Annual report 2010

Success is a Journey

not a Destination

ANNUAL REPORT 2010

2

Table of Contents

Page 3 - 7 Executive Summary

JA-YE Alumni Europe

The European Structure

Presentation of Committee

Page 8 – 13 Presentation of Member Countr ies

Spotlight on National Events

Alumni in Numbers

Why Alumni?

Page 14 – 16 External Communication

New Website

Facebook, LinkedIn

Newsletter; Flying High

Page 17 – 20 National Coordinators Meeting

Alumni at European Business Summit

Alumni in Sardinia

Conference in Lithuania

Alumni at Annual Conference

Page 21 – 23 National Coordinators Meeting in Bulgaria

Annual Alumni Conference in Germany

European Leader for a Day

Sustaining, Developing & Growing

Page 24 – 26 Thanks to Sponsors

Message from JA-YE Europe

Financial Status

PRESENTATION JA-YE ALUMNI

EUROPE

NATIONAL ALUMNI GROUPS

JA-YE ALUMNI EUROPE

THE BRAND

EUROPEAN EVENTS

2010

2011 HERE WE

COME!

THANKS TO ALL OUR PARTNERS

3

2010 has truly been an amazing year for the JA-YE alumni

network; all around Europe we have seen growth and

improvement, and many new countries have joined our

ranks and showed us new exciting ways of organising a

successful alumni group. 2010 was also the year when the

7th annual European alumni conference was hosted by

LJA Alumni club in Vilnius and an exciting National

Coordinators Meeting (NCM) took place in Belgrade in the

spring.

On a European level we also saw a lot of changes this

year; due to an overwhelming interest in joining the

European Committee, the committee was expanded

from four alumni to nine. However, after the expansion

we had to say goodbye to Brian Gjerstrup, our former

General European Coordination (GEC), as his business

demanded his full attention. We thank Brian for all the

amazing work he has done and for his continued

involvement and enthusiasm for JA-YE alumni.

Ending the year on a high note alumni were, for the first

time, invited to take part in a JA-YE Europe Annual

Conference. The 2010 conference was held in Romania

and gave our organisation an amazing opportunity to

promote the alumni network to an all important

stakeholder: the national JA-YE staff in Europe.

2011 promises to be one of the most eventful years in

JA-YE Alumni Europe history, not only will we raise the bar

for how we carry out the NCM, extending the meeting

and including NGO management training for all the

participating representatives, but we will also be

launching a new European event; European Leader for a

Day in collaboration with JA-YE Europe. In the midst of all

these great new initiatives we will be sure not to forget

our promise to improve communication as we launch a

new JA-YE Alumni Europe website in early 2011 and will

continue to strengthen the connections between national

groups.

Before letting you all move on to read about the exciting

JA-YE alumni year of 2010, I would like to give special

thanks to the whole European Coordinators Committee

team, the passion and work they have put into

strengthening JA-YE Alumni Europe is remarkable and it

has been a pleasure working with all of them. I would also

like to thank the whole team at the JA-YE Europe office

for showing a great trust in us and for supporting and

promoting alumni initiatives.

And remember - don't be afraid of falling on your face, it

only proves that you are moving forward!

Louise Edwards

MESSAGE FROM GENERAL EUROPEAN COORDINATOR

What a Difference a Year Makes

JA-YE ALUMNI EUROPE 2010

TO COME…

“I see how much value you are creating for JA-YE and for the community as a whole and I am truly amazed and grateful” Caroline Jenner, CEO JA-YE Europe Read more page 26

4

Making a Difference: JA-YE Alumni Europe – History & Purpose JA-YE Alumni Europe is a Pan-European NGO and non-profit

network existing of young entrepreneurial volunteers

across 14 active European membership countries. Today

the organisation counts around +2,000 registered members

and has a high potential for future growth.

The members are all former participants of mainly the JA-

YE Company Programme and all share a passion for

entrepreneurship and leadership.

The alumni movement started simultaneously in several

countries each acting independently and it all took off in

one big synergy at the first JA-YE Alumni Conference held in

Vilnius, Lithuania in 2004 where on 16 September the JA-YE

Alumni Europe organisation was founded.

Our active members have chosen to prolong their JA-YE

experience by establishing local JA-YE Alumni groups and

actively engaging in the activities of their national JA-YE

organisations, while also creating their own events and

activities. This is giving them an opportunity to gain

experience with leadership, event planning, and starting

and running an organisation.

JA-YE Alumni Europe is the official alumni organisation of

JA-YE Europe and a Corporate Agreement was signed by

both parties back in 2005 to fortify the collaboration.

Alumni support the national JA-YE organisations by

o sending alumni volunteers to national JA-YE trade

fairs

o doing class room presentations to promote JA-YE

programmes to potential students

o being examples of how JA-YE makes a difference, to

be promoted e.g. towards JA-YE’s stakeholders

o giving feedback on JA-YE programmes; the alumni’s

experience and knowledge can be used to improve

the programmes

o mentoring students currently participating in the

Company Programme

o being an engaged base of current and future

potential sponsors of JA-YE and by being an always

reliable source of motivated and capable people


“JA-YE Alumni Europe is a growing network of former JA-YE students.

With the aim to keep alive the passion awakened by JA-YE, we provide

opportunities for personal growth and networking to our members”

-Louise Edwards, GEC

5

GECLouise

EC - MikkoNew Countries

Vice EC - Ricardo

LuxembourgNorwaySerbiaSpain

The Netherlands

EC - ElenaDeveloping Countries

Vice EC - Julia

FinlandItaly

LithuaniaSwedenPortugal

EC - PreslavAdvanced Countries

Vice EC - David

BulgariaDenmarkEstonia

Germany

Secretary in General -Alexandra

Leading the way: The European Structure

In 2010 JA-YE Alumni Europe finished the implementation

of the new organisational structure which is fully focused

on the national alumni groups, referred to as Member

Countries (MCs), and their needs. Alumni organizations

across Europe are now grouped together in three

categories based on their progress: New, Developing and

Advanced. National coordinators (NCs) from each

category are encouraged to communicate with each

other, share best practices and organize cross-border

events.

