NEXT

In 2019, twelve Zurich Insurance employees founded NEXT with the encouragement of the company’s senior management and inspiration from the One Young World 2019 Summit in London. The initiative’s goal is to promote intergenerational dialogue, and future-proof Zurich with regards to its role as a service provider, employer and corporate citizen.

The team has launched 7 different country hubs with the support of 14 Ambassadors. Each core member is afforded 10% of their time to run the programme’s various social impact initiatives. To maintain a fresh team with new ideas and impetus, members rotate after one to two years. This group of intrapreneurs have run a wide array of initiatives in 2020.

The flagship event was the NEXT Virtual Summit 2020. The team virtually convened changemakers, entrepreneurs, and experts to share insights and inspiration around the role generations can play in solving major challenges such as climate change, sustainable development, social innovation, mental health and wellbeing. There were over 500 people in live attendance and a further 400 who have accessed the recordings. The recordings are available on the NEXT YouTube channel.

Additionally, and as part of its commitment to support social innovation, NEXT distributed $100,000 to its scholars running impactful social enterprises. NEXT is also sharing its expertise outside the company through its role as a founding member and co-chair of One Young World’s NextGen Working Group.

In 2020 they launched the first cohort of its innovative NEXTChange programme, a cross-generational mentorship scheme developing 19 pairs of leaders. These are two initiatives that will further embed sustainability and increase the dialogue between generations in the business. In 2021, the team aims to open new hubs in new countries in addition to the current ones.