PCMA’s annual flagship education and networking event—Convening Leaders 2025 (CL25)—left a lasting impression on both its 4,500 attendees and the host city of Houston when it descended on the city’s George R. Brown Convention Center two weeks ago.
A total of $400,000 was raised from CL25 wellness and networking experience, directly supporting the PCMA Foundation, which celebrated three local “Heroes of Hospitality”—identified by Visit Houston and the Houston community—with $5,000 cash awards.
Also benefitting from PCMA’s mission to drive social impact was Bread of Life, a Houston-based program to aid underserved communities through programs in homelessness, health and hunger relief. More than 100 volunteers at CL25 participated in the annual Hospitality Helping Hands to benefit the organization, while the PCMA Foundation contributed $10,000 to support Bread of Life’s efforts.
Celebrating Next Gen Leaders
The PCMA Foundation is turning 40 this year, but a younger group took the spotlight during CL25—the 2025 Class of “20 in Their Twenties”—introduced by Immediate Past-Chair, Leonard Hoops and PCMA and CEMA President & CEO, Sherrif Karamat, CAE. The class of 2025 represents business event organizers and suppliers from several PCMA regions, including APAC, Canada, EMEA, and the U.S.

Funds provided by the Greater Miami CVB and Desiree Knight, Senior Director, Meetings & Events with the American Psychological Association provided eight college students with the opportunity to participate in CL25 as recipients of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Rising Star Student Scholarship. In addition to being acknowledged during a general session, the students networked with industry professionals, participated in educational sessions, and gained valuable insights into the global business events industry.
In addition, the Ascent Pathway 100 program, sponsored by Visit Baltimore, is designed to empower diverse leaders throughout the global business events industry. Fourteen of the 28 event professionals currently enrolled attended CL25.
Focus on the Future
Also during CL25, PCMA signed two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau (SECB), a part of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and Marina Bay Sands respectively, to anchor PCMA’s Asia Pacific (APAC) signature conference, The Business of Events, at Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands through 2027.

As part of that commitment, Singapore’s position as a leading sustainable destination was captured on a mural curated by United By Design artist David Maldonado and worked on by 157 CL25 participants.
In other CL25 news, PCMA announced a new brand tagline—Leading Minds, Leading Change—whose logo will be revealed in the coming months.