We help professionals manage across the life spectrum,” says Schleman. 

Is NextUp a resource for all professionals?

“NextUp is not just for women,” declares Beth Fasching, director of Strategic Partnerships & Business Development, NextUp. The organization is unique in also helping male leaders amplify their emotional and social skills to become better allies to women and to learn how to support to women and other under-represented groups in the workplace.  “Facility management is an industry, a work environment that (originally) was not created with women in mind, so additional support is needed to attract and retain women,” says Fasching. NextUp’s participation in the NFMT Women in FM session on inclusive leadership in Baltimore this past March as a forum for women and men to explore issues impacting women is an example she cites.

“NextUp benefits all organizations,” says Schleman. “We want to promote allyship and that is a key concept for men who attend the conference. Women and men come into the environment of a Forum or Leadership Summit conference because they are looking to be challenged in a different way. We are creating more and more inclusive spaces.” 

NextUp’s Leadership Summits attract up to 1,600 attendees at all career levels. “It’s energizing. Attendees go back to work with a new way of looking at things,” says Schleman. “(People realize) I am not alone. They find new light, and it continues to resonate throughout the year.”

Improving communication and inclusion in workplaces is a tenet of NextUp. “The next generation is thinking and talking about emotions and feelings. All of these existed at work, it’s just that we kind of swept them under the rug and didn’t recognize the effect they had,” says Schleman. “Women are not more emotional than men, but we need to recognize that everyone has emotions in the workplace. When you deal with feelings at work, you get better work. Emotional Intelligence is a hot topic and the next generation is much more comfortable talking about it. They have the language and everyone is going to have to get better at it.”

Expanding membership across industries

Companies like The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, Visa, Deloitte, and Suntory Global Spirits are partners of NextUp and have committed resources, membership engagement, and conference attendance to support their leaders and NextUp. “There is a diversity of people and types of roles they have in their brands. Everyone can see themselves represented,” says Schleman. “Broad cross-industry outreach is underway, and the facility management, architecture, interior design, and real estate are key segments with large representations of women who can share the NextUp mission.” 

“At Summit, our goal is to offer experiences that provide attendees with actionable learning,” continues Fasching. She hears from attendees at all levels, women especially,  that attending Summit reinforces the importance of investing time in themselves to grow as leaders. “Since Covid, with remote and hybrid working, Leadership Summit brings people together to connect, learn, and leave inspired.”

Registration is open for attending the NextUp Leadership Summit in Chicago, September 30 – October 2.

Click NextUp for more information. NextUp Membership is open to individuals or members of a partner organization. When you join NextUp through The McMorrow Reports/FMLink, you are entitled to 20 percent off an individual membership when you enter the code: NextUp24McMorrow at checkout. For more information, email bfasching@nextupisnow.org.