2020 Online JCI European Conference Ceremony Honors Award Winners

From 12-21 June, JCI members and friends from across the world enjoyed keynotes, panels and entertainment at the first ever Online JCI European Conference. The two week program was packed with informational sessions, fun activities and a taste of Dublin.

The JCI Europe team and the Conference Organizing Committee hosted the Awards Ceremony on 20 June to honor outstanding JCI members, organizations and projects that have made an incredible impact at the local, national and international level.

You’ll find all of the 2020 award winners here.  

Members

Most Outstanding New Member
Tara McGinley
JCI Dublin, Ireland

Joining JCI in April 2019, Tara has jumped right into leadership roles, taking on responsibilities like Debate competitions in Lyon, running Irish Night at the European Conference and becoming a Community Director for 2020. Her dedication to promoting environmental justice led her to become a project lead for JCI Dublin World CleanUp Day working with key partners Smurfit Kappa and the Dublin City Council. The result of her efforts came when 92 bags of waste were picked up from North Inner City Dublin. In getting ready for the event Tara took part in another city clean up, making connections with a community group, the Friends of the Royal Canal, which she believes JCI Dublin will be more active partners with next year. Tara has also actively participated in the majority of local events, attending the monthly workshops as well a number of full-day training sessions. Her amazing accomplishments in the first 6 months of her membership make her an inspiration to other young leaders in the community.

Most Outstanding Member
Mikkel Kaffka Schwarz
JCI København, Denmark

Over the course of 2019, Mikkel has taken on responsibilities to develop JCI locally, nationally and internationally. In his local efforts, Mikkel has worked in JCI Copenhagen to support the strong onboarding program by ensuring that new members are well onboarded. He was a host for 11 guests arranging a “Flying Start” (intro to JCI) for 9 new members and organized “Presenter” for the local organization. Nationally, Mikkel helped to manage the Danish award program, certified as a judge and trainer in the national debating competition and is supporting the national organization of “World Cleanup Day” with 11 chapters. At the international level, Mikkel was a passionate trainer at the European Academy and was honored to be chosen to host a training course at the World Congress in Tallinn. An active member of his community, Mikkel has been active in local politics, contributing to improving the public debating level and enforcing democracy. Not only does Mikkel spend time actively participating in local democracy, he strives to promote education as well, serving as a judge in the Danish entrepreneur-competition “Young Enterprise”, giving high-school students a chance to pitch their business ideas. A shining example of serving others, Mikkel embodies what it means to be an active young leader.

Most Outstanding Local President
Ellen Walker
JCI Manchester, United Kingdom

During Ellen Walker’s leadership in 2019, JCI Manchester had one of it’s most successful years in a testament to her leadership. Some accomplishments include inspiring the board to continue working hard throughout the entire year, organizing 6 social events with over 400 participants, hosting 13 training and development events, 7 charity and wellbeing programs and even hosting the Manchester Young Talent Awards. Additionally, Ellen focused on finding sponsorship and balancing the financials of JCI Manchester to ensure the longevity of the group. She was able to source £9,000 in sponsorship for 2019.  Not only does she focus on ensuring there is a strong financial balance, she works to expand the health and wellness of members by introducing programs to raise awareness. Working her professional life in the legal industry, Ellen is very aware of the mental health stigmas that exist and hopes her community involvement in programs like Anxiety UK will help others seek the help and support they need. She is an amazing example of leadership in JCI.

Organizations

Most Outstanding New Local Organization
JCI Südpfalz
Germany

JCI Südpfalz has done a wonderful job of empowering members to get involved in the community and make positive change through JCI. One of the fastest growing local organizations in Germany, they have worked hard on the promotion of development opportunities for members as a key success factor in the expansion of the chapter. With a community of 42 paying members, they work through different channels to attract new colleagues like participating in regional networking and political events that provide access to a strong network of diverse people. This year, they have already recruited 32 new members via this channel and have made more than 300 people aware of the activities of JCI through their presence. Offering numerous workshops with the content of rhetoric, public appearance and agile work, members have used these skills to get elected to the board of JCI Rhineland-Palatinate just one month after it was founded, showing true leadership and growth. JCI Südpfalz is proudly continuing to grow membership, community involvement and working towards becoming a strong chapter in Germany.

Most Outstanding Local Organization
JCI Adana
Turkey

JCI Adana takes pride in their position as an organization that creates sustainable impact in the local community by uniting stakeholders. By collaborating and acting collectively to use the ACF in creating sustainable impact, JCI Adana contributes to their plan of action.  Working with more than 20 local and national stakeholders on projects, they increased motivation and engaged the community on multiple events. The organization also worked hard to invest in their members and finances in order to continue growing sustainably in line with strategic goals of achieving 30% growth. Working on many peace events, environmental projects, community outreach and member empowerment efforts, JCI Adana radiates positivity and engagement as they work together to create an innovative and sustainable community of young people.

