The new World YMCA Executive Committee held its first meeting on Saturday 9 July 2022, the day after the closure of the 20th YMCA World Council. Of the 22 members in total, 10 attended in person in Aarhus, Denmark, and 6 online.
It welcomed three new Officers – Soheila Hayek of YMCA Lebanon as President, Ronald Yam of Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong as Deputy-President, and Cici Rojas of Y USA, as Treasurer – as well as 11 newly elected members of the 22-person Executive Committee, of whom five attended in person and the rest online.
Outgoing World YMCA President Patricia Pelton shared some of her experiences over the last four years. “You’re a smaller team now, which means you must really lean in. Be prepared, be present. Keep the barrier between governance and operations: noses in, fingers out!”
The meeting reviewed procedures for online voting and governance management systems. It also shared views on the World Council just past, and heard from the Communications team. Its next meeting will be at the end of October in Geneva.