Mitchell Donnelly AIESEC New Zealand Member Committee Vice President Application Business Development & Finance 2014-2015
January 8, 2013
1. a. Executive Summary: In this application I will highlight my AIESEC experience in depth, outline my achievements, and demonstrate why I believe I am the best candidate for the position of Member Committee Vice President of Business Development and Finance. My name is Mitch Donnelly, and I am applying to be part of the team which will change AIESEC New Zealand forever. Throughout my AIESEC experience, I have been faced with several challenges. Some of these challenges have been minor, others major, however all along I have kept an optimistic mindset and faced all challenges head on. I will briefly outline my successes in business development as well as finances. I hope this application convinces you that I am the change New Zealand needs in the 14/15 term. When I came into my role as Local Committee President of AIESEC Halifax, Canada I had limited AIESEC knowledge and even less experience. I came into the LC with 4 members, $15,000 of unaccounted expenses, and a membership with zero idea of what AIESEC culture means. After spending the first 4 months of my term as [pretty much] a forensic accountant, I went on to increase our membership 900%, doubled our ICX numbers, and instilled a culture that has put AIESEC Halifax back on the map. We increased our revenues by 42% by making a previous financial supporter a new champion of AIESEC. A $40,000 contract signed later, AIESEC Halifax will now be financially sustainable for the next 5 years, while meeting their ICX minimum requirements. In the time between being LCP and [hopefully] an MCVP term, I have been appointed the Atlantic Regional Chair for AIESEC Canada. My job description is to coordinate the National Support Team coaching for each portfolio for the LC’s in Canada’s Atlantic Region. I will also be managing the Atlantic Regional Fund, a sum of money used for exchange growth initiatives taken by the Atlantic LCs. The last component of my role, and probably the most exciting, I will be in charge of expansions. I will be looking to start AIESEC up at 2 new LC’s in the Atlantic Region. Thank you for taking the time to read through my application! All the best to both MCP candidates, I hope to meet you all soon! b. Basic Information Name Nationality Email Skype ID Contact Number Current Academic Level/University
Languages Spoken (Level of Proficiency)
Mitch Donnelly Canadian Mitchell.Donnelly@aiesec.net Mitchdonnelly +1 (902) 229-8336 Bachelor of Commerce, Global Business Management (final year) Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada English (Native), French (Basic)
AIESEC Experience Position & Duration Exchange Particpant
Key Responsibilities Alexandria, Egypt
Key Achievements
Corporate Relations Member Local Committee President Atlantic Regional Chair
Prepare material for sales meetings Manage EB, Manage BoA Coordinate Coaching, Manage Regional Fund, Expansions
Attended 5 sales meetings in 2 months Financial Stability, Solid LC Foundation (Current role- Jan 2014-June 2014)
Key Learning AIESEC on a global scale Sales Processes Comprehensive AIESEC learning
Top 5 Conference Experiences Conference National Congress Ontario Quebec Atlantic Conference NLDC
Month, Year December, 2012 February, 2013
Role Delegate Delegate
Key Learning Big AIESEC AIESEC ‘Why’
May, 2013
Delegate
Ontario Atlantic Regional Conference National Congress
September, 2013
Delegate
Business Development Knowledge Succession planning
December, 2013
Delegate
Life after AIESEC
c. Biography: “The most stereo-typical Canadian you will ever meet” After a roller-coaster of a childhood, my mother and I moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada when I was the tender age of 5. After spending 7 years in Halifax, we moved to a small town called Dalhousie in the northern part of the province of New Brunswick. I attest this town to developing my personality into one which is caring, responsible, and relaxed. I grew up playing both Ice Hockey and Baseball at a highly competitive level, which instilled the notion of teamwork and striving for excellence from a young age. I recently finished my last year of University Baseball, where as captain led the team to a national championship, led the team in batting, and fundraised $20,000 in two weeks to send the team to nationals. 2013 was an amazing, enlightening year, and I owe it all to my fellow LCPs of AIESEC Canada, my family, and my teammates. I have a beard and a funny Canadian accent; I am the most stereo-typical Canadian you will ever meet. After submitting this application I plan on kicking back with my good friends and enjoying a great Canadian beer, or 8. Cheers!
