Being lucky to meet Holger Schmitt, from AEGEE-Berlin, as participant of AEGEE-Kyiv, AEGEE-Kharkiv and AEGEE-Lviv TSU “Hogwarts express”, seeing how he was elected as Network Commissioner and now, running for Comité Directeur really made me excited about interviewing him. Hopefully this conversation will give you more information right before it is time to vote!
Anna: First of all, Holger, congratulations for your candidature! After being the president of AEGEE-Berlin and organising so many events, being elected as NetCom and taking part in some many YVote events, you have decided to go higher. How did this idea come up?
Holger: Thanks for the question. I have always been active in AEGEE my whole student life. Depending on my availability and other commitments in my life I was more or less active, but I never stopped being involved and concerned about all AEGEE activities. Mostly I was in the local level, in Bamberg organising Erasmus activities and Summer Universities, in Berlin organising mostly exchanges, conferences and running the local.
After getting into the YVote Project last summer and then being elected as Network Commissioner I started to rediscover AEGEE with all the possibilities it has to offer on the European level. I stopped regarding AEGEE as a network of locals but rather as a European association with an enormous potential to activate young people and push the interests of students and youth in Brussels and Europe. By being a Network Commissioner I learned about all the projects, working groups and activities AEGEE pursues in detail and I identified even more with AEGEE’s aims, goals and objectives as a European student association. I realized that in Berlin with my normal life I can’t follow the AEGEE initiatives as intensively as I would like to. Therefore I want to be in CD to dedicate my entire life to our association and to be as involved as much as possible. To make it short, I can’t get enough of AEGEE and now I want to do it for real without limits.
Anna: You have plenty of experience in AEGEE, but can you tell me a bit about the experience you find the most relevant for your candidature?
Holger: I do have much experience on the local level and in AEGEE projects, though AEGEE is changing constantly with the people in charge and the projects that are running, so my experience is not necessarily the most important in being a CD. It just helps sometimes to know how to deal with certain problems, particular regions and locals since you have been working with them before.
The most relevant experience for now is certainly being NetCom, since you get to know about all projects, events, initiatives and also issues in the whole AEGEE network. Having been in the board of Bamberg and long-time president of AEGEE-Berlin means that I can also very well relate to the mentality and problems of the locals board members.
Also my experience of applying for Youth in Action grants in the last two years for the Europe for Citizens program, for the YVote conferences and the New Media Summer School in Berlin is relevant.
Speaking about skills and competences I feel that my work in Berlin as a research assistant at Public One Governance Consulting can help me a lot in being a good CD, since I was involved in the organisation of many high-level conferences, trainings and coachings and made many research dossiers, presentations and applications for projects and funding in the public sector in the last two years. The skills I acquired there will certainly help me in my work.
Anna: And what it is about AEGEE that you love it so much?
What I do love the most about AEGEE is its diversity and the feeling of commitment of young people from all over Europe towards the idea of European integration. AEGEE strives to overcome national boundaries and in doing so it creates an amazingly interesting atmosphere among its members and during its events. I believe that AEGEEans will make an example of how to be a European citizen and will help in creating a true European society.
Anna: You mentioned that you have applied for external representation, fundraising and PR position, but which ones would be the CD tasks you feel more into?
Holger: The task I am personally most motivated and excited about is being part of AEGEE’s external representation, meaning cooperation with other NGOs, initiating common projects, keep in contact with National Youth Councils, ministries for Education and other important stakeholders in Brussels and in the European countries. Having been an intern in the German parliament, working in a consultancy agency and having lived in Berlin where I installed contacts with many other NGOs following similar goals as AEGEE (like JEF, European Movement, Citizens of Europe, Democracy International and ESN) I would be very happy to apply my knowledge and skills in this field and extend the network for AEGEE by establishing and deepening cooperations.
The second most interesting task for sure is public and private fundraising. Like I said before during my occupation in governance consulting and dealing with the Commission programms of Youth in Action, European Voluntary Service and as well Europe for Citizens I already gained experience in public fundraising which I would like to continue. Also one of my career options is to be a public fundraiser for European and national funds at the local and regional level, so after my term at the CD I would be applying for business development of local and regional administrations.
Anna: This year the whole CD team will be changed by new people, who would you like to work with most of all?
