By Shambhawi Sahoo
–
Zoey Fisher & Irene Kwon are high school seniors in the USA. Zoey currently serves as the MUN Impact Global Secretary General, the executive director for Princeps Leadership Initiative and was the Co-Secretary General at GLOMUN 2020. Irene Kwon is the MUN Impact Deputy Secretary General for North America, the President for Princeps Leadership Initiative and was also Co-Secretary General at GLOMUN 2020.
The presentation began with defining philanthropy as not just a concept of donating money for charity, but as a concept for promoting general welfare of others, whether it be through donating money or contributing your time, energy and skills. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are synonymous to philanthropy as they seek to make this world a better place to live in. The SDG targets allow you to narrow down your focus to one cause and dedicate your project to that cause.
In the next section, the duo shared their story of working with GLOMUN, and how it turned from an MUN into an NGO. The idea of GLOMUN blossomed in the late spring when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak and most MUN conferences were cancelled. The GLOMUN organising team asked for advice from college graduates and connected with youth leaders all around the world. They created a spreadsheet to track information and tasks and used Slack to organize the committees as well as communicate effectively. Social Media played a huge role in promoting the conference. The conference charged $20 for every participant, but provided financial support to those who needed it. All earnings of the conference went towards the World Health Organization(WHO). After this successful venture, the team decided to transform GLOMUN into an NGO. It plans to donate it’s earnings to a charitable organisation.
Zoey and Irene presented a 4-step plan to organize a project. First and foremost, choose the cause for which you want to work. Second, connect the cause to the global initiatives that are already in full flow. Third, build a team of passionate individuals who are willing to work for that cause. Fourth, plan and promote your project to ensure maximum participation.
They provided the participants with event and program ideas to work for a cause. Debates, MUN conferences, workshops, publications (such as magazines and brochures), competitions and challenges are effective ways to promote your cause. They even equipped the participants with resources which can be used to organise events and programs.
The workshop true to its name highlighted the real essence of philanthropy and was highly resourceful for changemakers.