In alliance with our goal to create stability in the

organization and because of an overwhelming interest in

joining the European committee it was decided to expand

the European Coordinators Committee (ECC) from four to

eight people. This means that the ECC is now less

sensitive to people leaving before their term is up and

that the team will be able to take on more

projects in the future.

The new members of the committee have taken on the

following roles; three new Vice European Coordinators

(Vice ECs) and a Secretary in General (SiG), this will

enable better communication with the national

organizations, as now each category of Membership

Countries has two close working partners; their own

European coordinator (EC) and Vice EC, who will be

focusing on the challenges facing them. In this way the

ECs get to share their responsibilities, while the vice ECs

gain valuable experience and training.

The whole ECC is still elected in an online voting between

the National Coordinators for a 2 year term. Furthermore,

the GEC is still the official representative of JA-YE Alumni

Europe to key stakeholders and partners, while the new

SiG is responsible for internal communication and project

coordination.

Furthermore, the network provides all

alumni members the opportunity of -internships

-participation in JA-YE Europe and JA-YE Alumni Europe events

-relationship building and networking across borders, religions and cultures

-developing leadership skills -working with a common goal in an

inspiring volunteer environment

JA-YE Alumni Europe provides its primary members,

the National Coordinators, the opportunity of

- cross border networking -knowledge sharing

-operational cooperation between membership countries

-development training for leading volunteers


6

Presentation of the European Coordinators Committee


What do you do when not consumed with alumni work?

I’m a student and an entrepreneur.

Why alumni?

My experience with JA-YE Alumni changed my life and made me more mature and motivated to go after my dreams. JA -YE Alumni means success and l ifelong friendships to me.

What’s coming up?

I would l ike to see many new JA -YE Alumni projects that wil l make an impa ct in our society. I will work to ensure stable funding for the organization, to secure its future growth and development. Most of all in 2011 I am looking forward to meeting of National Coordinators in Bulgaria and the alumni conference in Germany.

Preslav Mitranov, 22

European Coordinator

Louise Edwards, 24

General European Coordinator



Louise Edwards, 24


Preslav Mitranov,


I’m currently a 5t h

semester bachelor student at Aarhus School of Business (ASB) and an Organisational Behaviour tutor at the Department of Management.

Why alumni?

The alumni network has given me the chance to continue down the road of learning by doing, I guess you could say that JA-YE gave me an amazing sense of direction and the alumni work has given me a path. The work is so rewarding becau se of the friendships you make and the network you gain, like every JA -YE alumni would tell you it’s all about the people, personal development and the remarkable alumni spirit.

What’s coming up?

A personal priority for me is to continue to strengthen the European network; in 2011 this will mean launching our new dynamic website and reaching out more to all the National Coordinators with events and opportunities for them .


I’m currently a 5 th semester bachelor student at Aarhus School of Business (ASB) and an Organisational Behaviour tutor at the Department of Management at ASB

Why alumni?

The alumni groups has given me the chance to continue down the road of learning by doing, starting a company through J A-YE gave me an amazing sense of direction and I guess you could say that the alumni work has given me a path. Furthermore the work is so rewarding because of the friendships you make and the European network you are able to create, like every JA-YE alumni would tell you it’s all about the people, personal development and the remarkable alumni spirit.

What’s coming up?

It’s such an amazing time for the alumni network right now and so much will happen during the next year, a personal priority for me is to strengthen our communication both internally and externally e.g. by launching a new dynamic website and reaching out more to all the National Coordinators.


I’m currently a 5 th semester bachelor student at Aarhus School of Business (ASB) and an Organisational Behaviour tutor at the Department of Management at ASB

Why alumni?

The alumni network has given me the chance to continue down the road of learning by doing, starting a company through JA -YE gave me an amazing sense of direction and I guess you could say that the alumni work has given me a path. Furthermore the work is so rewarding because of the friendships you make and the European network you gain, like every JA-YE alumni would tell you it’s all about the people, personal development and the remarkable alumni spirit.

Louise Edwards, 24


Louise Edwards, 24


Louise Edwards, 24


Louise Edwards, 24


Louise Edwards, 24



I’m an entrepreneur and also working with the Finnish Community of Entrepreneurship.

Why alumni?

JA-YE alumni is group of passionate young leaders, who share the same JA -YE experience. It is a network of continu ed development and learning, where we want to give back, share knowledge and provide opportunities to Europe’s youth.

What’s coming up?

In the next year I would l ike to see many new countries joining our European network and be able to provide more opportu nities to our alumni around Europe. Also we should aim to have a bigger NC meeting and Alumni Conference; we have already shown that our organization works extremely well internationally now it´s t ime to expand.

Mikko Jaatinen, 24


Louise Edwards, 24




What do you do when not consumed with alumn i work?

I’m an entrepreneur and a student.

Why alumni?

JA-YE Alumni has brought great inspiration, strong motivation and true friends into my life! Being an active part of JA -YE Alumni Europe is my proof that passion, persistence and creativity are all you need for your dreams to come true!

What’s coming up?

I want to focus on working with th e developing countries, as it would be great to direct and assist them towards reaching the sustainable level of the advanced countries. This combined with persistent, communication and the strong online presence will bring numerous benefits to JA-YE Alumni Europe.

Elena Tosheva, 22


Louise Edwards, 24


7



I’m currently a 7th semester bachelor stude nt at Sofia University majoring in Economics and a Project Associate at UniCredit Bulbank.

Why alumni?

Being part of the JA-YE alumni organization has been my one -way ticket to an environment where I am constantly discovering and developing my potential, g rowing both personally and professionally, getting inspired and pushing the limits together with the friends I met there. JA -YE Alumni is the place where we learn together, grow together and take active part in bringing the change .

What’s coming up?

As our network is growing and developing a priority of mine wil l be the internal communication and establishing and encouraging best practise sharing across borders, so we can grow together as one strong European organization. .

Alexandra Angelova, 22

Secretary in General

Louise Edwards, 24




Louise Edwards, 24




Louise Edwards, 24



I’m a 5th semester bachelor student of Information Science at the University of Porto .