Holger: This is a very nice question. Diplomatically of course I will say that I am happy to work with everyone who applied for CD this year. Luckily I know everyone who has applied personally so I can say without hesitation that I really can imagine myself working with everyone who applied. But to answer your question more in detail, I have been working very closely with Ola Kluczka in the past year at the YVote project as well as with Léa Charlet at several YVote activities. I also know Réka Salamon very well from the Europe on Track project as well as being my subcomissioner for the Action Agenda for the German-speaking locals. Furthermore I know Pauline Létard very well being my colleague in the Network Commission and I was in contact with Mayri Tiido for Health4youth and met her at many Agoras. Also I met Ivan Bielik at last Agora Zaragoza and we got along very well personally.
Anna: If you win the elections, tell me three things you would like to change about AEGEE and three things you would keep?
Holger: I would like to continue with the excellent work that has been done to complete the common visual identity of AEGEE. It is necessary as a stakeholder that AEGEE has some minimal standards and a common identification pattern, so it is recognizable throughout Europe. Second I want to continue with the great work that has been done to acquire more funds for AEGEE-Europe mainly through foundations and European funds. Dealing with Erasmus+ and all its opportunities will be a very interesting and challenging task for me. Thirdly I want to continue establishing AEGEE as a committed stakeholder for students and youth in Brussels, the visibility of AEGEE in Brussels was namely increased by Luis Alvarado, Lucille Rieux and Kathrin Renner and I would like to keep up the level.
Things I would change:
Mostly I want to involve and associate the network more closely with all the initiatives that have been conducted by the actual CD, namely the Visual Identity, knowledge management and of course the Strategic Plan. To communicate this initiatives more closely to the network using all possible communication channels is a big task I would like to pursue.
I would also like to deepen the cooperation with former AEGEE members, Les Anciencs and local Alumni networks. Something I learned in eight years AEGEE is there is always some oldie who has done the same activity and is almost all the time willing to help and contribute. To strengthen the Alumni network, create an Alumni sponsorship system for AEGEE as well as to deepen the knowledge and trainers database of former AEGEE members in order to help our association with all tasks and issues.
Thirdly I want to widen and deepen the cooperation AEGEE has with associations that follow similar goals. In order to establish new fields of activities, acquire resources to implement projects and to increase the visibility we have to cooperate more intensively with European associations namely European Movement, JEF, ESN and many smaller associations.
Anna: The biggest lesson that AEGEE has taught you?
Holger: To answer this question I would like you to tell some mottos I follow in my AEGEE life:
“Don´t stop believing in the youth and the amazing project of European integration”
I am a European and in AEGEE I have found the association that is consistenly following the European integration ideal without compromise. In times of eurosceptimism, financial crisis and the perception of the EU only being bureaucratic it is important to remind you why there is a EU and live the European dream in everyday life. For that AEGEE exists and has to be present and visible.
“AEGEE – shaping European integration since 1985”
AEGEE has initiated the introduction of the Erasmus program in 1987 and since then it has been promoting mobility, multiculturalism and exchange in order to create a European society of the future. We have to know our foundation and be proud of what our association has achieved in order to follow these achievements and follow up/build on them.
“Don’t be so fucking German!”
It’s a statement we liked to say to each other ironically in German AEGEE events especially in Erasmus activities. For me it means to constantly be able to leave your comfort zone, to be able to abstract from your cultural and national background and constantly compare your behaviour and your way of dealing with challenges with that of people from other cultural backgrounds.
Anna: Why people should vote for you?
Holger: I believe I can contribute a lot to our association and I am willing to give back so much what AEGEE has done for me. I feel confident to tackle the tasks that await me and I believe I can contribute in bringing AEGEE closer to its members and install it as a noticeable stakeholder.
Anna: A question from our readers – do you consider yourself as a team player?
Holger: I totally and without a doubt do. In my experience I work most efficiently and with the biggest motivation within a team. The outcome and impact that can be achieved is extremely intensified by doing team work In the last years in Berlin and in my AEGEE activities I realized that I always preferred to work in an international team and I do feel in fact more confident and at home dealing with an international team that is more diverse and can contribute in a bigger variety. The condition for that is of course that your team members are on board and share a similar commitment than you, which means that the biggest challenge for me always has been to maintain the communication and the motivation within the team.
It was a pleasure to interview Holger, we wish him good luck and looking forward to seeing him in Agora Patra very very soon!
Written by Anna Smailikova, AEGEE-Kyiv