The YES Seminar for me has been a transformative experience, which I am grateful for the opportunity to share today.
YES stands for Youth Empowerment Space and is a network of young leaders from across Europe, holding seminars and leadership training every year.
The peers I met there worked in a wide range of roles, which gave the opportunity to discuss the different work our YMCAs serve, and share best practise and inspirational stories.
I was inspirited again to find that wherever people are across the globe, they share the same YMCA heart, all wanting to do the best for the young people and communities they serve, with genuine care for those around them.
In the time that we were there, we learned about leadership, networking, governance, advocacy, project initiation, management and measurement, and networking.
We also looked at how young people suffer injustice, what young people need, the structure of YES and YMCA Europe, and the YMCA Europe strategy and how we could contribute to it as a forum.
The experience was led by fantastic young leaders, who inspired and motivated us to get young voices heard and to do our best for our YMCA.
We were graced with fantastic guest speaker, Ed Edink President of YMCA Europe, who gave his time to talk to us and answer questions, and also joined us for lunch so that we could share stories and learn from him.
Our experience was held in the Scouts Madrid Hostel, with thanks to Juan Simoes Iglesias of YMCA Spain who warmly welcomed us and took care of us during our entire stay.
The seminar helped to thoroughly prepare us for the YMCA Europe General Assembly, and fostered growth and leadership in all that attended.
I would recommend the YES seminar to any young leader hoping to give a voice for young people.
The experience helps to build, prepare and inspire, and brings individuals into a wide network of people across Europe working towards a strong goal: to empower young people and give them a voice.
Great post Ashleigh, love the photos.
ReplyDelete