FORM TO APPLY FOR THE POSITION OF
President of the European Youth Forum
This form must be filled in and sent back (in pdf and doc format) to the
Secretariat ([email protected]), together with the nomination
and acceptance letters by 2nd October 2016 (23:59 CET).
This form will be published on the Youth Forum website after the
deadline for application and be accessible to member organisations and
the general public.
1. General information on the candidate
NAME
LUIS
SURNAME
ALVARADO MARTINEZ
MEMBER ORGANISATION AEGEE
NOMINATING
AEGEE WITH SUPPORT OF EXCHANGE
MEMBER ORGANISATION GROUP ORGANIZATIONS & CJE
AGE
27
Would you be able to attend at least 25 meetings per year (on average 23 days each) on weekends or weekdays – and be available on other
occasions on an ad hoc basis?
YES – NO
Are you fluent in English or French, with preferably knowledge of the
other language?
YES – NO
Are you available to travel extensively?
YES – NO
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
2. What is your experience and knowledge of the European Youth
Forum, youth work issues and on the functioning and relevant work of
the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations?
Having been around the European and international youth sector scenes for
quite some time over the last year while holding different positions, has
provided me with deep understanding of the European Youth Forum, its
Member Organizations, its processes, strengths and weaknesses. Having
seen YFJ from the its leadership´s perspective, as well as from the leadership
of an MO has provided me with a full picture of all the necessary aspects
which we need to improve in order to become the strongest advocate of
young people´s rights in Europe and the World.
Over the last years, I have been able to deep dive in many of the processes of
the Youth Sector. From the Structured Dialogue on Youth, the EU Youth
funding program negotiations after Youth in Action, the new Erasmus + review
and the upcoming new EU Youth Strategy and post 2018 Youth finding
mechanisms, to processes around participation of young people at the
European Parliament elections, the European Year of Citizens´ and European
Year of Volunteering, and Eastern Partnership youth empowerment to
promoting the Co-Management model both in frameworks of the Council of
Europe and the EU.
I have also spent my fare share of time around the topic of Youth Rights,
helping YFJ develop its narrative while being member of its Expert Group on
what today is known as the document of young people´s access to
fundamental rights, to recognition, validation and certification of NFIL,
competences in Youth Work and acquired by Youth Workers, recognition of
volunteering and helping develop PAVE. Coming from an exchange
organization, mobility, intercultural awareness, understanding and
sensitiveness together with civic education as well as conflict resolution
through peace, dialogue and understanding have always being crucial and
central in my experience as volunteer, youth worker and youth leader.
Finally I have taken part in several United Nations processes and forums,
ranging from the UNDP Global Youth Forums, to UNEP TUNZA Youth
processes in Kenya and Europe around sustainability, youth participation and
education for sustainable development, to work around the former Millennium
Development Goals.
Vice President of the European Youth Forum:
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Delivering key Note speech at the EU Youth Conference of the Dutch
Presidency of the EU
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
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Leading the work of the European Youth Forum´s Shadow Youth
Report
Lead in board´s work around Youth Policy and Structured Dialogue at
EYE Event 2016 Strasbourg.
Managing the EU Youth Policy portfolio co-led with the Expert group
(creation of Expert Group on Youth Policy to create the Toolkit “Quality
Standards for Youth Policy”:
http://www.youthforum.org/assets/2016/06/Toolkit_Quality_Standards.p
df )
Lead in post EU Youth Strategy negotiations (Policy Paper)
Speaker at the debate with Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki Moon
on young people's role in the SDGs during the European Development
Days
Key Note speech at the EU Youth Conference of the Latvian
Presidency of the EU
Lead in YO Fest 2015 Brussels for work around Structured Dialogue.
Chair of the European Steering Committee of the Structured Dialogue
on Youth with the European Commission, the European Youth Forum
and the trio presidencies of the Council of the EU
(Italy/Latvia/Luxembourg & The Netherlands/Slovakia/Malta).
Lead in EU Funding (Erasmus + review, Post 2018 EU Youth program
negotiations, MFF negotiations - Invest in Youth campaign).
Representative of the College of Europe & the European Youth Forum
in the European Student Conference at the University of Yale
Advisory Board Member of AEGEE-Europe/European Students´Forum
AEGEE:
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President of AEGEE-Europe 2012-2014
Representative of AEGEE in the 9th Council of Minister on Youth of the
Council of Europe in Saint Petersburg
Representative of AEGEE in the European Youth Forum with our
Liaison Officer - Marko Grdosic
Managing the process of AEGEE leading the INGYO recognition in the
Structured Dialogue process on Youth
Co-Founder and project team member of Europe on Track (Winner of
the European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2013 of the European
Parliament & Charlemagne Aachen Foundation):
https://www.aegee.org/europeontrack/
Representative of AEGEE in several debates, conferences and
speeches in the framework of the European Youth Forum´s
LoveYouthFuture campaign on the future of the Youth in Action
programme with Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
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Lead in YouthRights.Now campaign of AEGEE, together with IGLYO,
OBESSU, EFIL, YEU, TEJO, CNJ, JEF, YFJ & the Advisory Council on
Youth on young people´s access to fundamental rights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y13Sd7IQrtc
Representative of AEGEE at the UN Office for Africa TUNZA youth
conference with the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi
Part of YFJ´s European Delegation to the Global Youth Forum in Bali,
Indonesia
Board Member of the European Civic Forum (ECF) 2013
Elected Member of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of
Europe with portfolios on Mobility, Education, and Europe-Russia
relations
Lead in the Erasmus Voting Assessment project of AEGEE, ESN &
Generation Europe Foundation: http://erasmusvoting.eu/erasmusvoting-assessment
Board Member of the European Civic Forum (ECF).