Why alumni?

Involved with JA-YE Alumni Europe for several months now, I can say that the people I’ve met along the way are incredible, inspiring, funny, professional and true role models for Europe’s youth.

What’s coming up?

As a member of the board I want to help JA -YE Alumni Europe reach another level. We have the possibility of fast growth and of becoming recognized as a brand of quality, innovation, professionalism and creativity, this is what I want to work on making happen.

Ricardo Costa, 21

Vice European Coordinator

Louise Edwards, 24




Louise Edwards, 24




What do you do when not consumed wit h alumni work?

I 'm currently attending the last year of my Master Degree at the Faculty of Enginee ring of the University of Porto and member of the International organisation ShARE.

Why alumni?

Alumni showed me that a group of young creatives with a can -do attitude can not only be capable of generating excellent ideas, but also has the ability to put them into practice, as real professionals. It has undoubtedly been a milestone achievement in my l ife and in my personal development.

What’s coming up?

As a fan of quality improvement, I want to establish some quality standards principles that al low us to meet and exceed the alumni's needs and expectations.

David Eiras, 23


Louise Edwards, 24



I 'm a Project Manager at Young Enterprise Sweden and have been working within the organisation since I was in the Co mpany Programme myself.

Why alumni?

The JA-YE alumni group has given me the opportunity to meet inspiring young people who are just l ike me, driven to explore and curious to realize their true potential. For me, JA-YE alumni is a platform where open minded people meet to discover that nothing is impossible.

What’s coming up?

I want to help create and support a stronger collaboration between the membership countries and also welcome new countries into the alumni family.

Julia Tollin, 21


Louise Edwards, 24




8

GET TO KNOW THE NATIONAL ALUMNI NETWORKS



National Alumni Groups








SENT

Category: Advanced

Members: 51-100,

10 welcomed in 2010

National coordinator:

Siret Villmann

Highlight of the year: We took part in

hosting the Enterprise Village, which

was a new project for us that we

are now planning to

develop further.

Spotlight on Bulgaria

JA Success Stories Book 2010

‘JA Success Stories in Bulgaria’ is a small book that contains the

remarkable stories of young people who have been inspired by

the JA programmes and the Alumni experience to start their own

business or become successful professionals.

JA Alumni Bulgaria took the challenge

of organizing the whole process of

creating this book; from searching

and contacting people to creating

the structure and design. In the end

the one word that best sum up the

process was inspirational to all involved.

For the former students, now professionals, this is a chance to

share where they are now and what role JA and JA Alumni has

had in their lives and what has worked for them along the way.

For us, this is a way to give credit and recognize Junior

Achievement and Alumni for everything they have done in

supporting and nurturing this success. These success stories are

several concrete examples of the achieved results which

become more tangible as the time goes by.


JA-YE Alumni Sweden

Category: Developing

Members: 350 all welcomed in 2010

International coordinator:

Kristin Hallberg

Highlight of the year:

National alumni conference where we

created the alumni advisory board.

The 27 participants at the conference

where picked out by 17 regional

JA-YE offices.

JA Alumni Spain

Category: New

Members: 6-20, 5 welcomed in 2010

National coordinator: Francisco Ruiz

Highlight of the year: Setting up the

alumni board, finding two important

sponsors and the collection of

information on more than 600 JA

alumni that we’ll contact in the

coming year in order to

start recruiting.

9

Spotlight on Germany

wwWebsiteContest

An ideal way to strengthen an alumni network

Today a website is essential for every company – sometimes

it’s the only way for stakeholders to get information or where

they get the first impression of the company.

JENZ (JA-YE Alumni Germany) wants to motivate the young JA-YE

entrepreneurs to focus on the possibilities of the internet and to

acquire all necessary skills to develop a website. Therefore JENZ

offers JA-YE entrepreneurs the possibility to show their creativity

and technical expertise through a website contest in parallel with

the Company Programme.

All participants are judged by a jury of alumni following a strict

catalogue of different criteria, such as design, content and special

features.

The contest was introduced in 2005 and 50 companies participate

every year. This concept was perfect to introduce the German

alumni network to the Company Programme

participants. JENZ wants all JA-YE

Company Programme participants to

deal with the internet as a marketing

medium, so that the quality of the

websites will be improved over time.

The long-term aim is to activate the

alumni network, strengthen the

teamwork between the members and

attract new members.

JA-YE Alumni Finland




Emma-Stina Vehmanen


We organized excellent YE

24-hour-camps for the students in

vocational schools and upper

secondary schools in

Southern Finland.

YEAD

Young Enterprise Alumni Denmark

Category: Advanced

Members: more than 200, 45 welcomed in 2010


Christian Erfurt-Hansen

Highlight of the year: hosted a large business

dinner with motivational key note speakers,

stand-up entertainment and over 400

participants. Furthermore we had a great YEAD

Camp this summer with speakers,

workshops and 40 participants.


JA-YE Alumni Portugal


Members: 90, 40 welcomed in 2010


Ricardo Martins Costa


Setting up a regional structure and

success of JA-YE Europe Trade Fair

2010 where alumni

volunteered

10

JA-YE Alumni Bulgaria

Category: Advanced

Members: 51-100

National coordinator: Boris Kolev


2010 was a great year where we celebrated

the 10th

anniversary of the alumni club,

organized the most successful national Big

Sister project to date and where we succeeded

in providing our local JA Office with help

and assistance at their events

and projects throughout

the year.

Lietuvos Junior Achievement

Absolventų klubas


Members: 51-100

National coordinator: Martynas Žurauskas


The biggest event was the European

conference, which was a huge challenge for

our organization. The successful organization

of it proved that the club is capable of

organizing such events.

Spotlight on the Netherlands

Renewed Dutch Alumni association launched in October

2010

In partnership with JA-YE Netherlands it was decided to set

up a totally new structure for JA-YE Alumni Netherlands

which means they are no longer registered as an

association at the Chamber of Commerce but as a

department of JA-YE Netherlands.

This has had many positive outcomes. For example: it is

much easier to collaborate with JA-YE Netherlands in order

to make the alumni network grow and be valuable for

both alumni and JA-YE Netherlands.

