Wednesday, 6th October 2010

Board & Secretariat

The recent statutory changes have made it clear that the platform is moving in a direction of giving the Board more responsibility in terms of strategic development of the YFJ.  With more power also comes more responsibility. Thus the need for ever more transparent decision-making, especially in establishing non-permanent working structures will be crucial.

For me the Board needs to work as a proper team in which everyone has a place of his/her own, where each member can feel ownership of the work being done, cooperate in a cross-sectoral way and mutual assist each other. But this also means staying committed for the entire period of two years and living up to the electoral promises. As President I would ensure that all Board members can give input on all topics while maintaining the thematic responsibilities for the areas of work that are to be decided. I would also introduce a mechanism of internal monitoring of the progress made via regular reports and not shy away from getting my hands dirty if needed by confronting a given Board member that wouldn't be living up to his/her promises.

The Secretariat is the backbone of any organisation and having more than 25 employees the YFJ Secretariat is doing a great job in managing the daily affairs of our work and offers excellent support to its members. But there is always room for improvement like in anything else in life. However, the Board should not manage the Secretariat as we have people (s)elected to do that. But the Board should be able to critically asses the work of the Secretariat and voice those opinions and possible concerns to the Secretary-General as its manager and then work jointly to find solutions or implement improvements. The entire YFJ policy department is one of our platforms biggest assets as we have committed youth experts working daily on the issues that concern young people in Europe. The policy officer as experts should thus also be given more opportunity to speak up on behalf of the YFJ when an expert opinion is asked and not only work for the Board but rather with the Board on a given issue.

Having served in three Executive Boards of JEF-Europe I know what it takes to be in a properly European team with a diverse cultural and linguistic background and all the benefits as well as challenges that such diversity brings along. Moreover, I have a proven record of being a good motivator and with leading by example I'm convinced that I could build a proper team that would work towards a more inclusive and transparent platform for the benefit of all its members.