TEDx speaker representing AEGEE: Role of Education systems in
fostering creativity and innovation.
Lead in YVote2014, AEGEE´s campaign for the European Parliament
Elections of 2014: http://www.aegee.org/yvote2014/
Lead representative of AEGEE in the EYCA 2013 campaign (European
Year of Citizens´Alliance)
Member of the OSCE Young Leaders Forum 2014
Member of the Spanish/EU delegation of the EU-Eastern Partnership
Young Leaders’ Forum of the European Parliament
Member of the Delegation of the European Movement International
(EMI) to Kyiv during the EuroMaidan movement.
Chair of the Model European Council of the University of Cambridge
Lead for AEGEE as partner during the University on Youth &
Development (UYD) in Mollina, Málaga.
Key note speaker at the Aachen Charlemagne Forum with former
President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy
“Young European of the Year 2013” by the Schwarzkopft Foundation
in Berlin: http://schwarzkopf-stiftung.de/en/luis-alvarado-martinez-istjunger-europaeer-des-jahres-2014/
Lead in AEGEE´s initiative to bring INGYOs involved in the Structured
Dialogue process and work on ideas on what their potential role in the
process could be.
President of AEGEE-Las Palmas 2010-2011
Network Commissioner for Spain, France, Portugal and Switzerland
2010-2011
Board member & Trainers of the Pool of Trainers of AEGEE (AEGEEAcademy) 2011-2012
Representative of AEGEE/CJE in the Structured Dialogue 2011-2013
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
Member of the International Relations Working Group of CJE
3. What is your experience in chairing meetings?
Throughout my experience in the youth sector, I have had to chair all types of
meetings in very different types of contexts. From meetings to volunteers,
youth leaders, professional youth workers, to meetings with government and
international organization elected and non-elected officials.
Some examples:
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Vice President of the European Youth Forum, supporting
President when necessary to chair Board Meetings of the YFJ.
Chair of the European Steering Committee of the Structured
Dialogue (representing YFJ) with the Trio Presidencies of the
Council of the EU (Italy-Latvia-Luxembourg / NetherlandsSlovakia-Malta) and the European Commission.
President of AEGEE-Europe for 2 mandates, chairing Board
meetings, working group meetings, project meetings, and large
volunteer group meetings as well as many meetings with
representatives of the European Parliament, European
Commission, Council of Europe and United Nations.
Board member of the European Civic Forum supporting with run
through of board meetings.
Program Manager at the Rockefeller Foundation´s 100 Resilient
Cities program, managing relations with our member cities and
chairing weekly meetings with city officials and representatives
from international organizations.
Member of the OSCE Young Leaders Forum 2014 chairing
meetings with different youth leader delegations.
Member of the Spanish/EU delegation of the EU-Eastern
Partnership Young Leaders’ Forum of the European Parliament
Member of the Delegation of the European Movement
International (EMI) to Kyiv during the EuroMaidan movement
chairing meetings with different Ukranian stakeholders.
Chair of the Model European Council of the University of
Cambridge
Board member of AEGEE-Las Palmas chairing board meetings.
Network Commissioner and Vice Speaker of AEGEE´s Network
Commission responsible for chairing meetings and leading
locals in Spain, France, Portugal areas.
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
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European representative at the TUNZA Youth conference of the
United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi, chairing
meetings of the European delegations towards drafting
recommendations to Ministers for Environment.
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
4. What is your experience in coordination of groups and projects?
Similar to when it comes to meetings, my different experiences and positions
have provided me with many opportunities to be part of groups, and in many
of those occasions having the responsibility to coordinate such groups. From
the local, to regional, to national and European/international settings, I´ve had
to develop those skills to ensure successful coordination and empowerment of
teams as the only way of delivering successful projects and initiatives. Only
when working together, and when each person in the team feels to its fullest
potential, will the team and the task be successful.
Some examples:
Vice President of YFJ:
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Support and coordination of Expert Group on Youth Policy
Support and coordination of European Steering Committee of the
Structured Dialogue
Support and coordination of Invest in Youth YFJ´s campaign around
MFF negotiations and Erasmus+
Support and coordination around SD and E+ activities at EYE events
and YO Fest.
Support and coordination at EU Youth Conferences.
President of AEGEE Europe:
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Coordination of Board of Directors
Coordination of External Representatives of AEGEE (including in YFJ,
CoE, UN, EU, OSCE, OECD, World Bank, IFISO etc.)
