Are you inspired by global development and promoting education internationally? Are you a persistent communicator, good at forming networks, or know a lot about funding? Do you want to put some of your knowledge to the use of the rest of the world?
We are looking for people with lots of ideas who are committed and motivated to join the Advisory Board for Development Cooperation (KENKKU) of SYL. SYL is Finland’s largest lobby and service organisation for university students. SYL represents 15 member organizations and 135,000 university students. The development cooperation advisory board advises SYL’s executive board on development cooperation, and administers SYL’s development cooperation projects together with the Coordinator for Development Cooperation.
We expect KENKKU members to commit to their tasks and be motivated but KENKKU is also meant for developing your personal expertise. KENKKU members are expected to attend most meetings during their term.
In 2016-2017 in addition to managing the project in Guatemala, we will take our development cooperation work to a new direction planning, for instance, joint projects and working with businesses. The term of office is from August 2017 to August 2018. We will elect 15 members, some of whom will be continuing from the previous term. The board meets about once a month in Helsinki and teleworks in various degrees between meetings. We serve lunch at the meetings, and also cover the travel expenses for the member of the board to participate in the meetings.
KENKKU members are divided into smaller groups each of which will appoint their Chair and member responsible for communication. We are looking for people with different skills for the advisory board:
- Team members of the communications team for the Advisory Board for Development Cooperation. The communications team will ensure that our development cooperation work is visible on social media, create content and come up with ideas for developing our communication. This time the communications team also gets to design and implement a crow-funding campaign.
- Members of the project administration group for Guatemala
This duty includes work on administering the development cooperation project in Guatemala. Members will also focus on annual reports and plans as well as keep in touch with our local partners. For this position, you will need motivation, interest in and knowledge of project administration, ability to work independently, as well as knowledge of Spanish. The Guatemala project continues until the end of year 2017 and we will make final report of the project in the spring of 2018.
- Members for the funding team
The funding team will ponder SYL’s option for a new direction for our development cooperation work, especially with a view to fundraising. How can we continue our development cooperation work of high quality when circumstances change and the sources of funding from e.g. the Ministry for Foreign Affairs narrow. Members of this team are expected to be inventive and be able to provide points of view on marketing and project funding.
- Members of team(s) planning new projects
Those who participate in the planning of new projects are expected to take the greatest responsibility over building new partnerships and working on project plans under SYL’s guidance.
SYL ask the student unions to submit proposals for 2–3 members for the Advisory Board for Development Cooperation. We do not require student unions to have local development cooperation activities and welcome applicants from various background. Applications should include a résumé and a cover letter. In the letter, the applicant can present their views on and experience in the field. Applicants are also asked to include ideas for how they would improve the level of awareness and knowledge of SYL’s development cooperation work at their student union and among students. Applicants should express their interest in positions based on the position profiles outlined above and to describe their language skills. Similarly, we ask applicants to mention plans that could prevent them from attending several meetings (e.g. studying abroad).
If you’re interested in applying to KENKKU as a representative of AYY, send your application to international@ayy.fi at the latest 11.5.2017 by 4pm. More information: Specialist in International Affairs Milla Ovaska (@ayy.fi). tel. 050-5209446
In our operations, we emphasize diversity and equal opportunities. We hope to receive applications from persons from diverse backgrounds and genders.