Motivation & Priorities

The world around us is changing at an immense speed and so are the realities of young people. Young people deserve a Scouting program which, deeply rooted in our values, evolves to meet the challenges of a new generation.

It must contribute to young people’s education and skills because they are humanity’s best bet to tackle our biggest challenges, e.g. COVID recovery, sustainable living and global inequalities.

My motivation to serve the world’s leading youth movement on the World Scout Committee is simple: I want to ensure that Scouting remains a relevant space for young people to become fulfilled active citizens who contribute to positive change in themselves, their communities and the world.

Having served in a variety of national, regional and global Scouting roles, I have developed a good understanding of the challenges Regions and NSOs are facing in bringing better Scouting to more young people.

My Thoughts on Issues and Opportunities

A lot has been achieved in the past triennium but there’s much left to do. I believe supporting National Scout Organizations is at the core of a strategic World Scout Committee.

In partnership with NSOs, the Regions, and the World Scout Bureau, we need to

  • shape an ambitious vision for Scouting after 2023,
  • evolve our educational core based on young people’s needs,
  • strengthen good governance practices,
  • focus on quality growth,
  • better align global and regional work,
  • lead by example on youth empowerment, and
  • sharpen Scouting’s image as a powerful force for good.
People around the campfire in the night

My Contribution

Beyond my professional expertise in organizational development and digital communications, I’m offering a creative, strategic-conceptual mindset and a pragmatic, service-oriented approach to getting things done. All this while focusing on our special Scout methods and not forgetting that having fun is a core element of a volunteer movement like ours.

To align our efforts around Vision 2023, I believe we will need collaboration, active listening, an empowering environment, and the ability to respond quickly to changing realities. In my Scouting roles I’ve sought to deliver this as a servant leader, building consensus, including less represented voices, and focusing on good governance as well as a smart and effective use of our resources. Two examples to showcase this:

  • In the summer of 2020 I led the team that was called to develop of the first-ever World Scout Academy as a quick response to the COVID 19 challenges in Scouting. For this, we needed to listen to NSO needs, bring together the best content of WOSM’s program and governance areas as well as good practices from NSOs, design an accessible event format online, and ensure continuous improvement.

  • In my four years as global lead volunteer for communications and strategic partnerships, I have led, coached and empowered a variety of teams, units, and projects to deliver on the WOSM triennial plan. Many forward-thinking initiatives have emerged from this, including the Global Scouting Communications Network, an online exchange and learning community for NSO communicators, and the Youth Representatives,  a highly skilled group of young people to advance Scouting’s advocacy efforts. For these projects, I needed to assemble the movement’s experts in staff and volunteering, ensure a diversity of opinions, build a common vision, push our innovation spirit, and enable self-directed teams.