Section 1 1) My personal motivation for applying to be part of the AIESEC New Zealand MC team is pretty simple to sum up. I come from a Local Committee with a similar reality to that which New Zealand is currently in. I have a strong passion for growth, and I know how to take the proper steps in order to make that growth sustainable. Growth cannot be something you expect to achieve overnight, and if you do achieve growth overnight, there is a good chance that it will not be sustainable growth. In my experience, I came into a small LC, which was struggling in exchange, finances, and membership. My hard work, along with my team helped flip the organization from a struggling LC to one with a solid foundation for growth. 2) The unique contribution I could bring to New Zealands MC 14/15 is my work with a small Local Committee in a well established Member Committee. Knowing the processes used in Canada and how harnessing them and adapting them to my local reality has made me realize that AIESEC is not rocket science. Positive change can be made with hard work. The past days have allowed me to realize the reality of AIESEC New Zealand and where and how I can be part of the team to develop the entity to the next level.
3) In the year 2020 I see myself in a career thanks to leveraging my skills I’ve learned through AIESEC. The core values of AIESEC are those which I hold very dearly to my way of life. I would like to see myself working for a company which aligns with AIESECs core values as well. Working in BD will allow me to seek out those firms and hopefully create win-win relationships with them. I see myself potentially working for a national or international partner from my experience as LCP or MCVP. 4) My contribution to a team is a level headed yet creative approach to solving problems. When working in teams I am one who is a quick thinker, but can take the time to lay out a strategic long-term plan for action. A good example of this would be the 5 year strategic partnership I was able to create with a local company. There was a need for financial sustainability within our LC, and something needed to be done to ensure the organization could have a solid and healthy financial standing after a year of bad practices from the 2012 team. My idea to solve this was to approach one of our largest supporters to upgrade the partnership from a $5000 per year donation to an $8000 donation with waived intern fees for up to 2 interns per year (2 interns=$3000). This was a way for us to continue receiving inflow while satisfying our ICX standards at the same time. This deal is one which AIESEC Canada has never seen before, and has since become a best case practice. 5) I believe AIESEC in New Zealand requires a leader who is able to inspire others through taking initiative. This leader should have a good idea of the reality of New Zealand and should be able to motivate their team through leading by example. Results are important, however I believe there needs to be a focus of making every member an AIESECer. The idea of Every Member an AIESECer is one which Canada’s MCP, Kevin Cornwell believes in. It’s all about embodying what AIESEC is through each member. I am the type of person who can lead by example, while being able to inspire others to take action as well. I believe I work best when I am with a team who are able to push me, who are open to new ideas and who know how to get work done.
Section 2: 1) A) Business and economy An interesting fact about New Zealand is the that over 40% of New Zealand’s outputs are from SME’s & start-ups. Harnessing this potential could mean a cost effective way for these small firms to achieve growth through high quality interns. AIESEC provides the best of the best, and at an affordable price to companies when considering HR costs associated with hiring in the traditional method. Using AIESEC is a way for small scale
companies which are growing to continue to focus on results while AIESEC tailors to their specific requirements. Company expansion and research: midsized to large scale companies who are looking into broadening their horizons need AIESEC. Our massive database of high quality youth leaders allow companies to gain valuable insight into new markets. There are many cases where AIESEC interns have helped firms facilitate expansions into new markets. This is a win-win type of relationship to strive for. The firm will gain valuable insight into new markets, and the intern could potentially have the opportunity to start a career in their home market after the internship. Government Economic Projects: New Zealand is a beautiful country. Though the MC focus has been on iGIP, specifically in the IT sector, it would be worth looking into leveraging the New Zealand Government for grant money to facilitate a large scale GCDP tourism project. A project similar to “Where it all begins” in Alexandria, Egypt, could be a great idea. This project, which took in over 50 interns from many different countries to create a web project for Egypt’s tourism industry was a major success for AIESEC Alexandria. Interns worked on teams in everything from blogging to photography to social media. B) Students and youth Competition: Thousands of students graduate university each year in New Zealand. Compare the thousands of new entrants into the workforce to the amount there are globally. It is easy to see that more needs to be done by students than achieve good grades. AIESEC’s leadership development programs and internship programs provide the edge the workforce is looking for in candidates. Pushing our students to go abroad and live in a different culture does not only help develop them into more culturally aware individuals, but will promote them to join AIESEC upon completion of their internship. Adventure: Quite simply, our generation wants to do more. Through AIESEC’s programs, students can broaden their horizons to the outside world. Whether that is through our TMP or TLP programs, or through exchange, AIESEC offers thousands of international opportunities each year to students who want to go out and change the world they live in. Development: This generation is by far the most exposed generation in human history. This exposure to the realities of the world around them drives students to action. Promoting to students that they can make a difference in the world through joining an organization with such a broad scope will allow students to feel empowered to make a difference. C) Universities Competitiveness & Diversity: New Zealand has a somewhat diverse student market, however compared to other countries; there is room for an increase in diversity. By leveraging the universities in New Zealand to take on interns and reciprocate the
relationship through exchange and financial support, AIESEC can create win-win relationships with the universities they represent. AIESEC develops students in ways universities cannot. Universities should embrace the opportunities AIESEC provides and take advantage of the speciality of our programs. This will put their students in higher standing and with a better mentality going into the workforce or returning to school. If a student goes on internship, has their life changed by AIESEC, they will return to university to inspire their classmates to do the same. Universities in New Zealand, and universities everywhere need AIESEC. 2)
This question is one which needs to be constantly answered, reflected upon, and reanswered at every level of the organization. In New Zealand, I believe AIESEC can become more relevant through increased business partnership and incoming exchange. The best people to sell AIESEC are those people currently living the AIESEC experience themselves. That being said, an international MCVP would be a great way to sell the AIESEC experience to companies. I believe this is true because the people on the MC are proven champions of AIESEC. It is important for AIESEC in New Zealand to drive incoming exchange through key organizations in the country. The IT scope that is currently being used is great; however broadening the sectors AIESEC New Zealand goes after would be an effective way to build partnerships with organizations at the national level. From a finance point of view, increasing transparency and the implementation of NST Finance would be a good way to give more credibility to Local Committee’s within the AIESEC New Zealand network.