Coordination of AEGEE projects such as Y Vote 2014 campaign for EP
elections 2014, Erasmus Voting Assessment (EVA) project with ESN
and GE Foundation.
Coordination and support of project team of Europe on Track project
(Winner of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2013).
Support and coordination during General Assemblies of AEGEE
Support and coordination during European Delegation meetings at the
TUNZA Youth Conference of UNEP in Kenya.
Support and coordination of European Delegation during the UNDP
Global Youth Forum in Indonesia.
Member of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe.
Coordination of AEGEE volunteers during YFJ´s LoveYouthFuture
campaign.
Coordination of AEGEE volunteers during EYCA 2013 (European Year
of Citizen´s Alliance) campaign.
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
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Coordination of AEGEE volunteers during University of Youth and
Development.
Board members and Trainer of AEGEE´s Pool of Trainers (AEGEE
Academy) organizing trainings, coordinating groups of trainers etc.
Support and coordination of YouthRights.NOW campaign on behalf of
AEGEE with IGLYO, OBESSU, EFIL, YEU, CNJ, JEF, YFJ / AC.
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
5. What is your experience in external representation and public
speaking?
I have been extremely fortunate, that my positions as youth leader at different
levels, ranging from local to international, have allowed me to be in privilege
spaces with all times of decision and policy-makers, giving me solid skills
when it comes to public speaking and external representation, being able to
have a variety of tools to act in different situations, and being able to
communicate organizational messages strongly to other parties.
Some examples:
YFJ:
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General Assemblies of YFJ
Council of Members (COMEMs)
EU Youth Conferences
European Parliament hearings, roundtables, conferences,
debates etc.
European Steering Committee meetings of the Structured
Dialogue.
European Commission roundtables, EU Youth Weeks, review
conferences, panels, coordination meetings.
General Assemblies of Member Organizations
EYE events / YO Fests
Universities of Youth and Development
Debates with MEPs, Commissioners, Ministers & Secretary
General of the UN
TV, radio debates.
AEGEE:
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General Assemblies of AEGEE
General Assemblies of partner organizations
External meetings with corporate partners
European Parliament hearings, roundtables, conferences,
debates etc.
European Commission roundtables, EU Youth Weeks, review
conferences, panels, coordination meetings.
United Nations Environment Program´s TUNZA Youth
Conferences in Nairobi
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
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UNDP Global Youth Forum in Bali
Training courses
Debates with Heads of State, MEPs and Ministers
Debates at Universities around Europe
Debate with Van Rompuy, former President of European
Council, and Martin Schulz, President of the EP, at the
Charlemagne Prize in Aachen.
Debates, panels, and representations at the Council of Europe
(Conference of INGOs, PACE, Joint Councils, AC, World Forum
for Democracy etc.)
TEDx speaches.
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
6. What is your vision and priorities for the European Youth Forum as
President?
VISION:
A European Youth Forum as a leading force to advocate for young people´s
rights.
My vision for the European Youth Forum is based on 4 main pillars:
1. Member Organizations at the core of everything we do.
2. A YFJ which becomes a real driving force, a true Agenda-Setter and
does not simply react to published policies.
3. Amplifying youth work values and passion in everything this platform is
and does.
4. Dialogue, Exchange & Synergy, YFJ´s biggest strength.
WHAT MAKES THIS PLATFORM GREAT?
Before going into my vision of all the things that we can improve, and I believe
currently need strengthening, I thought it was necessary to stop for a second,
and have a small reflection about what are all the things that make this
platform already great, which we should never take for granted and
should applaud as absolute success:
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Its Member Organizations, the most influential, forward-thinking and
strongest youth organizations in our continent. They have the history,
the know-how experience and expertise on how to engage young
people and the issues, which matter to them. They have been pushing
the boundaries in society for years.
No other Civil Society Organization in our sector, and many other
sectors counts on the resources we count on today in YFJ. This should
be seen as a privilege and an opportunity and not a burden.
An instrumental Secretariat, who provides the spine for our platform,
part of our human force, and their invaluable expertise and managerial
experience.
Our Diversity as a platform. This diversity must be converted into
opportunity and not as barrier. There is no other option.
I have also made the conscious decision, while having very strong opinions in
many of the political process we tackle, to allow these discussions to be fully
owned by the Member Organizations. I do not want this campaign and the
elections to interfere with our Work Plan discussions.
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections
Having said this, there are a few processes which are so crucial in the
upcoming 2 years, that will condition what our youth sector will look like in the
next 8-10 years. Processes such as the upcoming MFF (EU budget)
negotiations, Erasmus+ review, new EU Youth Strategy, post 2018 EU
funding program (with strong push for our Non-EU MOs to be included) and
the SDGs, and the role of youth organizations in their implementation. These
must be absolutely crucial advocacy goals for us in the years ahead.
To see the full description of the Vision and detailed description of its
pillars please go to: www.luisalvaradoyfj.com
Questions? [email protected] - www.youthforum.org/elections