Currently the organization is in a phase of deciding what

should be done by whom and how it will be possible to

keep the board motivated and full of ideas. The board is

excited to have taken this first step in order to sustain the

future of the alumni organisation.

Spotlight on the Finland

Enterprise Society

Enterprise Society (known also as Biztown in JA US) is an

educational program about society, companies and

professions. It’s organized by the Economic Information

Office who brought the concept to Europe. During 15

Enterprise Society days in spring 2010 about 750 children,

ages 11-12, took part in the program in Finland.

Enterprise Society contains 14 different enterprises and public

sector services. During the days students work in their

profession, receive salary, consume goods and services and

take part in public decision making.

At the Enterprise Society event alumni worked as tutors,

helping the students running their society. Being a tutor has

been a rewarding experience for about 20 members of the

alumni organization and the cooperation with the Economic

Information Office has brought with it financial support for

the JA-YE Alumni Finland.

JA-YE Alumni Norway

Category: New

Members: 20, all welcomed

in 2010


Petter Ravn Dossland


Starting up the

organisation


11

Spotlight on Sweden

UF alumni Sweden

There are alumni from the Company Programme

working at 24 different Young Enterprise-offices in

Sweden, which is one reason for the big success

and growth of the educational concept. The

strength of having great ambassadors within the

organisation is priceless. Therefore Young

Enterprise Sweden sees the importance of

investing in alumni and has found partners that

have sponsored a project manager at the national

office with full focus on creating an

entrepreneurship network filled with former

Company Programme students.

The alumni started with arranging a national

alumni conference with the goal to find active

members to develop and contribute to the

network and we now have a great base of

devoted people. 2011 will be a very interesting

year thanks to the national Young Enterprise

board having accepted an alumni budget with a

lot of place for activities.

The alumni project manager also managed to get

about 350 alumni registered thanks to the website

and the great online-registration. It’s now time to

start planning activities for them.

Starting up alumni from within Young Enterprise is

something that will provide sustainability and

structure to UF alumni.

Spotlight on Estonia

Enterprise village

From 1 - 4 November Estonian primary school children had an

amazing chance to discover how the financial system really

works. Four events during those four days in the “Enterprise

village“ were organized by SENT (JA-YE Alumni Estonia) and MP

Business and Consulting and carried out by hard-working SENT

alumni.

Every day 25-30 students had the opportunity to work in a

certain business – bank, newspaper, shop, beauty salon etc. -

being part of the financial system both as an

employee/employer and as a private person. Each participant

had their own 8-step plan to follow during the game and after

the steps the whole group discussed, what they had learned.

The feedback from the participants was only good and proved

once again that the sooner children start to learn about

economics and enterprise, the better and easier for them

later on.

JA Alumni Italia



National coordinator: Davide Coppaloni

Highlight of the year: Volunteering for JA at

the Social Innovation Camp, Big brothers &

sisters, Company program national

competition, European Company of the

Year Competition, and at the Financial

Innovation Camp.

JO Alumni Netherlands

Category: New

Members: 21-50


Erik van Zummeren


Re-launching the Dutch

alumni network

JUNIOR

Ehemaligen Netzwerk e.V.

Category: Advanced


National coordinator: Bernd Holzmüller

Highlight of the year: Our national

conference "JENZ Perspectives" – was

great as always. This year we also got

very far in officially becoming a

non-profit organization in

Germany.


JA Alumni Serbia

Category: New

Members: 21-50


Aleksandar Elezovic


Organizing the National Coordinators

meeting in Belgrade and keeping

the organisation alive through

some trying times.

12

34%

33%

33%

Category

New

Developing

Advanced

17%

33%33%

17%

Number of Members

more than 200

51 to 100

21 to 50

6 to 20

59%33%

8%

Structure

National Board

Board + Regional Structure

Other

.

JA-YE Alumni in Numbers

“33% of our membership

countries (MCs) are now in the

category of Advanced Countries”

“66% of our MCs have between 21 and 100

alumni members.

17% already have more than 200 members.

The complete absence of MCs with a number of

members between 101 and 200 indicates that

the number of members is growing

exponentially rather than gradually”

“33 % of our membership countries have the

need for a board and regional structure due to

their growth or the geographical dispersion of

their members, which shows that JA-YE Alumni

members come from a variety of places.

92 % of our membership countries follow a

standard structured model of organization,

using either a National Board or a Board plus

Regional Structures”

“During 2010, 620 new JA-YE students

have joined our membership countries all over Europe,

which represents a growth of almost 30% since 2009”

ADDING IT UP:


13

Why JA-YE Alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

MAKING A DIFFERENCE TO EUROPE’S YOUTH




”JA-YE alumni has taken me places and allowed me to meet tremendous people,

all part of this fantastic network”

Alumni from Denmark

“Through JA-YE alumni I've gained a huge network both national and international

and had the chance to meet inspiring people”

Alumni from Norway Through JA-YE alumni I've gained a huge

“I have invested my energy, passion, ambition, curiosity and time in the Alumni Network in

Bulgaria and I’m very proud with what JA Alumni Bulgaria is today.

When I try to imagine how I would have spent the last 7 years of my life without JA Alumni Club

I just can’t” Alumni from Bulgaria

“JA-YE alumni is a network with great people and great friends,

a place where I can share everything good and bad and a

place where people trust and help each other.

We change ourselves and the world”

Alumni from Bulgaria

“For me, the alumni network is like a family - although not together all

the time, you always know you can count on

everybody” Alumni from Estonia

“Talking and working with alumni give me inspiration and motivation to do more

and become more” Alumni from Sweden

“JA-YE Alumni gave me the opportunity to meet

amazing people, people that will positively

change Europe”

Alumni from Portugal

“I've been a member of the alumni network for only

few months, but so far this has been fantastic!

I've met great people, participated in an inspiring Alumni Conference and

developed the Finnish alumni organization all of which has been very rewarding.

