Treasurer

Below you can find the current published candidacies for the position of Treasurer of JEF Europe. One person can be elected for this position.

Aléxandros APOSTOLIDIS

Aléxandros APOSTOLIDIS

Contact Aléxandros

EMAIL: [e-mail]

About Me

I am a passionate JEFer since 2012 and the International Officer of JEF Greece since 2016. Through JEF, I am also a board member of the Alumni Network of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize in charge of political contacts and of the communication with the European Parliament and the Charlemagne Foundation. I hold a Bachelor’s in International and European Studies and a Master’s in Democratic Education and Social Competences, and I am now starting my second Bachelor’s in Law. I am currently working for the Franco-German Forum for the Future and in the last years I have gathered valuable experience in the University Grenoble Alpes, at the German Parliament and at UNESCO. I speak German, French, Spanish, Italian, English and Greek.

During the last decade, JEF has offered me amazing opportunities to meet like-minded people from different countries and backgrounds, to participate in exchanges and trips, to grow my capacities and improve my social competences through trainings and workshops, to create a network of socially engaged young people in all Europe, and to raise awareness about European citizenship and the vision of the federalization of Europe.

Motivation for the position

I am thankful for the engagement and the transparency that we in JEF Europe can be proud of, while I acknowledge with all my heart and mind the great work that the current Board and the current treasurer have done and are still doing. My interest in the position of the treasurer is related to my wish to work with dedication to the direction of a JEF that, with donations and partnerships, will be able to organise many of its events in an independent manner and to enable more exchanges with physical presence, with refunds that open our activities even more to members from less advantaged backgrounds and with reduced financial means. I want to put the focus on transparency and on community building JEF-wide and I am convinced that the position of the treasurer would be ideal for the transversal way of working for my priority: a community- building relying on trust, on transparency, on methodical approaches, on cross-team interactions, and on regular opportunities for meetings in real life. My goal is for our JEF always disposing of liquidity and having healthy economics with diversified sources of capital. I am motivated to work for this task because it is indispensable for all the other activities that contribute to for community building, capacity building, and learning opportunities that our hearts burn for.

During the last decade, JEF has been a constant factor in my life, helping me grow as a person and as a citizen. Sometimes it has been through trainings, workshops and seminars, sometimes it has been through political activities, online campaigns and street actions. Most importantly, JEF is its members on all levels – and so I have gained many valuable friendships and numerous chances to exchange perspectives with like-minded people from different backgrounds and with different life stories. After I had the privilege to happily profit from all the various activities of JEF as a member and on national level, now it is time for me to give back to JEF Europe as much as I can. I want to invest all the experience that I have gathered as a JEFer and all the competences that my studies and work experience have offered me as a treasurer. What better way than to work on making sure that we can afford our activities, organise them in the most independent way possible, and render them available to even more people from less advantaged backgrounds? I will dedicate myself in the activities of the board and contribute to the preparation of our activities, putting the transparency towards all members, and the community building, as priorities.

My vision of the future of JEF

JEF is simultaneously a youth organization and a youth community; we are in JEF because we want to engage in civil society and promote our agenda for youth participation in European politics, but also because we are like-minded people, passionate about an idea that often does not get the recognition it deserves and is misrepresented by the mainstream media and most political parties. I want to contribute to making sure JEF stands for a strong community building among its members from all levels and that it remains a safe space for a healthy debate and creative social interactions. Furthermore, JEF should prioritise the expansion of its network of politicians and stakeholders, and safeguard that as many members as possible come in contact with them and profit from opportunities to interact with them. From the position of the treasurer I will invest my time and energy in ensuring our liquidity and trying to diversify our sources of funds and income. This is important for me, because only a JEF with sufficient liquidity will be able to organise many of its activities in a non-project-based funding and only a JEF with diversified sources of income will have the flexibility to be more inclusive and open its opportunities to even more of its members from less advantaged backgrounds. I will lead conversations for the board to come to a consensus about which criteria and priorities we would have when asking for donations and establishing partnerships, with the goal of JEF appealing to new members, getting donations and cooperating in funded activities, and being inclusive in its community building and the opportunities it offers.

My opinion on the needed Political Commissions and Task Forces/ Working Groups

As a treasurer and as an individual I will engage myself for healthy and motivating group dynamics and try to ensure that the final constellation of our Political Commissions and Task Forces/Working Groups be the result of collective intelligence and reflect on the qualities and goals of all those elected. I also believe that having Political Commissions and Task Forces that could provide us with access to funds, donations and funded events could become one of the criteria for choosing the topics and goals of (some of) the TF and PC – depending on the context and the subject, of course, and only when compatible with our goals as JEF and our non-partisanship and independence.

I advocate for the creation of a Task Force on the Network of Stakeholders, with the task of expanding our contacts with politicians and the civil society and with the goal to create a method and various opportunities for as many members as possible to benefit from the interaction with them. This network can also prove be useful in our research for donations that will not limit our non-partisanship and political independence.

I also believe that our Task Force on Green Transition would profit from a focus on all Sustainable Development Goals and would propose having a Task Force on Sustainability instead of a Task Force on Green Transition; I would even consider the establishment of an SDGs Political Commussion, too. This Task Force and/or Political Commission would benefit greatly from contacts with institutions in charge of the monitoring and the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals in the different countries and organisations and this could also impact our access to funds, possible donations and funded events in the mid- and long-term.