As the seniors who used to run the McLean UNICEF organization prepared to leave for college, the club needed new leaders. Through various interviews, the current UNICEF leaders determined the best possible candidates that would expand the club’s donations and help a broader community.
“[UNICEF] had us fill out a Google form just answering a few questions about [ourselves] and how you could fit into the leadership position,” said sophomore Julie Daniels, future UNICEF leader. “ Then along with that, we had an in-person interview where the [current leaders] asked us a few questions about what we’d be able to bring to the club as a new part of leadership.”
After the application and interview, the current UNICEF leaders discussed each candidate and how they could help grow the organization. However, the club also focuses on finding people with good communication, teamwork and networking skills to manage the club successfully.
“I got elected because I had a little bit of a different perspective [than others] because I used to live overseas [in Vienna, Austria] and so UNICEF was always a big part of my life because I went to an international school,” Daniels said. “I also just made sure [during the interview] to be myself and emphasize my good qualities, like being able to work in a team.”
Nevertheless, Daniels wasn’t the only sophomore who achieved a future leadership position in the club. Diego Lowe is another UNICEF leader for the 2024-2025 school year, whose remarkable dedication to the club made him stand out during the election process.
“I got elected because of both my passion and ideas,” Lowe said. “I’m someone [who] over the last year in the club [has] definitely contributed to [and organized] the events that we’ve been doing,” Lowe said.
Commitment to club activities is crucial for leadership positions as it demonstrates a person’s interest and dedication to UNICEF. For instance, Lowe was a part of the trash cleanup UNICEF did last month, in which students collected trash after school to help the janitors and support the environment as an act of celebrating Earth Day.
As future leaders step into their leadership roles, they also consider various strategies that they want to act upon to maintain and increase success in UNICEF.
“I want to be a leader in UNICEF next year because I want to continue building on the foundations that our club has set this year,” Lowe said. “We had a very good start this year with raising over $2,000, as well as making various contributions to organizations such as the St. Patrick Henry Foundation; we want to continue building on that.”
Future leaders also keep in mind new goals for the next year that would give the club other activities to increase their involvement and participation in helping children in need. Lowe is especially keen on prioritizing in-person events and organizing field trips to organizations that the club commits to help. In particular, Lowe wants to organize multiple days per year where the club goes to children’s hospitals to lift the spirits of different children who might be struggling with different types of diseases, or even go to food banks and give food to people who have low economic resources.
“Next year we want to do in-person field trips because this year we [only] did fundraisers, trash cleanups and card writing, but we didn’t get to meet with anyone one-on-one,” Lowe said. “Being able to see your impact in person or speak to someone who you’ve made an impact on is very crucial and it makes you feel good because when you help someone, you naturally feel better.”