Section 3 1)
i. Finances- Finances in New Zealand seem to be a hot topic. It is pretty apparent that the past few years have been a recovering from a large scale failure of the entity. I’d like to take this time to commend everyone who has worked hard to get the finances back to the place they are today. That said, more needs to be done. New Zealand is currently running at a loss, which means a radical change has to take place. It is my recommendation that AIESEC New Zealand works on partnering with local firms to dig itself out of debt through sponsorship and strategic partnerships. ii. Weak Incoming exchange- Through the strategic partnerships mentioned above, I believe there is opportunity for large scale incoming exchange opportunities. That being said, AIESEC New Zealand needs to do a better job at realizing their TNs. This will be achieved through better training from both the MC and NST level. Developing our members to be more effective has to be a main priority of ours. iii. Low membership retention & struggling recruitment- from a recruitment side of things, we need to create more engaging recruitment visuals to engage new members. Membership retention is a problem we face in Canada as well, and sometimes that is just
a reality. That said, engaging our members and working on training them properly so that they get the right amount of value out of AIESEC is important. This would not be my initiative, however I would be happy to share some BCP’s from Canada that have worked in the past. 2)
a. Membership development is an extremely important component of the AIESEC experience. The leaders we create and develop are people who will someday change the world we live in for the better. As an AIESECer who has had their life completely changed through AIESEC, I will attest that the leadership development at a local level has been a key part in shaping me into the AIESECer I am today. That being said, exchange is what really changed my life. Exchange isn’t just about revenue. Exchange is about providing youth the opportunity to step outside their comfort zone and expand their mindset. Exchange changes lives. AIESEC develops young leaders through exchange. We push exchange so heavily because of the impact it makes, not because it keeps us afloat financially. b. This is a very common statement. I believe with quantity comes quality. With each exchange we provide, we make promises to our stakeholders. Both the company and the intern are made promises which we are expected to deliver upon. That said, the more exchanges we take on, the more people we are accountable to service. We push for quality because we care about our customers. We push for quantity because we want to create greater impact. It isn’t a matter of quality or quantity; we need to be pushing to grow both. Quality is not an option, the more exchange we do, the more quality experiences we will provide. As an exchange participant, I was happier when I had other interns around me. Intern-intern relationships are close bonds which empower our EP’s to depend on each other and create less of a quality burden on the ICX teams. Interns will share experiences, adventure together, and create life-long friendships through exchange. In conclusion, the more exchanges we facilitate, the better quality they will be.
