THE new Visayas area vice president of Junior Chamber International (JCI) or Jaycees on Friday, October 5, vowed more youth development program under his term.
“Positive youth development has been an advocacy that is close to our heart, consistent with the conviction that the community prospers when the youth prospers and that the youth can only flourish in a flourishing community,” said Philip Jude Acidre, who has worked with civic and local youth organizations in Tacloban City and in Eastern Visayas for years.
With asset-based approach in youth development, Acidre said he is focusing on leadership building programs, inspiring and enabling young leaders to deepen their capacities for service in the wider community.
“Particularly, I have been involved in shaping young political leaders especially with the recent reforms in the Sanggunian Kabataan (Youth Council),” he added.
Believing that the most effective leaders are visionaries with a clear picture of the future reality that they want to create, Acidre said he is determined to inspire the next leaders both in the organization and in the society.
He said that ideal leaders challenge the status quo because they believe that things can be made better and greater.
“They inspire people to action, because of their ability to communicate that vision. They empower people because they value and appreciate their full potential,” said.
Acidre, who is also a nominee of the regional political party-list Tingog Sinirangan, has worked alongside local government units and civic groups, spearheading several community programs related to livelihood and small-medium enterprises development, alternative learning, disaster management, and healthcare programs.
He hoped to share his experience in leading and organizing communities to the young leaders in the Visayas and in the country.
“The first step towards visionary leadership is to inspire others to take action. Before they can enable and encourage others to take part, they must fully plunge themselves to that commitment,” he told Sunstar Philippines.
“The goal is to instill in our generation a shared ownership in our capacity to define our future. We need to go beyond just impactful service, we need to commit to being part of something meaningful where we can actualize our purpose, driven by the desire to contribute something insightful and leave a lasting mark in the communities where we live,” he added.
To do this, Acidre is focused on “enhancing the leadership capacities of JCI members and empower them as powerful agents for positive change through greater opportunities for human, intellectual, moral and social growth capitalizing on their strong attitude of people engagement, social responsibility, and community involvement.”
“As a result, service becomes our brand of leadership,” he said.
His key strategies are the development of their people, purpose, and passion.
“We will strengthen membership recruitment and retention with targeted 10 percent growth in membership in all chapters. We will intensify training and mentoring programs and concrete and sustainable shared action, thereby solidifying JCI’s primary identity as a leadership organization.
“We will share inspiring stories of successful JCI members and the best practices of accomplished local chapters with the goal of making JCI a recognized strong partner in community development,” said Acidre.
During his induction as a local organization president, Acidre challenged himself to do more for others.
“When the time comes to pass on to a new leadership team, I hope never to be content saying, ‘I did the best I could,’ but to always ask myself, ‘What more could I do?’ ‘How can I do more?’ Thus, the reason why I am running for Area Vice President,” he recalled.
“My personal conviction is that this and any other leadership position is not about me. As I always say, in the JCI movement, leadership is never about us. Service is never about us. It is not even about the work that I do by myself,” he added.
Meanwhile, Acidre urged fellow members to never stop aspiring for more meaningful roles in the local organization, saying that “through aspirations, we could realize the fulfillment that comes from being part of this movement of young leaders.”
“It is about the work that gets done. It is about the work that together, we get done,” he said.