SUMMER SCHOOL on a MASTER LEVEL
Each year, for the last 14 years, we have looked forward to the Summer School for NGOs. There is always excitement and enthusiasm as we meet new colleagues in the civil sector full of energy to change the world.
This year was different. Scaling up to the Master Class level as a pilot program was a challenge first for us. Expectations went both ways and when working with colleagues, maximum quality is the minimum by our criteria! And so, the Master Class for NGOs 2024 began.
Balchik, the Palace, the sea – everything corresponded with the master level of the training. It was as if the stairs and hills we constantly climbed up and down to get from one point in the base to another were a metaphor for what every director and program person in the NGO sector encounters daily.
We shared a common language, without the need to clarify concepts. The effect of the shared common framework was evident in the manner and depth of the presentation of our advocacy cases on the last day of the Master Class. There was a constant experience exchange between participants, speakers, and experts and it flowed in all directions. Besides this invaluable exchange of knowledge and experience, we reminded ourselves of the most important lesson in the NGO sector – together we can do anything!
As both a member of the BCNL team and a participant in the Master Class for NGOs 2024, I could say that a program at this level is not only to be continued and developed further but is also extremely necessary! Meeting some of those NGO representatives who are creating the strategy, dealing with the day-to-day challenges of motivating and retaining members of their teams, and building and modifying an organization's theory of change, has led to a broadening of our view of the big picture and the many opportunities for collaborations.
We were all inspired by meeting and talking with Boryana Dimitrova from Alpha Research, Yana Bührer-Tavanie from Fine Acts Foundation, Ekaterina Angelova and Ivo Bosev from America for Bulgaria Foundation and Lenko Lenkov, former Program Director at America for Bulgaria Foundation. The most valuable thing, though, was the sharing of experience and the willingness to cooperate – not only in the advocacy cases and training tasks but as civic activists. I am sure that now we will be more capable, more vocal and with more knowledge on how to become sustainable.
The opportunity for support – both to give and to receive support and knowledge – strengthened the spirit immanent to people in the NGO sector.
With satisfaction and lessons learned, we look ahead to the next Master Class for NGOs!
Author: Radina Banova-Stoeva, Legal Consultant BCNL
TheSummer School for NGOs 2024 Master class is implemented with the support of the "America for Bulgaria" Foundation
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