After 21 years with the Major Projects Association, our Development Director Manon Bradley is retiring next week. In this personal farewell, she reflects on the people, relationships and initiatives that have shaped her time at the Association, and shares her thanks with the members, volunteers, colleagues and friends who have been part of that journey.
So long, and thanks for all the fish!
Famously, this is the farewell message the dolphins leave for humankind as they depart Earth in Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. As I prepare to leave the Major Projects Association after 21 years, it seemed an appropriate way to signpost my own goodbye — although I’m fairly sure I won’t be able to match the dolphins for brevity.
Dear Major Projects Association Members,
Before joining the Association in 2005, I worked as a professional fundraiser. At first glance, that might seem an unusual route into the world of major projects, but it taught me a very important lesson which I carried with me into the world of Association management which is that people give to people.
That simple principle has shaped almost every decision I’ve made over the past two decades. People connect with people – not organisations, not processes and, dare I say it, not even projects. My aim at the Major Projects Association has always been to build genuine relationships with our members, to understand what you needed, and to create a community where you could connect with one another as much as with the Association itself.
Looking back, I’m struck by how many of the things I’m most proud of were really about making those connections stronger.
“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” — A.A. Milne
One of the very first projects I undertook upon joining in 2005 was to commission the Association’s first proper membership database. Before that, our membership records consisted entirely of sticky labels! Building on that, I created a website that integrated directly with the database, replacing paper booking forms that had to be faxed back to the office. It simplified life for everyone, but more importantly it transformed the way we engaged with member organisations. Instead of relying on a single Main Representative, knowledge about our activities could spread throughout organisations, allowing many more people to become part of the Major Projects Association community.
That same philosophy lay behind the PhD Grant Programme, which I established in 2010. It wasn’t simply about funding research; it was about creating meaningful dialogue between our academic members and practitioners, ensuring that ideas could move in both directions and strengthening the relationship between research and practice.
The same thinking inspired my work on equality, diversity and inclusion. By ensuring that diversity became a consistent feature of our conversations and events, I wanted to help open up the world of major projects to a broader and more representative range of people, because our projects are stronger when everyone feels they belong.
As I met more members, it became increasingly clear that early-career professionals needed a stronger voice within the Association. That led me to create places for Rising Stars on our key committees, to establish the Ambassador role, and develop a dedicated programme of events to help the next generation build networks, confidence and opportunities within our community.
And when many of you began raising concerns about sustainability, I listened. I persuaded our Board to make sustainability a central theme of our 2019 Annual Conference and subsequently established the Sustainability Ambassador Network. Seeing that network continue to thrive years later gives me enormous satisfaction because it demonstrates what can happen when members’ ideas are given the space to grow.
If there is one thread that runs through everything I’ve introduced over the past 21 years, it is that every initiative was designed not simply to improve the Association, but to strengthen the connections between the people who make it what it is. I don’t mention these things to seek recognition as I leave, but because organisations can have surprisingly short memories. Initiatives eventually become “the way we’ve always done things”, and it’s easy to forget that someone first had to imagine them, persuade others they were worthwhile, and then make them happen. I’ve been privileged to do that many times at the Major Projects Association, and I’m proud to leave those foundations for others to build upon.
Perhaps the greatest privilege of my time at the Association hasn’t been the programmes we’ve created or the events we’ve delivered, but the extraordinary people I’ve had the good fortune to meet along the way. Over the last 21 years I’ve worked with brilliant volunteers, generous Board members, passionate academics, inspiring practitioners, dedicated colleagues and thousands of members who have challenged my thinking, shared their knowledge and become friends. You have taught me far more than I could ever have given back, and for that I feel truly blessed.
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” — Dr. Seuss
As I leave, if I could offer one thought to those who will shape the next chapter of the Association, it would simply be this: never lose sight of what really matters. Technology will continue to evolve. Databases will be replaced, websites redesigned, AI will transform the way we work, and today’s best processes will eventually become tomorrow’s legacy systems. Those things are important, but they are never the reason people choose to belong.
People join communities because they feel welcomed. They stay because they build relationships. They contribute because they feel heard, valued and connected to something bigger than themselves. The Major Projects Association has never been defined by its systems or its processes; it has always been defined by its people.
So, continue to invest in relationships. Introduce people who don’t yet know each other. Create opportunities for conversations that otherwise wouldn’t happen. Listen more than you speak. Be generous with your time, your encouragement and your curiosity. If you do those things, the Association will continue to thrive, whatever technology or organisational changes the future may bring.
Thank you for allowing me to be part of this remarkable community for the last 21 years. It has been the greatest privilege of my career.
“If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” — Paulo Coelho
While my chapter with the Major Projects Association is coming to a close, I leave knowing that this extraordinary community will continue to evolve because of the people who care enough to make it flourish.
Farewell, and thanks for all the memories!
Manon Bradley
