A first-of-its-kind regional initiative is underway, and we are asking you to nominate the rising leaders in your organization who will shape what comes next.
At the Northern Virginia Chamber (NVC), our goal is to actively support and cultivate the next generation of leadership.
As part of the NOVA Roadmap, we are launching our NextGen Leadership initiative to identify, elevate, and engage the emerging leaders driving the future of our region. This effort unites business executives, policymakers, and rising talent to better understand and address the specific challenges facing the next generation, with the ultimate goal of strengthening the DMV’s long-term talent pipeline.
Who Are “NextGen Leaders?”
NextGen leaders are emerging and mid-career professionals on a leadership track, including individual contributors preparing for leadership roles, first-time managers, and managers or directors.
These individuals represent the region’s future executives, founders, and civic leaders. Their decisions today will shape the region’s long‑term economic competitiveness, leadership pipeline, and ability to grow by design rather than default.
Why This Matters Now
Across our regional business community, a clear set of challenges has emerged:
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The cost of living in the D.C. Metro Area is heavily dictating early- and mid-career decisions.
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Career mobility is becoming harder for young professionals to navigate.
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Leadership development inside organizations is not always keeping pace with changing expectations.
These are not short-term pressures; they are long-term forces that dictate whether the DMV can successfully retain its top talent. At NVC, we believe the region’s future economic success depends on our ability to address these challenges head-on.
How the NextGen Leadership Initiative Works
This project relies on local input and data to inform regional policy work and workforce development strategies:
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Nominations: Identifying the top rising talent across regional employers today, submitted via referrals by NOVA Roadmap Investors and other members of our regional business community.
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The Survey: Launching the State of NextGen Leadership in the DMV Survey to capture real-time insights from NextGen leaders on issues related to affordability, career mobility, professional development, and quality of life.
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A New Executive Council: Members of this cohort will form the new NOVA Roadmap Executive Council, identifying the policy needs of our region’s future business leaders.
NVC will publish the survey findings this summer in a regional benchmark report. This data is intended to provide employers and policymakers with critical information needed to address retention challenges, improve workforce development, and translate these findings into meaningful policy action.
NOVA Roadmap Investor Executive Councils help frame NVC’s policy work over the course of the year. Pictured: Co-Chairs of the Economic Environment, Talent and Workforce, and Healthcare Councils with Policy Committee Chair Lee DeLong (center).
Introducing the NextGen Leadership Executive Council
Following the release of the survey’s report, NVC will launch the NextGen Leadership Executive Council, our seventh and final NOVA Roadmap Investor Executive Council, focused on the needs of our region’s future leaders.
This will not serve as a passive advisory group, but rather a functional, working body of select NextGen leaders from across the DMV who will:
- Share lived experiences regarding the barriers to regional career growth.
- Interpret survey findings alongside macroeconomic data.
- Help shape the policy and corporate actions needed to support the talent pipeline.
- Elevate issues of affordability experienced by this cohort.
Nominate the Rising Leaders in Your Organization
We are asking business leaders across the region to help identify the individuals who are already stepping into leadership and who will define what comes next within their respective organizations.
If your organization includes emerging or mid-career professionals on a leadership track — individual contributors preparing for leadership roles, first-time managers, or rising managers and directors — we want to hear from you.
Submit the names of the NextGen leaders in your organization for consideration.
By nominating these individuals, you are ensuring your organization is represented in this region-wide initiative, elevating the voices of rising talent, and helping shape the future direction of the NOVA Roadmap. Nominated leaders will have the opportunity to participate in the forthcoming survey, contribute to the landmark report, expand the network to their connections, and be considered for a seat on the NextGen Leadership Executive Council.
Nominate your NextGen leaders here.
NVC’s Role: Bringing the Region’s Future Leaders Together
The greatest challenges facing our workforce cannot be solved in silos.
That is why NVC is leading this effort, uniting business leaders, policymakers, education partners, and emerging leaders themselves under a shared purpose: to ensure the DMV remains a place where the next generation of leaders chooses to stay, grow, and lead.
This summer’s inaugural report is just the first step toward supporting NextGen leaders, but it starts with identifying who those leaders are.