3)
AIESEC in New Zealand can take a more active role in the Global Plenary Network by growing exchange, and cleaning up finances. Growing exchange: by ICX and BD working together, there is a lot of opportunity to create long term partnerships with organizations in New Zealand which will facilitate more internship opportunities. Growing exchange in the way of expanding from just the IT market would be a way to boost exchange numbers. There should be a focus on pushing not only iGIP but also iGCDP as both programs offer a unique experience to our interns. Focusing on a large scale iGCDP project could be a way to boost exchange numbers, increase revenue, and build AIESEC New Zealand’s impact on the global scale. Cleaning Up Finances: Since the financial problems of 2009-2011, AIESEC New Zealand has taken some key steps to cleaning up the financial reality of the entity. Further pushing accountability and proper financial management is a way to be more active in the
Global Plenary. More needs to be done to put New Zealand back on the list of full member MC’s in the global network, however finances must be a key priority to ensure these mistakes do not happen again. Complacency needs to be replaced with relentless attention to detail. Bringing New Zealand’s accounting practices to an international standard is the best way to ensure sustainability of AIESEC in New Zealand. 4)
New Zealand’s LC Development strategy seems to be moving in the right direction. The idea of an MC link or coach is a great idea as it opens up communication channels from the MC level to the LC level. It also allows for collaboration and teamwork from both areas and bridges the gap. The MC responsible for each portfolio should work with LC’s which need the most assistance in improving a specific function. An example would be the LC who struggles most with OGX working with the MCVP OGX. What can be done to improve the current LC Development strategy would be a more extensive National Support Team. There needs to be a team of highly trained champions of AIESEC in the country who are motivated and able to effectively trained LC’s in each portfolio. This could be done with a small amount of members, as New Zealand is not a very large entity. Two NST members for each portfolio nationally would be an effective way to engage current champions of AIESEC as well as past EBs or recent alumni. This would be especially useful in the Finance portfolio. Having a head internal auditor running a team of 2 or 3 NST would be the first step to increasing both transparency as well as LC accountability to the MC.
5)
One thing is for certain; AIESEC New Zealand needs help financially. Promoting and finding ways to increase financial sustainability is a key strength of mine. A good way to increase financial sustainability is through business partnerships. These partnerships need to be a win-win focus. I have alluded to this within the application already, but the best way to do that is to make an organization a champion of AIESEC. Finding those firms who align well with our core values, and effectively communicating to them their need for AIESEC would be my first priority if selected as MCVP. Creating exchange partnerships through financial support on the long term would be a priority of mine as well. On top of long term exchange partnerships, the implementation of finance NST as well as a re-haul of current LC financial regulations could increase predictability at the local level. The idea of centralized bank accounts jump into my mind, however I believe if that were the case, finance would have to have its own MCVP. MCVP BD is a large portion of my focus, and centralizing LC bank accounts would take up a lot of my time, leaving less time to focus on what the country really needs, which is more exchange and fundraising through externals in order to drive impact and relevance.
6) The role of the MC is one which requires a lot of flexibility. In my mind, the MC has two key roles. The first role is to serve the local committees. The MC serves the LCs by providing coaching, feedback, and providing the proper resources needed for LCs to live up to their potential. The second role is to help drive their entity further. Each MC strives for excellence in everything they do. Whether that is the strategy of the MC as a team, or by individual projects which work towards the goal of the team. The main thing to keep in mind is that whether you are working at the LC level or the MC level, everyone should be working towards the same vision.
Section 4: Business Development & Finance 1)
A MCVP BD&FA should be a person who is interested in promoting the external side of AIESEC. This person should have a growth oriented strategy. They also are the face of AIESEC in some situations. This person should be professional and approachable, with a demeanour that matches the culture of New Zealand. Canadians are known worldwide for being laid back, approachable people with a great work ethic. I truly believe I am an embodiment of the Canadian stereotype. I have a strong passion for growth, and I believe results are best achieved when you can create win-win relationships with firms. I am extremely comfortable in new situations and feel that I bring a certain aspect to a team which is rarely found in other team members. I have the inert ability to make a tense situation relaxed. I believe that what makes me the best candidate for MCVP BD would be my knowledge and previous experience with creating win-win partnerships. An example of this was mentioned previously with my work in the fisheries and export sector. Working with Clearwater Seafoods, I was able to promote the ICX program while receiving financial support, and acquiring two new board of advisor members while I was LCP of AIESEC Halifax. This partnership, which is worth $40,000 over 5 years, allowed us to satisfy our ICX requirements every year while still fundraising a minimum of $6,500 per year from that partner alone. This number may not seem substantial, however at the local level this was a huge win.
