Elevate NewGen
THE UNFILTERED SESSION THE REPORT
Chase Edwards
In October 2025 we started a project called Elevate New Gen. A derivative from Elevate mentoring, the goal is simple: support 100 underrepresented 18–25 year olds deeper into the events industry.
Helping this programme grow from cohort 1 has been a masterclass in what it takes to get a community project off the ground. It’s the baby of Peter Kerwood, and co-created by Evie Manuel.
My specific role is Programme Experience Director - shaping it for the people involved.
The young people on cohort 1 are incredible and this motivates us to do the work. They’re smart, creative, funnyyyyy, and hungry for opportunities in a way that reminds us why this industry is amazing, and the work is worth it.
On a rainy Saturday in January, we delivered a new workshop idea designed specifically for NewGen Cohort 1:
The Unfiltered Session
I was so excited I even made a poster for it, and Pete kindly hosted us at his loft in Islington with pizza.
We’d planned an eight-step workshop, with activities, timings, prompts, the works. But by step three the plan was dead.
These young people had so many thoughts, ideas and experiences that the session derailed into something better than anything we’d planned. It reminded us that our perceptions of what they need are just that, perceptions.
This is a summary of the key highlights from The Unfiltered Session:
1. Difference as Strength, Not Deficit
NewGeners describe being “different” through:
race, class, culture, faith, neurodiversity
non-linear thinking, slow learning, unconventional paths
refusal to fully code-switch or conform
What emerges is a shared belief that these differences add value to events and creative work. Offering new perspectives, bridging worlds, and challenging stale norms, even when the industry doesn’t always reward them.
2. Tension with the Events Industry Status Quo
The industry is repeatedly described as:
very white, rigid, homogenous, clique-driven
trend-following rather than original
ego-led, performative, and image-focused
obsessed with “creativity” but only within narrow, approved formats
There’s frustration with repetition, risk-aversion, and surface-level innovation, alongside a sense that genuinely new ideas are often shut down as “too difficult.”
3. Authenticity vs Performance
NewGeners critique the pressure to:
always be “on,” likeable, upbeat, and polished
network performatively rather than connect genuinely
hide bad days, introversion, or emotional complexity
They express a desire for spaces where people can show up as they are, not just as their professional persona, without their competence being questioned.
5. Participation, Ownership & Showing Up
There’s a recurring frustration towards other young people who:
complain but don’t attend
suggest ideas but don’t help build
want the outcome without the effort
In contrast, there’s pride in creating spaces with the people who actually show up, even if the audience is smaller. Ownership, effort, and accountability matter.
4. Community Over Networking
NewGeners consistently value:
real relationships over transactional networking
mutual support, care, and follow-through
long-term community rather than one-off programmes
NewGen is praised not just for opportunities, but for aftercare, continuity, and the feeling of “family”, feeling different compared to other industry schemes.
6. Access, Inclusion & Structural Barriers
Key access issues include:
cost of living and unpaid labour
lack of 18+ (but not 21+) spaces
exclusion based on class, confidence, or “polish”
lack of networks for marginalised young people
There’s a strong push for free, intentional, community-first events and programmes that don’t gatekeep creativity or belonging.
Our biggest lessons from the Unfiltered Session have been this:
Give young people a chance to speak, unfiltered.
Ask open questions that aren’t leading.
Gage by their responses (this requires empathy) to see if the questions should be reframed to land the most effective way.
Most importantly, take the lessons and do something about it. Quickly.
We have started work on this already.
Connect to keep updated on the journey, and connect to support NewGen: