I guess every youth and not-for-profit organization meets times where big changes are inevitable and time comes to re-think, re-launch and re-structure. That is exactly what we dedicated time to inside Shokkin Group over the course of the summer months. 

There are many challenges that youth organizations face in Estonia. From no structural funding available locally and unclear vision of the authorities’ cooperation with youth organizations to pure demographic shifts and socio-economic factors influencing youth. We can endlessly talk about challenges we face, but youth organizations have another purpose. The purpose is to activate youth and lead by example standing up for what you do and what you believe in. We decided to first see what youth values Shokkin Group for and how they expect us to involve them. 

We gathered a good amount of feedback and ideas from our current and past members, where they could share their constructive feedback and ideas for the organization to consider. We contacted every single person involved in Shokkin at any time of our history. It was a great reality check to see what people value us for and what we could step up in. 

All the feedback and team meetings led to creating a proper development plan and member documentation to make information exchange simple and access to information easier for members. Once the new concept and changes were clear, it was time to make it public. We hosted several info-chats in the office to introduce our fresh strategic direction and answer all questions of those who were interested. We did not expect so much involvement of people from many parts of Estonia and it shows the importance of what we do and the need for it in the society. 

Info-chats led to a big meeting with re-structuring of the membership, establishing squad groups and agreeing on our common vision and goals for the members of 18/19. Since then we can already feel more energetic and fresh with all the bright minds who joined us. It will be a great journey together! 

Even though re-structuring is never quick and easy, it feels good when you see positive change. To conclude about what we feel that we achieved with re-structuring is:

  • A stronger strategic base for action;
  • A more inclusive approach to membership;
  • More transparent and simple membership;
  • More structured planning-process;
  • New people with ideas and passion.

 

We invite everyone aged 16-30 and those who are keen on working in the youth field and are of any age to contact us and join the 18/19 members while you still can! The form is still available here: CLICK HERE

Sincerely yours, 

Chief Pavel