I'm very excited to see how great the next year will be!” Alumni from Finland

“Alumni for me is my link to Europe, thanks to the

network I can get in contact with people from all over

Europe and share business ideas, experiences, new

opportunities and I’m sure to always find fantastic

people!” Alumni from Italy

“Working with the JA-YE alumni network both nationally and internationally has given me more

than I could have ever imagined. My company would simply not have

existed if I hadn’t had the alumni network to help me in times of crisis. I truly believe that "success is a journey,

not a destination" and my journey wouldn’t have been the same

without JA-YE” Alumni from Denmark

“For me the alumni network is a great community with all

different kinds of people that share the same spirit.

When I started being part of the network I wanted to thank JUNIOR for

the project and the work they have done for me.

JENZ gives me the ability to do this in a very good and fulfilling way”

Alumni from Germany

14

External platform JA-YE Alumni Europe is a young, dynamic and professional network and in the last few years we have been working hard to reflect these values in our communications. To make sure that we can provide our stakeholders with exactly the service and information they are searching for we have spread out our presence over different platforms.

JA-YE Alumni Europe – The Brand








PRESENTING THE STRENGTHENED COMMUNICATION CHANNELS


GET TO KNOW THE NATIONAL ALUMNI NETWOR KS

Our website will be our channel to all

external stakeholders; this is where our sponsors can get to know us and

where information about all our events and other relevant data can

be found. The website will be a relatively static platform; however,

it will be updated with news and offers for all our alumni

members.

Our Facebook page is the dynamic place where we share current offers and small teasers for upcoming

events; furthermore, it’s the place where all alumni can share

news, recommendations and other messages with

each other. Our LinkedIn group

is a new initiative to provide our members with a professional

platform where they can network with other alumni. This group will also make it possible for alumni to show to the rest of their network

that they are affiliated with a European entrepreneurial

network.

In our newsletter both members and other

stakeholders can get a resume of what has been going on both at a European and national level in the organisation. It is both a source of

information, motivation and inspiration, as the stories often centre on alumni

who are making a difference and daring to take a chance

when opportunity knocks.


15

Website

JA-YE Alumni Europe is launching a new website! In February the new European alumni website will be introduced. Gathering information about the organisation, our events and filled with the latest news from all over Europe this will be the launch of the alumni website we have all been waiting for. The website will be built on the SHARE platform, a customised website system built by Cisco for JA-YE Europe. Several national JA-YE organisations have already adopted this new platform and now it is JA-YE Alumni Europe’s turn. Using this platform will give us a professional look with a large support system behind it and most importantly create a consistent look and feel between JA-YE Europe and JA-YE Alumni Europe.

Facebook After a great start in 2009 the JA-YE Alumni Europe page on Facebook has managed to attract more than 430 ‘likes’, 235 of those joining the site in 2010. This is a great accomplishment for an organization of our size, however, even more impressive is the level of activity on the page; December 2010 saw on average 500 active users on the site and 13,238 viewed posts on the page. All this proves that the page has managed to keep all the alumni interested and is achieving the aim of providing valuable and useful information to its followers. The example set by JA-YE Alumni Europe and other national alumni groups has also lead to the creation of many more national pages including a Norwegian, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Italian and Spanish to mention a few of the countries with significant visibility on Facebook.

LinkedIn A new JA-YE Alumni Europe group on LinkedIn was created in the end of December, 2010 with the idea to bring the networking and communication between Alumni to another social platform. LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site and therefore fits our aim of being a professional network for entrepreneurial minded young Europeans perfectly. After just a few days with no promotional effort over 30 people had joined the new group which reveals its great potential.


16

Newsletter 2010 saw five issues of Flying High, the JA-YE Alumni Europe’s newsletter, being released. The newsletter has been sent out since its origin in 2004 and now reaches more than 500 alumni and JA-YE Alumni Europe stakeholders. The newsletter contains news about what is happening on the European level of the organization, offers to alumni from stakeholders such as JA-YE Europe and personal stories from alumni that excel and national alumni groups and their achievements. In the end of 2010 Louise Edwards stepped down as the Editor-and-Chief after taking on the General European Coordinator role, going forward Sara Green Brodersen a communication student from Denmark will take over, breathing new life and style into the newsletter.

First edition, 2004

17th edition, Nov. 2010

Coming together is

a beginning

Keeping together is

a process

Working together

is success


17

Walking the Talk: European Events 2010








WHAT HAS JA-YE ALUMNI EUROPE BEEN UP TO IN 2010?



National Coordinators Meeting, Belgrade 30 April - 2 May 2010

Alumni participation in the

European Business Summit, Brussels 30 June – 1 July 2010

Alumni participation in the JA-YE Europe Company of the Year Competition, Cagliari 20-23 July 2010

JA-YE Alumni Europe Conference, Vilnius 23-27 September 2010

Alumni participation in the JA-YE Europe Annual Conference, Bucharest 30 November – 3 December 2010


18

National Coordinators Meeting 2010, Belgrade, Serbia.

Alumni Serbia’s great motivation to host coupled with the European

Coordinator Committees strategic goal of facilitating and supporting the

creation of new membership countries were the main elements that

brought the NCM to Belgrade, Serbia in April 2010.

Gathering Alumni representatives from over 6 countries to discuss the

development of the JA-YE Alumni Europe network, how to improve the

running of the national alumni groups and the sharing of best and worst

practices were just a few of the things which kept the participants busy

during the three day meeting.

The Serbian hosts and the European committee had done an amazing job organising

and planning the whole event and although presentations and discussions were taking

place from early morning until the very late afternoon everyone felt energized,

motivated and inspired. Topics covered passing on knowledge to new members,

enabling cross border collaboration, brainstorming on new European projects,

improving communications and how to best spread the opportunities which we

have created.

“What I have always found amazing about Alumni events is that only a few days

is enough to meet new people and become close friends. Sharing the same

enthusiasm about entrepreneurship, having the vision and dreaming about

changing the world is what brings us closer to each other every time and

strengthens the Alumni network“

- Elena Tosheva, participant

European Business summit and partnership with ThinkYoung

In the spring of 2010 JA-YE Alumni Europe, through an introduction from

JA-YE Europe, started a collaboration with the Brussels based youth think

tank ThinkYoung. The goal of this collaboration was to find and involve

Europe’s future leaders in a survey that aimed to find out what high

potential Europeans think needs to happen to put Europe back on track.

