Speakers: Kira Warren, Senior Organisational Development Consultant, Woolworths
What is one important personal reflection or lesson from 2025 that you want to share with other community pros?
Kira Warren: I think for me, when I think about my reflection for 2025, it's all about finding my own community. We spend a lot of time investing in the communities around us, making sure that they have everything they need to be successful, and to grow and develop and to find each other. But it's also about us finding the communities that we need to help us grow and develop, and the communities that make us feel safe and supported, and like create opportunities to find ourselves. So, my reflection this year, and the lesson that I've learned is that once you find your people, and whatever new place you're in, whether it's a new work environment, whether it's a new neighborhood, once you find them, make the effort with them, commit to being as involved as you want all of the communities that you operate to be involved in, bring that same energy to that part of your life as well, give yourself that opportunity, because, you need to have that as well. You can't just help make it for other people.
What is your take on what is next for us as community professionals in 2026?
Kira Warren: My hot take is evolution, so, with all the changes that have been happening in the AI space, there's been a lot of how we use AI to create better communities and better spaces, but I think at the foundation for me has to be how we create the spaces in general. So, good AI is wonderful, great. AI is even better, but if we're going to bring that to life, we still have to have good foundations of how we build communities for our people and how we are gonna set that up for success, so having a voice in the room, making sure that we're present for those conversations, and really owning the fact that we are the experts that we're talking about, and being ok that, you know, the space is changing really quickly, and the world of technology is moving really quickly. But what we do is really important, and we can be advocates for how we create better spaces for the people around us and for ourselves as well.
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