Young European Leadership (YEL) is an international

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

and nonpartisan organization composed of and founded by young Europeans. Its aim is to empower youth through high-level leadership opportunities to affect change in their communities. Among its activities, YEL organizes the European Union's delegations to the Y7 and Y20 Summits, as well as youth-centered delegations to the annual COP conferences, the European Health Parliament, and other events, including the Paris Peace Forum.

History

Following the 2011 Y8 and Y20 Summits held in Paris, France, the initiative "Youth AEGIS" was founded by Radoslav Šoth. Its main goal was to recruit the delegates of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

for the next editions of the Y8 and Y20 Summits. After a change in leadership in 2012, the initiative was renamed Young European Leadership and developed into an organization. The new association was legally established in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

as an

AISBL Laws regulating nonprofit organizations, nonprofit corporations, non-governmental organizations, and voluntary associations vary in different jurisdictions. Australia In Australia, nonprofit organizations include trade unions, charitable entiti ...

(international

organization) the year after, in February 2013. The Co-Founders were Tillmann Heidelk (President), Flóra Rétvalvi as Vice President, Jeroen Stevens as Secretary General and Treasurer, and Radoslav Šoth as member. Diana Carter was also part of the organization from the beginning. Since 2020, Young European Leadership has expanded its digital activities, including through hosting regular "Thursday Night Live" segments on its social media platforms.

Current Activities

Young European Leadership aims to empower youth by providing them with high-level leadership development opportunities and to connect young people with decision-makers in the European Union and abroad. The organization trains young Europeans in leadership skills including public speaking and

negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties to reach the desired outcome regarding one or more issues of conflict. It is an interaction between entities who aspire to agree on matters of mutual interest. The agreement c ...

skills, and organizes a number of delegations and events to achieve this aim.

Y7 and Y20 Summits

The Youth Seven (Y7) and Youth Twenty (Y20) Summits – formerly G8 and

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigatio ...

Youth Summits – are international youth conferences. The Y7 and Y20 Summits are the official

Group of Seven The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is officiall ...

(G7) and Group of Twenty (G20) youth events. Young adults aged 18 to 29 are encouraged to provide innovative solutions to global challenges. Their proposals are then presented to the Heads of State of all G7 and G20 countries.

UNFCCC COP Delegations

Young European Leadership organizes a high-level youth delegation to the annual

United Nations Climate Change conference The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties (Conference of the Parties, ...

European Health Parliament Delegations

Young European Leadership organizes a high-level youth delegation to the European Health Parliament.

Other Events

In addition, Young European Leadership organizes and participates in various youth-focused events. These include events hosted by the

European Business Summit European Business Summit (EBS) is an events and conference organiser, and the creator of one of the largest networking and debating events in Brussels – the annual European Business Summit. Description EBS was founded in 2000 by the FEB ( Feder ...

, the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

, the

Paris Peace Forum The Paris Peace Forum is a French non-profit organisation created in March 2018. The organisation hosts an annual gathering of world leaders and heads of international organisations, as well as leaders from civil society and private sectors and t ...

, and the

European Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

Former Activities

Young European Council

The Young European Council was a simulation of the European Council for young people. The different national positions on a variety of issues discussed at the European level such as

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

, the question of the

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

or EU-

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: *Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of l ...

relations, are covered. Young European Leadership organized the Young European Council (YEC) 2014 in

. It gathered students and young professionals from all over Europe to address three challenges:

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

to employment, digital revolution and technologies, and sustainable development in cities; exchanging with policy-makers from the

European institutions European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...

and

think-tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

experts. Guest speakers included the then-

European Commissioner for Climate Action The Commissioner for Climate Action is a post in the European Commission. It was created in 2010, being split from the environmental portfolio to focus on fighting climate change. The European Union has made a number of moves in regard to clim ...

, Ms.

Connie Hedegaard Connie Hedegaard Koksbang (born 15 September 1960) is a Danish politician and public intellectual. She was European Commissioner for Climate Action in the ( second Barroso) European Commission from 10 February 2010 through 31 October 2014. On ...

European Development Days

Young European Leadership has frequently sent a youth delegation to the European Development Days. The European Development Days are Europe's forum for international affairs and

development cooperation Development aid is a type of foreign/international/overseas aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries. Closely-related concepts include: developm ...

. This initiative is sponsored by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

and its premier goal is to consolidate the general view on development issues and create a unified approach to achieve more effective

international cooperation In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal. Definitions Multilateralism, in the form of membership in international institutions, serves to bind powerful nations, discourage u ...

YEL Society

The YEL Society was a project to bring together university students as well as young professionals involved in European and

global politics Global politics, also known as world politics, names both the discipline that studies the political and economic patterns of the world and the field that is being studied. At the centre of that field are the different processes of political globa ...

. The Young European Leadership Society (YEL Society) believes that young people must be given the chance to design the world they are living in.

Organisation

Board

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

: Eloïse Ryon *

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

: Sonia Stoyanova *Vice-President of Strategy: Pauline Kühlwein *

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

: Josias Knöppler

European and International Partners

European Partners

*Athens Network of Collaborating Experts (ANCE) *Bulle Media *EU40 *

*European Health Parliament * Finance Watch *Global Diplomatic Forum *

Prague European Summit The Prague European Summit is a platform for a regular high-level strategic debate on the future of the European Union and other European issues. It is the only platform of this kind focused on the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe. It ...

International Partners

Internet Society The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1992 with local chapters around the world. Its mission is "to promote the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people ...

* Youth Climate Movement

Notable alumni

* Emma Wiesner , Member of the European Parliament (Renew Europe) *Tillman Heidelk , First President of Young European Leadership *Diana Carter , Former Secretary-General and Treasurer *Radoslav Šoth *Flóra Rétfalvi *Luiza Niță

References

{{Reflist, 30em Organizations established in 2013 Non-profit organisations based in Belgium International organisations based in Belgium Youth empowerment organizations International nongovernmental youth organizations Youth model government G20 Group of Eight Group of Seven