Projects and Programs

Best Inter-Organization Collaboration Project
Effective Weekend
JCI Galway, Ireland

Realizing that many members were struggling to stay encouraged and active during the COVID-19 pandemic period, JCI Galway organized the project Effective Weekend to host a series of JCI leadership courses training sessions. In an effort to cultivate more future leaders for the local and national organizations, JCI members utilized latest video-conferencing technology to conduct and transform all the face-to-face training to the online versions, which also brought a new learning experience to the JCI trainers as well. Partnering with 6 trainers from 6 different countries, 4 local chapters in Ireland and members from over fifteen different countries, the Effective Weekend brought together a diverse group of people to continue learning and growing. A wonderful example of adapting to the changing world and ensuring that members still have access to training and development opportunities during these trying times.

Best Local Peace Project
Planting For Peace
JCI Adana, Turkey

In commemoration of a member who has since passed away, JCI Adana created Planting for Peace to honor Baris, whose name means peace. Consisting of 2 stages, this project aims to bring together people who speak different languages, practice different religions, and are different races to all collectively learn about “Peace is possible” and to create a synergy between participants. The synergy is created with a flower planting workshop that will signify peace, networking, and strengthening of community. In the second stage, members aimed to introduce and explain the cultural values of the city they live in to young people who come to the city from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Sudan, Ukraine, Romania and Gambia.

Best Local Community Empowerment Program
Equal Chances for an Active Life
JCI Ungheni, Moldova

Noticing a need for improving the quality of life for community members who are locomotory disabled in the city of Ungheni, members set out to help reduce social exclusion and discrimination based on having a handicap. Members wanted to spread democratic values and strengthen the development of open-minded society throughout the course of this project. Lasting three months, this project required the involvement and cooperation of the community and local authorities. In order to achieve the project goals, members organized a sports tournament that raised funds for 10 individuals in the community with disabilities, 2 who were able to secure new wheelchairs! With the help of volunteers, JCI members and the community, 10 teams competed in the event and raised money using entry fees and an auction.  Overall, this project helped to further JCI’s mission of ensuring that service to humanity is the greatest work of life, by helping to reduce discrimination and offer equal chances for an active social life.

Best Local Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program
Down Syndrome Association Aid Concert
JCI Culture, Turkey

Wanting to make the tradition of handover ceremonies more of a community impact event, members of JCI Culture turned their handover into a collaborative event with the Down Syndrome Association in Turkey to raise money and awareness for the cause. Bringing together 14 different brands and 4 artists to sponsor the project the aim of the project was to increase the awareness shown to disadvantaged groups and to ensure that big brands continue to make commitments to their corporate social responsibility promises. The charity concert helped to raise community awareness and support for both social responsibility projects and JCI.

Best Local Economic Development Program
Young Entrepreneurs mini MBA
JCI Bucuresti, Romania

Seeing the need for support in the entrepreneurial field for young entrepreneurs, members of JCI Bucuresti developed a mentoring program. Young Entrepreneurs mini MBA is a 5 month long mentorship program and business school where young entrepreneurs can grow their business and engage with experienced entrepreneurs and specialists using know-how transfer which allows them to learn best practices for building sustainable and successful businesses. Based on real Romanian case studies, these trainings offer young people the chance to learn tangible skills that can translate to better business in the community.

Best Local Global Goals Project
Alături de Medici / Alongside Medics
JCI Constanta, Romania

Seeing the need for more personal protection equipment, members of JCI Constanta began production of face shields and masks to help doctors and medical staff and police officers to protect them from COVID-19 virus while serving the community. With the help of two local entrepreneurs, Aurelian Anghelescu and Vasile Catalin, JCI Constanta was able to provide face shields using the CNC machines provided by these partners. In an effort to be a sustainable project, a blueprint for 3D printed face masks was developed for future use as well as mask string clips, making this program a supplier of 3 important face protection products against COVID-19 infection. Uniting under the JCI strategic plan, members wanted to ensure that they were taking responsibility for shaping the future by embracing negativity to address the issue and identify a way to turn things around.

Best Local Growth & Development Program
First Comes The People: A Capital’s Story On Local Growing And Development By Investing In The People
JCI Ankara, Turkey

After using a SWOT analysis to determine the goals for the new year of leadership, the newly elected board of JCI Ankara selected 7 pillars to focus on in 2020. Some notable pillars include representing the chapter more in the local community, building the branding of the local chapter and growing membership in different sectors of society. Using an extensive timeline of metrics will allow the board to successfully accomplish each pillar over the course of the year. Setting high standards and goals for the year is one way the members of JCI Ankara are staying true to their plan of action and JCI values.