Where better to search for extraordinary young Europeans than in the JA-

YE Alumni Europe network? In total 35 alumni took part and helped form

the base for the Putting Europe Back on Track report.

This report was used as a point of comparison to a larger Accenture report

on what Europe’s current leaders think Europe needs. In total 2,000 CEO’s

took part and the result was presented at the 2010 European Business

Summit. For the alumni effort two tickets to the Brussels conference

were given and two alumni drawn to attend.

This gave Kristin Hallberg, Sweden and Louise Edwards, Denmark the experience of a life time,

as they got to take part in this extraordinary event alongside the likes of José Manuel Barroso,

Herman Van Rompuy and a whole host of CEO’s and got to witness discussions on how to

make sure Europe stays competitive in relation to Asia and how to get wireless

internet for all Europeans and much more.

What is an NCM? The National Coordinators Meetings

are held twice each year with the purpose of gathering

representatives from all member countries and giving them the

opportunity to meet, share best practices and plan future projects

together.

"We lobby for young people" ThinkYoung is a think-tank concerned

with young Europeans. Their main activities include

• conducting surveys • organising and contributing to conferences

• shooting documentary films about young people's lives

ThinkYoung’s aim is to make Brussels

aware of what young people think. Their vision is to make Europe

think young.


19

Alumni in Sardinia

For the first time, Alumni from all around Europe were invited to take part as volunteers

in the JA-YE Europe Company of the Year Competition 2010. The invitation came from JA

Italy and five international alumni plus several Italian alumni got the opportunity to work

behind the scenes at JA-YE Europe’s biggest annual event.

The international alumni were picked by the European Coordinators Committee based on

their motivational letters and a few days before the event the alumni from Luxembourg,

Portugal and Sweden all flew to Sardinia to prepare.

After seven days of decorating the hotels, organizing transportation, coordinating dinners

and lunches and welcoming the participants the alumni could be proud of a job well done.

The experience was considered a success by everyone involved. The individual alumni got to be part of a huge European

event, meet some very interesting influential people and give back to JA-YE. In return JA-YE got to have an international team

to help at their event, a team that was afterwards praised for always being professional, good at handling the stressful

situations and at all times keen on solving problems.

With the great example set by the alumni in Sardinia we are sure to see a lot more international alumni volunteers at the JA-

YE Europe events coming up in 2011.

The European Alumni Conference - September 2010

In 2010 the 7th JA-YE Alumni Europe Conference took place in Vilnius, Lithuania. With

more than 40 alumni attending the event, from ten different European countries, it

was once again one of the highlights of the JA-YE Alumni Europe year. This year´s

theme was “Employability: life skills in use”, focusing on what skills Europe’s youth

will need in the future and how to develop these life skills.

The JA-YE Alumni Europe Conference is the biggest alumni happening of the year, as it

gathers together passionate alumni from all over Europe to develop

their leadership skills and ‘Learn by doing’. Since 2004 it has been

organized annually and it laid the foundation for the European

network. Alumni membership countries can apply to host the

conference, with the European Coordinators Committee (ECC) and

JA-YE Europe making the final decision on who the host should be.

A combination of the alumni passion and the hard work put into the

conference by the Lithuanian alumni group, gave all participants a

once in a lifetime experience, with the Lithuanian group gaining a

lot of experience in areas such as: managing a multicultural group,

event planning, organising and working within a tight schedule.

The conference was a great success; not only did the participants

gain a lot of knowledge, develop their network and expanded their horizons, but

new countries, such as Spain, also joined the European network at the event. Most

importantly, everybody left the conference with a high level of energy and passion,

motivated and ready to continue with the alumni work.

“The level of dedication of the alumni at this event

has now once and for all shown the advantages it has for the

hosting countries”

– Ricardo Martins Costa, participant

"It was all of YOU [participants] who were there,

who created the perfect atmosphere for learning, improving and achieving! It was wonderful to see how so many

different nationalities, personalities and traditions managed to get along and

being so different and so united at the same time."

-Egle Gruselionyte,

co-host of Conference

Previous JA-YE Alumni Europe Conferences:

2004: Vilnius, Lithuania 2005: Oslo, Norway 2006: Paris, France

2007: Sofia, Bulgaria 2008: Milan, Italy

2009: Copenhagen, Denmark 2010: Vilnius, Lithuania

Attending countries 2010:

Portugal Spain

Lithuania Finland Sweden

Denmark Norway Estonia

Germany Bulgaria


20

Alumni Europe’s first participation at a JA-YE Europe Annual Conference

In December each year JA-YE Europe hosts a conference for the national JA-YE CEOs and staff, this

year a small delegation from the JA-YE Alumni Europe Committee was invited to facilitate workshops

and network at the event.

The Committee knew that the JA-YE Europe Annual Conference in Bucharest would be a

great opportunity and the perfect platform to increase awareness and spread

information about all the European and national alumni activities. However, the

committee could never have foreseen that the alumni work and participation would

have been so warmly welcomed and appreciated.

The topic of the 2010 conference was how to improve and develop JA-YE’s educational

programmes and how these are to be implemented. At the conference the alumni team

facilitated the workshops and sessions, arranged energizers and ice breaking games for all

participants to engage in, while always making sure to network and talk about JA-YE Alumni.

This gave the participating alumni a better understanding of the diversity of the challenges

faced by different national JA-YE countries, and how the alumni network can become

better at supporting the national offices. The participating alumni also took away

from the experience that the national offices value the importance of investing in

alumni and that they welcome the alumni input.

Caroline Jenner, CEO of JA-YE Europe, and the rest of the JA-YE Europe staff gave the

alumni team many great opportunities to present the organisation throughout the

conference. In the otherwise closed CEO meeting on the last day the General European

Coordinator, Louise Edwards, was given five minutes to express how alumni can be

beneficial for the national JA-YE organisations. The presentation was a great success and was

followed up with many interesting discussions on how to start up alumni in new countries and

how to develop in others.

