Tzufit Herling for Community Pros Yearbook 2025

Speakers: Tzufit Herling, Owner and Consultant, Connecteur

Tzufit Herling: Hello everyone! I think that this year I learned that sometimes the most valuable thing that we can do as community builders is to create this permission for real connection, so we can trust each other and be vulnerable, right? Before we do that for our community members. So, I did my best to walk the talk myself and I delivered workshops in communities and for community leaders, and during the meetups I organized, as Led by Community Lisbon Director. I saw first and how powerful it is when community professionals have space to be honest about their challenges, not just the wins. So I encourage all of us to keep creating the spaces in the upcoming year.

Tzufit Herling: I think that in 2026 we as community professionals are going to step into a more strategic role. We are bridging technology and the human connection, so, we are kind of becoming transformation architects. We already use online spaces and AI tools, we master that, but what makes us really valuable is that we also create spaces for real connection that drive engagement and business value. We know how to do all this connection between them, and I think we're going to see much more recognition of this dual capacity in the upcoming year. And also after years of working with clients, I'm really happy to see that organization is finally starting to understand that community building or community is not just about marketing or like it's not only a marketing channel, it's really an important way of working that requires strategic thinking and long-term commitment, and it takes time to see the results. So we as community professionals, we need to make it happen by setting the vision and making sure it aligns with business value. And I'm very grateful to be part of Led by Community and I can't wait for 2026! Happy New Year, everyone!