Best Local Personal Skill Development Program
Inspiring Action – Developing Leaders
JCI Nottingham, United Kingdom

Hoping to continue inspiring action from young leader, JCI Nottingham opened up training and development events to the community and students through a partnership with Nottingham Trent University. A relatively new chapter, JCI Nottingham wanted to create a Skills Development Program “Inspiring Action” that would enhance members’ experience and create opportunities for personal development and ongoing learning. Launching in January 2019 and running until the end of the year, the training hosted a personal development course each month led by different industry experts. Some of the training sessions include, Goal Setting & Motivation, Developing Your Business Idea: Entrepreneurial Skills, Networking & Personal Brand and Developing Leaders. A true testament to the power of developing young leaders, this project inspired over 250 young people in the community who attended these sessions!

Best Long-term Local Community Program
Turkey Connecting Business Asia
JCI Bahçeşehir, Turkey

With a strong entrepreneurial and business focused community in Turkey, members of JCI Bahcesehir wanted to increase trade relations between countries in Asia-Pacific and Turkey.  Hoping to initiate collaboration, members created events to bring guest speakers from places like DEIK, TUSIAD and China Institute Turkey as well as organizing three events in Indonesia, Philippines and Taiwan in collaboration with JCI Asia Pacific network. Collaborating with JCI Asia Pacific network, members aimed to match business leaders who are interested in gaining new exposure to trade relations and linking business platforms to help connect industries. Helping to bring more focus to Turkish entrepreneurs, this project is a wonderful example of innovative collaboration across countries, bringing the world of business together.

Most Outstanding Local Project
Equal Chances for An Active Life
JCI Ungheni, Moldova

Noticing a need for improving the quality of life for community members who are locomotory disabled in the city of Ungheni, members set out to help reduce social exclusion and discrimination based on having a handicap. Members wanted to spread democratic values and strengthen the development of open-minded society throughout the course of this project. Lasting three months, this project required the involvement and cooperation of the community and local authorities. In order to achieve the project goals, members organized a sports tournament that raised funds for 10 individuals in the community with disabilities, 2 who were able to secure new wheelchairs! With the help of volunteers, JCI members and the community, 10 teams competed in the event and raised money using entry fees and an auction.  Overall, this project helped to further JCI’s mission of ensuring that service to humanity is the greatest work of life, by helping to reduce discrimination and offer equal chances for an active social life.

Best National Flagship Program
Friendly Business Awards
JCI Dublin, Ireland

Developing young leaders means honoring great businesses in the community. The Friendly Business Awards is a project developed by JCI Dublin that serves to highlight businesses who excelled in customer service across a number of categories which included digital experience, customer care, community impact, age friendliness, eco friendliness, shop layout & design and disability access. JCI branches across Ireland hosted local events where the friendliest businesses in each area were awarded. Winners advanced to a national final, where the winners were crowned at a big ceremony as a way to strengthen existing partnerships, form new connections, integrate business into JCI and even attract new members. Membership numbers grew by over 10% as a result of this project and JCI Dublin acquired new local and national partners, a true testament to collaboration and innovation within JCI.

Best National Growth & Development Program
2020 Management Camp
JCI Ankara, Turkey

Members in JCI Ankara noticed a need to harmonize the yearly objectives, strategies and events between national organizations and local chapters. They wanted to improve administrative capacity by helping to effectively train incoming board members and increase the interaction and collaboration between JCI members and senators. By creating the program 2020 Management Camp, members were able to focus on strengthening the institutional capacity of both national organizations and local organizations. With the synergy created during the Management Camp, each local branch started more recruitment activities in their cities and JCI Ankara members noticed that activities of local organizations increased by more than 20%. These amazing efforts to increase active participation in recruitment and better training for incoming board members shows a dedication to creating sustainable leadership in JCI.

Debating and Public Speaking

Debating
Team JCI Scotland (English)
Team Blanc (French)
Team Ritter der Schwafelrunde (German)

The Unofficial Online European Debating Championship (online) was conducted in English, French and German and included participants from all over Europe.

Public Speaking
Sonia Ahmadi
JCI Norway

The Unofficial Online European Public Speaking competition was conducted in English.

Extempore Public Speaking
Giselle Borg
JCI Malta

For the first time, the Extempore Public Speaking took place, and it was conducted in English. In this program, participants have just a few seconds to prepare their speech (instead of knowing the topic a day before), and they have just 2 minutes of free speech (instead of 15 minutes).