Louise Edwards, Ricardo Martins Costa, Mikko Jaatinen and Julia Tollins expectations

for the JA-YE Europe Annual Conference were completely exceeded


21

READ ABOUT ALL THE EXCITING EVENTS COMING UP IN 2011



Taking the next step: 2011 - Here We Come

Taking the next step: 2011 – Here We Come








New Event: European Leader

for a Day Brussels, Belgium

European Alumni

Conference 2011 Munich, Germany

National Coordinator’s Meeting 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria

New Alumni Europe

Website

New look and feel

for Flying High

New Volunteering Opportunities

for Alumni

Improvements of the Alumni

Europe presence and brand

2011 the Year of -Sustaining,

Developing and Growing

22

National Coordinator’s Meeting 2011 Sofia, Bulgaria

Biggest, boldest, best

The theme for the upcoming NCM is “Management of Youth Organizations and

Initiatives”. It clearly supports JA-YE Alumni Europe’s commitment to give valuable

knowledge to its national leaders and increase the quality of their projects. During the

5-day meeting all participants will learn a lot about successful NGO management, they

will meet new friends and contribute to the development of JA-YE Alumni Europe and

their national organizations.

This year there were three Alumni groups competing to organize the first NCM for

2011 and after voting the ECC chose Alumni Business Club Bulgaria (ABCB) to be the

host. The meeting will take place from 18 - 22 May 2011 and will include interesting

lectures, sharing best and worst practices, discussions and interactive workshops. As a

result the attending NCs will learn how to motivate volunteers, execute events and will

be encouraged to work more in partnership with other Alumni organizations.

In order to make this NCM accessible to as many NCs as possible we plan to make it

almost free of charge for all participants. The European Union’s Program “Youth in

Action” will make this possible. Currently the application procedure is in progress but

we believe that “Management of Youth Organizations and Initiatives” will meet the

criteria and become one of the most successful NC Meetings so far.

Annual Alumni Conference in Germany

Passion, Professionalism, People

The event of the year –the European alumni conference - will in 2011 take place in

Munich, Germany. In the second week of September JA-YE Alumni

Europe and the German alumni group JENZ will be welcoming

alumni from all over Europe for a week of learning, networking,

friendship building and fun!

With the planning of this conference already being well on its way

and the dates already set, the goal is to make this the most attended

European alumni conference to date.

NCM 2011: Management of

Youth Organizations and Initiatives

Conference 2004 Vilnius, Lithuania

Conference 2005 Oslo, Norway

Conference 2006

Paris, France

Conference 2007

Sofia, Bulgaria

Conference 2008

Milan, Italy

Conference 2009

Copenhagen, Denmark


Conference 2010 Vilnius, Lithuania

23

The Unveiling of a New European Alumni Event: European Leader for a Day

One of the most successful alumni events is going international!

2011 is going to be a groundbreaking year for the alumni organisation for many

reasons, one of them is the launch of a new big event: European Leader for a Day.

This event will be a collaboration between JA-YE Alumni Europe and JA-YE Europe

and in broad terms it will entail the following: an alumni jury will go to the JA-YE

Company of the Year Competition in Oslo, Norway, there they have the task of

picking out the Company Programme participants with the most alumni potential,

the award to the chosen participant will be to go to Brussels and there follow a

European leader around for one day.

This event will be a great new programme, not only for the participants, but also for the whole

alumni network. The participants will get the fantastic opportunity to follow a great leader around for a day, gaining an

invaluable insight into the business world and what being an international leader entails. The alumni network will experience

a great influx of highly talented new members, the participants, and have the chance to carry out another European event

involving active alumni from all over Europe and making the alumni network more visible in the process.

All the details about the event and opportunities to be involved will become available during the year.

Sustaining, developing and growing

In 2009, when the new European committee was elected, a strategy for the next two years was decided on. The three

strategic pillars within the strategy has laid the foundation for many of the initiatives that have been taken over the last year

and as 2010 has ended it is time to take stock of our progress:

Develop European projects

-Provide opportunity for cross border networking.

Improve our communication

-Promote JA-YE Alumni Europe to key

stakeholders.

-Have a consistent look and feel in our message.

Advancement of membership countries

-Supply development training for National coordinators.

-Facilitate learning and relationship building across borders.

-Provide exclusive opportunities for alumni members.

The progress of the European network is clear, but this is no time to rest on our laurels. For the JA-YE Alumni Europe network

to sustain the positive development and continue to grow we need to keep the momentum and aim to always bring

commitment, professionalism and passion to our work.

Alumni opportunities include: Participation in

European events and conferences +

internship opportunity at JA-YE Europe and

much more..

2011 will see the first NCM

centred around NC development

training

The new European structure is set up to facilitate

collaboration between countries

With the new alumni website we

will for the first time have a medium

aimed at all stakeholders

Over the last year our communication

has gotten increasingly consistent

This process is only getting

started...

Will this provide our members with new opportunities?

Is the criteria question which we

judge all our actions by

2011 will see the launch of a new European alumni event:

European Leader for a Day

Work continues on creating more cross

border events


24

JA-YE Alumni Europe is a non-profit network organisation built and maintained by volunteers.

Therefore we are extra grateful for our sponsors and partners who are listed below:

‘

Thank you for

always being there with great knowledge

and network to support our growth

throughout Europe.

Thank you for:

IT IS THOUGH YOUR SUPPORT THAT WE THRIVE



Thanks to Our Sponsors and Partners

Thanks to our sponsors and partners



Thank you for

being our main sponsor and supporter from the

very beginning. Thanks for enabling us to continue the work of JA-YE Europe in the name of

Entrepreneurship.

Thank you for:

Always

Thank you for

giving us a breakthrough in our online collaboration

and making it possible for

volunteers to work together across

Europe.

Thank you for

making it possible to situate the National

Coordinators meeting in Belgrade for the first

time.

Thanks for hosting us and providing top quality

facilities.

Thank you

37signals

Thank you for

sponsoring the JA-YE Alumni Europe Conference 2010 and

making the cross border collaboration

possible.

