JCI is a place to develop your leadership skills, meet inspiring people and make an impact in your local community. It is a global, not-for-profit organisation for 18 to 40 year olds, run by its members for its members. JCI’s mission is to provide development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change.

JCI members are from many different backgrounds, cultures and professions, but all share common values and passion to develop themselves and support and improve their communities.

Immediate Past President: Chantelle Nylander – Quartey

Local Organisation: JCI London

How long have you been a member: 3 years

How did you hear about JCI? Not so much heard about as in randomly discovered! I searched around on Google looking for a local young professionals network to join. JCI London popped up and after going into the website I was intrigued by what I had read and wanted to learn more. So far it definitely seemed to be right up my street.

Why did you join JCI? Following on from the previous question I wanted quite a few things around the time I joined JCI. Although I wanted to expand my social network I also wanted to really give back to the
community and become involved in projects that aimed to make a difference to the world around me. I also wanted an opportunity to advance my personal development so that I could use any newly acquired skills for the greater good. To be an active citizen I guess! Finding JCI, an
organisation that encapsulated all of these aspects I thought was really quite unique.

Can you briefly tell me about your background in life and JCI? I’ve always been very passionate about working with children and young people and the sort of roles I’ve had in the past reflect this. It’s also why one of the earliest opportunities that I thoroughly enjoyed was to participate in what were known as Young Chamber Mock interview sessions with Year 10 students at a local school that JCI London ran with one of our partners, the
LCCI. I later joined the Council Team in 2019 after attending JCI UK’s LEAP Academy in 2018 which really fired me up to see how I could contribute more to my local chamber and create
impact.

What’s your profession? I am a Schools & Programmes Coordinator for a Construction charity. We help young people navigate a career path in the construction sector.

Can you use what you have learned in JCI in your job? Absolutely! My experience with JCI has enabled me to learn so many new skills that I previously didn’t have which are proving very useful now. From public speaking to planning events and even chairing meetings.

What was it that made you put yourself forward for the role as Local President? Most likely the fact that my interest in JCI as a whole organisation was burgeoning, certainly beyond the remit of my board role as Community Director! I became enamoured with every aspect of JCI London and how it developed. I really wanted our local organisation to grow and flourish and began to have a vision in my head of the direction it could go in and the sort of membership base we could have and it was constantly in my thoughts. No one can see your vision quite like you yourself can and so I soon gathered that the most effective way to manifest
that was to take the lead and try my best to execute it.

What has been your proudest moment as an active member in JCI so far? There are so many moments I have been proud of so far so I’ll be cheeky and choose two:

• Being Local President and coordinating the TOYP Awards for JCI London in 2019 when I was
• Deputy. This was a huge boost for us as we had 5 nominees making it to the National level and
• then a nominee (Jajini Varghese) representing JCI UK as one the 10 finalists at the JCI World
• level in 2020. Both of these roles were a chance for me to practise and demonstrate my
• leadership skills.

Why should more people join JCI? Because JCI really enables you to grow as a person and challenges you in ways you wouldn’t have imagined. I pushed myself to go out of my comfort zone with a lot of the opportunities that presented themselves to me; however, what made it so encouraging was the environment around me of like-minded young professionals also looking to develop and share their skills with others. It’s alright to join and not know a huge amount because everyone is always looking to learn, no matter what professional background you come from. JCI has been a fantastic and safe learning community and something I would certainly encourage anyone to become involved in.

Who is a leader you admire? Simon Sinek. Not quite a leader but someone whose perspective on life I definitely admire and embodies leadership so well.

Do you have a favourite quote? “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves
what you believe”

For more information about JCI London visit https://www.jcilondon.org.uk/