Jessica Morrison at the IPMA World Congress and Global Young Crew Workshop

I can’t wait to tell you all about my experience at this year’s IPMA World Congress and Global Young Crew Workshop in Hiroshima, Japan! It was three days of Hands-on learning, Honing skills, and Haikus; a truly one in a lifetime opportunity. Here are just some of the highlights from the event this past September:

• Day 1: Connecting Across Cultures

  • Day 1 started with a city tour of Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park and museum, including a visit to Hiroshima Castle. It was a great way to break the ice, and start to meet the people who would be my colleagues for the rest of the workshop.

• Day 2: Haikus and Bingo

  • Day 2 of the workshop was where we started really getting into skill-building. We learned about Leading Projects in the age of AI, Cultural differences as innovation, and how to turn ideas into action for peace and collaboration. We were really asked to stretch ourselves this day, and I was surprised by how quickly so many people from so many different places (15 countries in total!) were able to so quickly come together to collaborate, no matter the task. Special shout out to Kodo, my partner for the Haiku workshop.

  • In the evening was the Gala Dinner where we got to relax and unwind after a day full of collaboration. It was a chance to eat good food, connect even more with great people, and in this case win some Bingo prizes! I was in a pretty lucky spot, we had four winners just at our table!

• Day 3: Furoshiki and Farewells

  • Our final day of the workshop marked the culmination of everything we had learned so far in the event. We learned more about career paths and how to make the most out of professional development opportunities, as well as how every one of us can use data more effectively (even if we are not data scientists ourselves). It all culminated in the final workshop, where we learned how to use Furoshiki, both in a traditional way, and then in more creative ways as a tool to help fulfil a design requirement. Our team may not have had the most aesthetic design, but we certainly had the most fun! It was the first time in a long time that I laughed so hard! And we managed to have fun and learn all while working through language and cultural differences.

  • Then all too soon, it was time to say goodbye. We had one final farewell dinner where we toasted to our success and to each other (and some of us had too much wasabi on our sashimi), and then just like that it was over. We laughed, we cried, and we said so long for now, but not forever!

    
    

The Global Young Crew workshop is a truly life-changing experience. It is difficult to express just how much being a member of Young Crew USA has changed my career, my skills, and me for the better. I can’t wait until the next one, and I hope you will join me in Venice, Italy in October 2027!