As part of a landmark year marking our 40th Anniversary, The ELC’s 2026 London Convening, held May 17-20, 2026, in London, brought together members and global partners for four days of dialogue, relationship-building, and strategic exchange.

The conversations were timely. The relationships were intentional. And the takeaways were clear: the leaders best positioned for the future are those who can operate across borders, navigate complexity with discipline, and build the trusted networks that create opportunity well beyond themselves.

Opening the Week: Relationship Building & Afternoon Tea Corinthia Hotel

The convening opened Sunday at the Corinthia Hotel, where members and guests from The Links and The Boule gathered for Afternoon Tea. It was a fitting start, grounded in the kind of trust and intentional connection that has defined The ELC’s community for four decades, and that underlies everything that followed throughout the week.

The Future of Business: AI, Investment, and Disruption Lloyd’s of London

Monday’s program set the tone for the week. Keith Levy, Managing Partner at Visionario Venture Capital and The ELC member and Co-Chair of the International Presence Committee, welcomed Joe Hurd, CEO of The Katama Group and board director at Lloyd’s of London, and Eric Collins, CEO and Co-Founder of Impact X Capital Partners, for a fireside conversation on artificial intelligence, investing, innovation, and the evolving future of global business leadership.

Collins brought firsthand a perspective from building companies at the intersection of innovation and capital. He explored how AI is already reshaping industries from healthcare and finance to logistics, media, and entertainment, and what that transformation demands of the leaders responsible for navigating it. The conversation moved beyond the hype, focusing on what it actually takes to identify scalable opportunity, deploy capital with conviction, and ensure that technological transformation translates into tangible economic growth and expanded leadership pathways.

“We are investors in disruption,” Collins said. “We are not investors in the status quo.”

For The ELC’s members, many of whom sit at the highest levels of the industries being reshaped, the conversation was both a challenge and a call to action. Innovation is not a spectator sport. The leaders who will define the next era of global business are those willing to engage it directly, shape it strategically, and ensure it creates opportunity for those who follow.

Navigating Global Complexity: A Briefing with Dr. Comfort Ero The Peninsula Hotel, in partnership with Powerful Media

Tuesday’s program brought a different kind of urgency to the week. Held under Chatham House Rules and co-hosted by Michael Eboda, CEO of Powerful Media, and The ELC President and CEO Michael C. Hyter, the evening featured Dr. Comfort Ero, President and CEO of International Crisis Group, in a candid briefing on global instability, conflict prevention, and the evolving demands on business leadership.

Drawing on decades of frontline conflict analysis and diplomacy, Dr. Ero offered a sobering and clear-eyed assessment of a rapidly shifting global landscape marked by escalating interstate conflict, weakened international norms, rising geopolitical fragmentation, and the growing gap between early warning and meaningful global action. She examined flashpoints across the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Ukraine, and Asia, and challenged attendees to think critically about how economics, security, technology, and governance are deeply and increasingly intertwined.

The message for business leaders was direct: global volatility is not a backdrop. It is the operating environment. The executives best prepared for what comes next will be those who engage the complexity honestly, build trusted relationships across sectors and geographies, and lead with both clarity and conviction when the path forward is anything but certain.

Partnership and Pathways: The ELC and the Royal African Society Hay Hill, in partnership with the Royal African Society

The convening closed Wednesday with a fireside conversation between Stella Okuzu, Director of the Royal African Society, and Keith Levy, introduced by Nancy Armand, The ELC member and International Presence Committee Co-Chair. The discussion centered on Africa’s growing role in global business, investment, innovation, and culture, and the opportunity for deeper, sustained partnership between institutions committed to expanding access, opportunity, and influence across the continent and beyond.

Okuzu spoke with conviction about what that partnership requires. Reflecting on the Society’s 125-year history and its mission to strengthen ties between the UK, Africa, and people of African heritage worldwide, she was direct: “Africa is not asking for help. Africa is asking for a seat at the table to showcase what we can do.”

She highlighted Africa’s youthful population, expanding technology and creative sectors, and the urgency of moving industries up the value chain in areas including agriculture, infrastructure, finance, and entrepreneurship. The conversation was a clear signal that the next era of global business leadership will be shaped significantly by what happens on the African continent, and that the institutions building relationships there now will be best positioned to lead.

The ELC President & CEO, Michael Hyter closed the evening by grounding the moment in the organizations enduring mission, describing the organization’s members as “operators making the room better for others through our brilliance.” It was a fitting close to a week defined by exactly that.

Looking Ahead

The 2026 London Convening was a reflection of where The ELC stands at 40 and a signal of where we are headed. Our international engagement is not incidental to our mission. It is central to it. As global markets evolve and the demands on senior leadership grow more complex, The ELC remains committed to creating the spaces, relationships, and conversations that position our members to lead with lasting influence on the world stage.

The conversations started in London are only the beginning.