By Jan Sedlacek, Secretary 2020/2021
If you are a subscriber to any of our social media, and you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few months (we wouldn’t blame if you did), then you certainly noticed we are now actively looking for an enthusiastic group of young people to take over from us once our own Board year ends in August. But among the talk of CVs, motivation letters and supporting documents, the essence of what a Board member does may get lost. Let me take this opportunity to zoom in a little from my last blogpost about the structure of the TEIMUN Foundation and tell you a little but about what the Board and its members do!
You already know that TEIMUN is a non-profit Foundation. Unlike a study or a student association for example, we do not have any members, and are wholly focused on organizing conferences, educational activities, and keeping the Foundation running. All that sounds like a lot of work, but trust me, its manageable. TEIMUN Board members spend about 8-12 hours a week on tasks related to their positions. This means that we can still focus conscientiously on your studies and pursue other activities as well. We are all full-time bachelor and master students. Two of us are also studying at the Honours College. One Board member did an internship on top of everything else, and others are also involved in sporting, community, and educational events next to the bread and butter of what they do. So, if your concerns about not being able to manage everything are keeping you from applying, fear not – it’s all perfectly combinable. But who are we to begin with?
Most exposure to the Foundation and what we do comes from Tais, our PR Coordinator. Tais plans, creates, and manages all of our social media content. She is also in charge of making posters, designing our documents, and structuring the work of the journalists during our conferences. She is the one who makes sure that when we organize something, the world knows about it. On the reach-out side there is also Ritwika, our Participants Coordinator. Rits is in charge of answering any questions prospective delegates may have, handling applications, assigning delegates to their councils, and keeping in contact with delegations who have been a welcome addition to the TEIMUN conference for many years already. She is also behind the certificates everyone receives when attending the GrunnMUN or TEIMUN conferences.
What about the money? First, there is Thomas, our Treasurer. He is responsible for drafting all our budgets, communicating with the Audit Committee, monitoring expenses throughout the conferences, closing insurance policies, making payments, and overall making sure that we do not bankrupt the Foundation 😉. Most of the money Thomas manages is provided through the efforts of Jelle, our Fundraiser. Jelle is in contact with our loyal sponsors, and also reaches out to new ones. This involves filling out countless applications and sending many emails, but once the money starts coming in, it all pays off. This year, Jelle also designed most of our new, extensive, and professional fundraising document.
Denitsa, our Programme Coordinator, is the brain behind all logistical aspects of our conferences and events. She is in charge of finding and securing locations where we can host our conferences, preparing programmes, inviting speakers, organizing excursions, and planning all the socials which especially the TEIMUN conference is renowned for. Then there is Jan, yours truly, the Secretary of the Board. I am in charge of more internal aspects of the Foundation, such as preparing agendas and minutes, drafting schedules and to-do lists, managing our website, setting up registration forms, and ensuring that all our internal documentation is in order. I also step in and help others where necessary. Wrapping up the list is Sebastiaan, our President. Sebas is in charge of coordinating and mediating between the Foundation’s different organs, representing the Foundation, and signing documents on its behalf, chairing our meetings, and doing a wide range of tasks related to logistics and general organization.
Now that you know the people behind the main organ of the TEIMUN Foundation, all that remains is for us to extend an invitation to you, dear reader. An invitation to become a part of this exciting unit, an invitation to organize two great international conferences, an invitation to get involved in a worthwhile professional activity that you can do while still being a full-time student. Applications for the Board close this Friday, April 30 at midnight. So do not hesitate to take a look on our homepage to see who we are looking for – chances are pretty high we are looking for someone like you.
We look forward to receiving your application. As always, do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Goodbye for now – maybe we’ll meet at an interview soon.