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One of JCI Leeds’ newest recruits Georgie Abbott recently travelled to her first international event after only three months of being a member!

Georgie really has embraced everything that membership  of JCI Leeds (and beyond!) has to offer by attending local events and council meetings, taking part in community projects and attending the JCI Global Partnership Summit in New York in her first three months of being a member of JCI Leeds.

Georgie was one of 300 delegates at the JCI Global Partnership Summit, a conference aimed at exploring ways that active citizens from all sectors of society – government, business, civil and the United Nations and its agencies can work both individually and collectively to enhance grassroots efforts to realise the objectives of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The summit also:

• Increased awareness of the need for improved partnership to address issues of local and global concern.
• Strengthened partnership among JCI Local and National Organizations and local businesses, governments an international organizations, including the Coca Cola Company and the United Nations Foundation.
• Increased awareness of malaria as a global issue and reinforced the dedication of JCI to raise money for more than one million insecticide-treated bed nets by 2015.

The event included a variety of talks from senior members of organisations in relation to the Millennium Development Goals, such as Ban Ki Moon – UN Secretary General, Gillian Sorensen – Senior Advisor to the United Nations Foundation, Afzaal Malik – Vice President of International Relations at the Coca Cola Company and Adriana Logalbo – Director of the UN Foundation Nothing But Nets Campaign.

As well as the numerous high profile speakers Georgie also joined the workshop on fundraising through partnership, facilitated by Adrianna Logalbo. She learnt a lot which she is hoping to bring back to JCI Leeds community projects and helping JCI UK to coordinate a national awareness raising event for 2011.

Overall Georgie summed up her experience:

‘There are a number of things that I will take away from my experience at the JCI Global Partnership Summit in New York. Firstly it increased my awareness of JCI as a global organisation and made me realise that being part of JCI provides an incredible platform for new and exciting opportunities and for networking with people from all over the world. 

‘Secondly I learnt from other chambers that you can achieve more in terms of fundraising when you come together on a national scale and I would definitely like to be involved in making this happen more in the UK. I also learnt that celebrating success is important as it helps to inspire others and create positive change. 

‘Attending this event improved my knowledge of international challenges and gave me the opportunity to network with people to explore new ways to work in partnership. I learnt more about Malaria and why it is so important that JCI remain committed to their dedication to raise more than 1 million bed nets by 2015. 

‘I will contribute towards achieving this goal by working with members of my local chamber in Leeds and on a national and international level. I would like to encourage other members of JCI UK to attend an international event, because I guarantee you will be very inspired and have a fantastic time!’

If you’d like to find out more about opportunities to attend international events contact our International Director.