Partner Engagement

FRANCISCO ARGA E LIMA

President

Our community was extremely important for us this year. Our members, Officers, and Alumni all contribute to ELSA but there is also another group of people without whom ELSA would not exist, and that is our partners. Thus, their engagement with the Network as well as their satisfaction was a main objective of ours, side-by-side with the satisfaction of our members. The idea we set out at the start of the term was clear: to ensure the continuity and expansion of our cooperations while engaging with new organisations in mutually beneficial ways, creating long-lasting relationships.

Continuity and expansion of Partnerships

Our current partners are a priority for us since they support us in pursuing our aims, helping us grow as law students and young professionals. For that reason, maintaining our current partnerships was one of the goals we set for ourselves. With that aim in mind, we concluded our term renovating all our general partnerships, ensuring another year of steady and productive partnerships for ELSA.

Not only did we maintain all our partners, but we also expanded them, involving them more in the daily work of ELSA and moving them closer to our members, through promotional campaigns and project engagement. Indeed, this year our partners were actively engaged in our projects, by participating in different opportunities we provided them, besides those they were already acquainted with.

Through these initiatives, we were able to hear our partners’ feedback on essential topics such as Diversity & Inclusion, new professional paths for recent graduates, privacy in the digital age and many more. Also, with the return to physical events, it was important to us to involve our partners in the organisation and indeed, it was our pleasure to welcome them to our first physical International Council Meeting after the COVID pandemic. On our side, it was a pleasure to work with all of our partners, and we sincerely hope these cooperations will continue to be fruitful for the years to come.

A new approach to External Relations and new partnerships

As a second priority - but not less important - this year we also revised the purpose of External Relations in order to broaden it, making it more beneficial to satisfy the needs of our Association.

For that reason, this year we redirected our efforts not only at getting new general corporate or educational partners but also at getting ELSA closer to organisations that could provide us with technical support and benefits to our members, as explained beforehand. Furthermore, we also focused heavily on institutional cooperations and on developing the partnerships of our specific projects in order to make these initiatives self-sufficient. We also expanded the concept of fundraising, not to include sponsorships from private organisations, but other means such as grants and donations.

Regarding project partnerships, this year was one of success. Indeed, we organised the second edition of Career Launch, with a career fair hosted on a 3D online platform, Coderblock. Here, we counted on the support of 14 organisations from all over the world, namely Georgetown University, LexisNexis, the Council of Europe, Van Bael & Bellis and many others. The same level of success was achieved with our ELSA Webinar Academies, where we got 18 partner organisations.

Also on our flagship projects, we saw an expansion, especially after the COVID pandemic. Regarding our Human Rights Moot Court Competition - the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition - we were able to renew the support of the City of Strasbourg, an important partner of the Final Oral Round, together with the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights and the permanent representations of Spain, Italy, Hungary and the Netherlands. When it comes to the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition, the same level of success was achieved, where we got the support of the University of Geneva for the Final Oral Round, and a new Silver Sponsor and Regional Round Organiser: the Singapore Management University. Another important project is ELSA Traineeships, as this year we registered a record-high number of Traineeships providers given by ELSA International. Indeed, in total 11 of new opportunities were provided by the International Board of ELSA, making this an extremely successful year for the project. We also focused on cooperation with new institutions

and public bodies, one of which is the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union, which assisted us with the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition. We were also able to get closer to the EU Commission, where we met with the DG of the Legal Services and explored ways in which we both organisations can work together for next year. Furthermore, we accomplished something that has not been done for years: ELSA got recommended for provisional admission as an observer NGO to the UNFCCC which for the first time ever will give the opportunity to ELSA Delegates to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference as well as help ELSA getting closer to achieve its goal of positively impacting society day by day.

Lastly, one of our most significant achievements was the inclusion of a new main partner of ELSA: Deutsche Juristenakademie (DJA). We got introduced this term and through a year of many successful projects together, DJA became a main partner of ELSA, joining the Council of Europe and LexisNexis as the primary financial supporters of our Association and fully engaging with our Network. We thank DJA for all the support they have given us, and we hope it is maintained through the years to come.

These efforts could not have been done without the joint effort of the entire International Board of ELSA and the ELSA International Team. Indeed, partner satisfaction is a joint effort by all the members of the executive body of ELSA, and for that reason, I would like to thank my Boardies for all of their help and support this term. Furthermore, a special thanks need to go to the External Relations team, especially to its Director, Federica Paolucci, who was my right hand and second brain this year. No words can describe how thankful I am for all your assistance.

Testimonial from Danny Ralph Vogal, CEO of Deutsche Juristakademie

“Seneca the Elder once said ‘I am grateful, not because it is beneficial, but because it brings joy.’, and we, the German Jurist Academy happily agree. Our joy lies in the trust you have placed in us, and in our ability to be part of your success as future outstanding lawyers. Today, after a full year of joint successes, we are proud to be the main partner of the largest law student association in the world. We are particularly grateful for the great trust you placed in us, right from the start. Thank you for this opportunity and your loyalty. We are looking forward to create the future together.”