Your Chamber May Not Have a NextGen Problem. It May Have a Culture Problem.

I'll be honest with you. I am 55 years old. I have spent 31 years in the chamber world. And for a long time, I thought I understood the next generation because I had been around long enough to watch them. I observed them. I made assumptions about them. I built programs for them.

And I kept wondering why it wasn't working.

It wasn't until I stopped observing and started actually listening, really listening, sitting across from young professionals and asking hard questions and then staying quiet long enough to hear the answers — that everything shifted for me.

What I learned changed how I lead, how I consult, and frankly how I think about the future of chambers altogether.

Here's the thing nobody in our world wants to say out loud:

Most chambers don't have a NextGen program problem. They have a culture problem. And there's a difference.

The Uncomfortable Diagnosis

I've worked with chambers of all sizes across this country. Small chambers doing incredible work with limited resources. Large chambers with full staffs and impressive budgets. Mid-sized chambers trying to figure out how to grow without losing what makes them special.

And when it comes to NextGen engagement, I see the same patterns everywhere.

We recruit young professionals the same way we recruit everyone else. That is with the same pitch, the same brochure, the same membership tier structure that means nothing to someone who has never been to a ribbon cutting in their life.

We give NextGen a seat at the table. Then we don't really let them talk. Or we listen politely and then do exactly what we were already going to do anyway. They notice. They always notice.

We confuse a Young Professionals group with a NextGen strategy. A YP group is a front door. It is not a strategy. And the front door has to lead somewhere.

We never actually ask what value means to them. We assume it looks like what value meant to us at 35. It doesn't.

None of this makes us bad chamber professionals. It makes us human. We do what we know. We replicate what worked before. We serve the members who show up.

But the next generation is deciding right now, today, whether your chamber is a place worth their time, their money, and their energy. And most of them are making that decision without ever walking through your door.

What the Data Tells Us

The NextGen Chamber of Commerce released their first national research report in December 2025 — a comprehensive national listening tour across six cities with more than 200 emerging business leaders. The findings should be required reading for every chamber executive in the country.

Here is what the next generation told them:

They want to be part of organizations that make an actual difference in their community. They want access to leaders who will invest in them personally — not just shake their hand at a mixer. They want a voice in decisions that affect their businesses and their futures. They want to belong to something that feels alive.

And here is the number that should stop every chamber CEO in their tracks: 38% of NextGen members who don't renew say it's because they didn't feel connected to anyone.

Not because dues were too high. Not because programming was inconvenient. Not because they forgot to renew.

Because nobody saw them.

That is not a program problem. That is a culture problem.

The Question That Changes Everything

Here is the question I ask every chamber I work with, and I want to ask it to you right now:

Why should a 30-year-old join your chamber instead of a Facebook group, a Slack community, or a national association?

If you have a crisp, confident, one-sentence answer then you're ahead of most chambers in the country.

If you fumbled a little reading that question then that's your starting point.

Because here's what I know after 31 years in this work: chambers have something to offer the next generation that no Facebook group, no mastermind, no online community can replicate. Access to real people making real decisions in the real community where they are building their lives and their businesses.

The shortcut to the room. Hyper-local intelligence. A legislative voice. A peer cohort they couldn't build on their own. Credibility that changes deals.

That is extraordinary value. Most chambers just haven't learned to say it yet, and more importantly, to deliver it in a way that NextGen can actually feel.

Where to Start

If you're reading this and nodding your head, or maybe feeling a little defensive, which means I've hit something true, here's what I'd ask you to do this week.

Pull your list of current NextGen members. Not your YP program roster. Your actual members under 40.

Now ask yourself three questions:

Who are they? Do you know their businesses, their goals, what they're building?

How engaged are they? Are they just showing up, or do they own something inside your chamber?

What's your renewal rate for members under 40? If you don't know that number — finding it is your first action.

Culture change doesn't start with a new program. It starts with honest answers to honest questions.

This Is a Solvable Problem

I want to be clear about something. The chambers I've seen crack this are the ones where NextGen isn't just a committee but a living, breathing part of how the organization operates. They didn't get there by spending more money or launching a new initiative.

They got there because someone in leadership decided it mattered. And then they started paying attention to what was actually standing in front of them.

That's the whole lesson. The next generation isn't waiting to be discovered. They're deciding right now whether you're worth their investment.

The question is whether you're paying attention.

What are you doing?

If you are doing something amazing with Next Gen members, I’d love to hear from you. Please send me an email at teri@starfishpartnerships.com.