2)
SWOT Analysis Business Development Strengths: Selling the iGIP programs from the MC level Weaknesses: Lack of national partners, lack of BD support at local level Opportunities: Development of AIESEC knowledge to firms, separation from FA role allows more attention to the BD aspect of role
Threats: Too much focus on FA role from MCVP BD &FA Finance Strengths: Accountant working for MC to clean up mess, recovering financials, Weaknesses: Bad practices, financial irregularities, LC level financial knowledge gap, running a loss year after year Opportunities: Finance NST Threats: History of bad practice, LC’s not regulated well enough
3)
Focus areas: Y2B Forum, Strategic Partnerships, Finance NST implementation Y2B Forum: In order for AIESEC to grow to the next level, it must show its relevance to the market is serves. A Youth to Business forum, held at a national conference would be a great way to sell companies on the idea of connecting with the top youth leaders in New Zealand. This would be a huge revenue generator, and would create brand awareness for AIESEC New Zealand. The first steps would be to create a team to work with the MCVP BD on putting together a proposal for companies we wish to go after. The next steps would be to actually sign partners on to talk at the event. Measurable keys of success would be shown by the amount of companies signing on as national partners in order to keep themselves engaged with AIESEC. This should have an ICX spinoff as well and will create value to the delegates attending the conference. Strategic Partnerships: After the Y2B Forum, all stakeholders of AIESEC New Zealand will feel engaged. New partners will hopefully of been signed on to do the event, and we would then need to focus on what types of partner we are looking for. It would be my recommendation that we open our mindset from just the IT sector in order for us to get non-financial support as well as financial support. We could do this by partnering with an organization that can do leadership development sessions in kind, or organizations that could help us with web development or leads management. We need to sell the value that is instilled in all AIESECers, and leverage that to get our members further opportunity while still contributing to our bottom line. Finance NST Implementation: Last, but not least, I believe a finance NST is needed in order to regulate LC finances. This could be done early on in the term and piloted over the term. Outgoing or current EB members would be eligible to apply for the position and would receive training on how to coach other LC’s. The measures of success from this implementation would be a decrease in LC’s failing standards and an increase in financial health and hopefully wealth by the end of the 14/15 term.
4)
6.
July-
National Conference, LC Support
August-
NST Finance Applications, LC Support
September-
NST Finance Selection, LC Support
October-
Functional Summit, LC Support, NST LC Audits
November-
LC Support, Push for National Partners, NST LC Audits,
December-
Functional Summit, LC Support, Christmas Break
January-
NSS, LC Support
February-
LC Support, NST LC Audits
March-
LC Support, NST LC Audits
April-
National Conference, Y2B Forum, LC Support
May-
LC Support
June-
LC Support, NST LC Audits
Year 1: -Build Y2B Model in order to showcase top talent pool to potential partners. -Work on Market specific strategy to increase fundraising from BD role. -Apply for grants and project based fundraising for marketing, web development, and sales processes. Year 2: -Catapult partnerships thanks to previous years Y2B. -Partnerships at this point should hit maximum capacity. -Continue applying for project grants, while empowering LC’s to take initiative from a BD point of view. -Realize exchanges produced from previous term’s partnerships - Successors vision Year 3: -Partnerships about maintaining relationships - Continue applying for project grants - LC’s should have local partnerships in place - Successors vision
7.
Increasing the visibility of AIESEC amongst businesses in New Zealand is all about showcasing our talent. The best way to do this is to invite companies to come to our Y2B
Forum. This forum would be a great stepping stone into potential partnerships. I would be flexible as to when the Y2B forum took place but ideally I would like to have it earlier on in the term, somewhere around November. 8.
Coordinating the BD & FA portfolios from the national level would be through a lot of hands on work. Attending meetings myself or with colleagues would be imperative. At the local level, training and empowering our NST Finance to coach our LC’s would take a lot of the work load off of my plate in order for me to focus on BD. That said, at the local level I would use the virtual space to initiate trainings with LC’s that are further away, and potentially travelling to other LCs to do in person training and mentorship.
9.
In my opinion, the financial model at the local level should be structured based on the MC’s standards. That said, the financial model at the MC level should be looked into and potentially restructured to become more transparent, stable, and sustainable. More research should be done in order for me to have a better understanding of the local realities of each LC, however clearly things have not been working in the past and I believe Canada has a lot of practices that can help New Zealand’s approach to finance.
10.
The $20,000 would be directly put into creating a new position under me on the MC. This person would look after the finances of the organization, and would be tasked with improving the financial health of the organization across the board. This person would report to both the MCP as well as me as MCVP BD & FA. Their main responsibilities would be work on future strategy, as well as helping get all LC’s on the same page when it comes to meeting financial standards.
11.
At the end of my term, I envision Business Development to have a solid foundation for growth, and being a desired entity by other firms. Currently, AIESEC is not perceived as relevant in New Zealand; my job will be to make sure companies understand how relevant we are. The Y2B forum will be catapult AIESEC New Zealand to new levels. Finance will have a functioning NST, with local realities coming into shape. There is a lot of opportunity for growth in the finance portfolio and I believe the problems of the past are at a point where the entity is ready to go in a positive direction. More research into the realities of what happened without the sugar-coating I’ve received thus far will allow me better insight into what type of legacy I can expect to leave in the finance portfolio.