Dear oikos community,
What a turbulent month since we came together to celebrate the FutureLab in Geneva and became part of the new oikos international board. When thinking back, we still can feel the ambition and excitement in the room and we are really grateful for your trust and great commitment.
But who are actually the persons behind the superficial presentations you listened to?
Well, there’s CLEMENTINE, the mother of the household who’s burning the midnight oil; ALEXIS, the master of time, creating her own time zone while being omnipresent in all oikos communication channels; JAKOB who best knows how to keep the balance between cutting the corners and the costs while hitting the roads of France with his bike; BENOIT, the charismatic nurse for the elderly oikees who brings a lot of experience and innovative insights; SOPHIE, the silver lining of our team and eyes, voice & heart of the chapters and regions; WYATT, the strategic mastermind with a heart and a soul of gold; SARAH, who holds all oikos projects in her 20 divine hands and knows how to shift perspectives along the way; and EVA, hitting every nail on the head with her enthusiastic passion for moving oikos to the next level. There’s even more info available, right here: https://oikos-international.org/board/
And why did the individuals who make our team decide to join the oikos Board?
This is an easy fix: We are driven to be involved in oikos international as we carry oikos’ purpose and mission in our hearts and agree that they are a powerful means of contributing to a more sustainable world. Empowering student change agents and raising awareness for sustainability out of several different perspectives seem powerful tools – and our organization acts on it with a rich portfolio of chapter activities, international projects and inspiring personal stories. Last but not least, we also sense the need of a transformational change in curriculum and we are more than proud to observe the power of our community in this field, for instance in the curriculum project which was launched during the FutureLab. oikos is close to our hearts and we are passionate about our community, about you out there – that’s why we decided to also put in a good amount of our time and brains 😉
What do we want to reach as a team and for the community? What do we consider the main objectives for oikos in 2019?
We wish to empower and involve the oikos community on a more direct and emotional level, enabling the organization to act as a whole and to be inspired by each other. One example is a new decision-making process: we now need your opinion in order to make far-reaching decisions! Furthermore, we want to strengthen the network by giving space for a new structure that is currently under development by the ReStructuring Working Group (YEHAA!). In other words: one goal is to improve community interaction & knowledge exchange. Be assured that we will also contribute with our knowledge with interactive toolkits and webinars on topics like self-management or marketing.
But 2019 is also asking for a revision of our projects – in order to fit our needs, goals, mission, and vision, to be up to date at the pulse of time. The high turnover of personnel leads to many open positions – especially regarding the project heads. Maybe you can be the one who steps into this beautiful opportunity and makes some magic happen?
Usually, every NGO sees itself confronted with a more or less tight budget constraint, which is particularly true for us these days. We, therefore, need to center around the task of easing this constraint as much as possible, so that we can continue with our inspiring gatherings, vision-related programs and new campaigns! In this regard, it is particularly motivating to be part of a communal effort within this unique team – we give our best to get this done. In the medium-run, you can also expect advice to support you on your chapter-related fundraising (ultimately, our work is all about you!).
Getting ready for these stormy days, we are now in the process of establishing a more efficient and coherent Information Infrastructure. The need was there for a long time – we’ll now take over and simplify things, help with a clear overview and archive stuff that doesn’t suit the organization any longer.
There are exciting oikos times ahead and we all look forward to making things happen – with you as the main actors. We are proud of you and believe in our collective potential to become and inspire the change agents of our days. Let’s move on and get this going – together!
Have a great Christmas holiday & watch out for more news to come.
See you in Belgrade,
Clementine, Alexis, Wyatt, Sarah, Jakob, Ben, Eva & Sophie
