Derry man calls on future leaders to sign up to British Council programme

Joe Devlin, a Senior Market Analyst at Viridian Group and Laura McNamee, a Policy & Public Affairs Officer and Practitioner Support Officer at Housing Rights have been chosen to take part in British Councilâ¬"s Future Leaders Connect programme. They will join over 50 emerging policy leaders from across the world for an intensive nine-day leadership and policy programme, featuring an event with the Elders, an independent group of global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela a decade ago to work together for peace and human rights. This event will be streamed lived on Facebook on Mon Oct y 29th October 2018 from 18.00 http://bit.ly/2IZf3pX.. For more information on Future Leaders Connect or British Council Northern Ireland, visit http://nireland.britishcouncil.org or www.britishcouncil.org/futureleadersconnect

In 2018, Joe was one of 50 young leaders from around the world to be selected for British Council’s Future Leaders Connect programme and now hopes to use what he learned to help Ireland run on 100% renewable electricity. The programme, which is out to find exceptional individuals from across the UK and the world, will give two young leaders from the North the chance to join a global network and take part in 10 days of leadership and policy training, culminating in a series of exclusive workshops, mentoring and meetings in the UK Houses of Parliament. Participants in previous years presented their policy ideas at 10 Downing Street, had meetings at the BBC and the UK Houses of Parliament, and discussed global challenges with former United Nations Secretary Generals.

Speaking about the value of taking part in Future Leaders Connect, Joe said:

“Participating in Future Leaders Connect has given me direct insight into how the world works, what questions I need to ask of myself and others to achieve my policy vision - but most importantly, the mind-set- to go do it. The global network you gain from the programme is phenomenal, the exposure to senior decision makers is unparalleled and having friends in 13 countries I’ve never visited is the icing on the cake. For those thinking of applying to the 2019 cohort, if you have the desire to have a real impact on a global challenge that has an important local dimension then this is the programme that will equip you with the tools to deliver it. At this current time, we are in dire need of positive leadership. Future Leaders Connect has given me some personal validation about the work I’m involved in, the motivation and skills to drive lasting local change.”