New Additions to the Team
This month we welcomed a new full-time staff member, Jessica Woitalla. She will be working as a Project Manager and Proposal Writer, a joint-position serving YMCA Europe and World YMCA.
The position will aid in implementing our strategic goals by helping to identify external funding opportunities and to assist in connecting national movements and wider YMCA partners together through the creation and implementation of impact-oriented programs and projects at international and local levels. Currently, the induction process into the organization with is fully underway.
Additionally, the office has had the pleasure of welcoming our new intern, Hannah Sauer. Hannah is a current International Relations student from the Rhine-Waal University in Germany and will be with us until the beginning of August. In her studies, she has a special focus on advocacy in EU foreign policy and conflict studies.
Hannah will be using her knowledge and skillset to assist us in areas of advocacy, migration, and youth policy. Over this past month, she has been specifically involved with supporting the Youth Policy Group (YPG), the Youth Empowerment Space (YES), and our working group on refugees.
Welcome to the team, Jessica and Hannah!
Meeting with the Secretary General in the Brussels Office
Our Secretary General, Juan Simoes Iglesias stopped into the office this month for a full day of meetings. He met with the new team members to welcome them officially and to discuss their involvement in implementing the next steps in our strategy.
He also met with our Executive Secretary for Movement Strengthening, Olga Lukina to discuss current developments, our approach to the refugees' crisis, and the movement strengthening elements within our approach. Also on the agenda, was the Executive Professional Master “Management of Civil Society Organisations”.
Overall, a great and productive day in the office and we are looking forward to many more of these in the future!
Youth Policy Group (YPG)
Over the past month, the Youth Policy Group (YPG) has been in full swing as they prepare for the European Youth Forum – Council of Members (COMEM) conference next month. The European Youth Forum (YFJ) is an alliance of youth organizations across Europe joined together to advocate for youth rights and related topics to the EU Institutions.
Our representatives for this year's COMEM will be Jonathan van Varik (YMCA Nederlands) and Hannah Sauer (YMCA Europe). Jonathan will be present in person at the conference and Hannah will join online due to COVID-19 restrictions. They have been meeting with various YMCA affiliates and partners, such as the Scouts, the YFJ Board Member responsible for YMCA Europe – Tom Matthew, and the value-based coalition.
We are wishing the YPG luck at next month's conference!
Impact Measurement for Youth Organisations (MIYO)
The first consortium meeting of the International Project "Impact Measurement for Youth Organisations" took place this month. YMCA Europe and YMCA Nederlands are partners in this project coordinated by the European Scout Region.
We are very proud and happy to be part of this consortium. We are looking forward to collecting, improving, and elaborating impact measurement tools and training young leaders on how to implement them.
Meeting with Eurodesk
Executive Secretary for Movement Strengthening, Olga Lukina, met Eurodesk representatives for discussions of a potential partnership and for an interview about youth empowerment and YMCA Europe’s Leadership Academy program.