25

Financial Report

The JA-YE Alumni Europe has a limited use of resources compared to its achievements; an overview can be seen in the last

figure. Here follows the main elements of the financial status, based mainly on estimated expenses.

NCM Belgrade, Serbia

Participants: 10 international + 5 local

Meeting length: 3 days (2 nights)

Expenses Source Amount (EUR)

1. Travel Privately funded by ECs & NCs Est. 1,650.00

2. Accommodation Privately funded by ECs & NCs 300.00

3. Conference facilities Sponsorship by USAID Serbia Est. 400.00

4. Food Privately funded by ECs & NCs 250.00

Total: 2,600.00

JA-YE Alumni Conference Vilnius, Lithuania

Participants: 45

Length: 5 days (4 nights)

Expenses Amount (EUR)

1. Accommodation 3,215.00

2. Food 4,663.00

3. Transportation (in Lithuania) 941.00

4. Transportation (flights) 5,957.00

5. Administration 1,108.00

6. Marketing 1,455.00

Total: 17,339.00

Income Amount (EUR)

1. EU grant 15,127.00

2. Participant fees 2,250.00

Total: 17,377.00

Surplus 38.00

IT systems

Expenses Source Amount (EUR)

1. Online office Sponsored by 37 Signals 410.00

Total: 410.00

Overall Expenses in 2010

Summarized expenses Source Amount (EUR)

1. NCM Belgrade, Serbia 15 % Sponsored by USAID Serbia (in

kind) and 85 % Privately funded

2,600.00

2. JA-YE Alumni Conference

Vilnius, Lithuania

87 % Sponsored by EU grant and

13 % Participation fees

17,339.00

3. IT systems Sponsored by 37Signals (in kind) 410.00

Total: 20,349.00


26

Dear JA-YE Alumni!

2010 was an exciting year for us and for you. Thank you for playing such an important role in it. You have set a tremendous example for your peers and for the young

people who are following in your footsteps. Your participation at the large European Business Summit in Brussels where you joined the youth sessions helped add another

dimension to JA-YE's reputation as an 'expert in youth, education and economic development' among policy-makers and business leaders.

You gave time and energy during our Company of the Year Competition in Italy last

summer - working hard to make sure the participating students had the experience of a lifetime. You helped with the judging process and all the details associated with

managing large events like this. You were out in force again at our annual staff conference in Bucharest-as facilitators, enthusiastic participants and co-organizers.

You've taken all your responsibilities seriously and with so much enthusiasm at the same time!

I am proud of how professional you have become as a network. I see how much value you are creating for JA-YE and for the community as a whole and I am truly amazed

and grateful.

Looking forward to working with you again in 2011 and on behalf of all of us at JA-YE Europe and at JA Worldwide, a big thanks for all that you do.

Caroline Jenner Chief Executive Officer

JA-YE Europe

Report Highlights &

a Message from JA-YE Europe

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

Why JA-YE alumni?

“JA-YE alumni is a platform where open minded people meet to discover

that nothing is impossible”

“For me, the alumni network is like a family - although not together all the time, you always

know you can count on everybody”

“Sharing the same enthusiasm about entrepreneurship and

dreaming about changing the world is what brings us closer to each other every time and

strengthens the Alumni network”

“We could never have

foreseen that the alumni participation would have

been so warmly welcomed and appreciated”

“JA-YE Alumni is my proof that passion,

persistence and creativity are all you

need for your dreams to come

true!”


27

Louise Edwards General European Coordinator [email protected]




EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITORIAL TEAM Sara Green Brodersen

Editor- in-chief Flying High [email protected]

Sara Green Brodersen

Editor-in-chief Flying High [email protected]





Also thanks to the National Coordinators for their contribution to this report




Preslav Mitranov European Coordinator [email protected]




David Eiras Vice European Coordinator [email protected]




Elena Tosheva European Coordinator [email protected]




Mikko Jaatinen European Coordinator [email protected]




Jul ia Tol lin Vice European Coordinator Jul [email protected]

Julia Tollin Vice European Coordinator [email protected]



Ricardo Martins Costa Vice European Coordinator [email protected]



Alexandra Angelova Secretary in General [email protected]



Boris Kolev [email protected]

Boris Kolev

[email protected]

Boris Kolev

[email protected]

Boris Kolev

[email protected]

Emma-Stina Vehmanen [email protected]

Emma-Stina Vehmanen

[email protected]

Emma-Stina Vehmanen

[email protected]

Emma-Stina Vehmanen

[email protected]

Siret Vil lmann Siret.vi l [email protected]

Siret Villmann

[email protected]

Siret Villmann

[email protected]

Siret Villmann

[email protected]

Christian Erfurt-Hansen [email protected]


[email protected]


[email protected]


[email protected]

Martynas Žurauskas martynaszurauskas@gmail .com

Martynas Žurauskas [email protected]



Davide Coppaloni Dade_coppa88@hotmail. i t

Davide Coppaloni

[email protected]

Davide Coppaloni

[email protected]

Davide Coppaloni

[email protected]

Bernd Holzmüller [email protected]

Bernd Holzmüller

[email protected]

Bernd Holzmüller

[email protected]

Bernd Holzmüller

[email protected]

Erik van Zummeren [email protected]

Erik van Zummeren

[email protected]

Erik van Zummeren

[email protected]

Erik van Zummeren

Mail@erikvanzummer

Ricardo Martins Costa [email protected]


[email protected]


Petter Ravn Dossland [email protected]


[email protected]


[email protected]

Aleksandar Elezovic [email protected]

Aleksandar Elezovic [email protected]

Krist in Hallberg krist [email protected]

Francisco José Ruiz [email protected]

Francisco José Ruiz

Penny Perry JA-YE Europe [email protected]

Penny Perry

JA-YE Europe [email protected]

Penny Perry


Penny Perry


Roxana Stefanescu JA-YE Europe [email protected]



Brian Gjerstrup Advisor [email protected]




Annual report 2010

Documents

jaye alumni network

jaye alumni europe history

alumni initiatives

lithuania alumni

exciting jaye alumni

national events alumni

jaye europe office

jaye europe annual conference