Fourth from left, JCI Vice President Callewier and other JCI Officers in front of the JCI World Headquarters Dominiek Callewier was elected JCI Vice President in Antalya, Turkey, in November 2007. Born October 10, 1970, in Kortrijk, Belgium, Callewier holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and works as managing director of AVC, a manufacturing company that designs and manufactures stairs, doors, walls, and lightwalls. He resides in Kortijk, Belgium, with his wife Valerie, and they are expecting their first baby. Callewier joined JCI Harelbeke in 1996, and became Local President in 2000, State President in 2002, and National Executive Vice President in 2002. At the international level, Dominiek served as JCI Chairman of the Business Committee in 2006 and Representative to Eurochambres in 2007. He was honored as JCI Senator No. 64689. As JCI Vice President in 2008, Callewier is serving the national organization members of Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden. JCI Vice President Callewier shared with us his vision and goals: Q. What are your main JCI goals this year? A. As we have only “one year to lead,” I must focus. My goals correspond to JCI World President Graham Hanlon’s: first, to promote Active Citizenship and JCI as “the voice of the young leaders” and second, to recruit and retain members. I strongly believe in those two goals because they make us relevant, relevant to our members, to our communities, and to society. I encourage national boards to focus on these issues. I can only work through them and they can only work through the local organizations where our members are! I ask all officers and members to show leadership and I bring this message with enthusiasm to motivate as many people as possible. Q. What strategy do you recommend to increase membership? A. I recommend that we first consider what return of value do we offer our members? The most valuable return for our members is their becoming better leaders, better people, better citizens, better managers. And, for us to be relevant, we must help them achieve this return. However, more important than what we offer is how we market what we offer. My advice for the Strategic Planning Committee is to consider our marketing and communication strategy. We must keep on speaking the “language of young people” to enter their world and to “sell” our organization. Becoming an “eJCI,” as we try to do it with eWorld, and increasing web visibility are strategic priorities. Q. What concrete Active Citizenship programs could be conducted in your Area and how will you promote them? A. I could offer thousands of possible programs and actions we could implement and I see great examples in the countries for which I am responsible. For example, JCI Lithuania is conducting the “Stay in Lithuania” campaign to stop the brain drain in their country. However, we must not launch too many programs but select carefully those that have the most impact and can be managed with our limited resources. Q. What have you gained from your membership? A. Thanks to JCI, I’ve made many friends all over the world, and friendship is the most important thing in the world. I have met people from other regions and other cultures and, to my surprise, I have found that we all share the same vision and goals, as written in our inspiring Creed and Mission. Through JCI, I’ve also developed training skills, and have had great opportunities to organize projects and build up experience as a Board member. Additionally, thanks to JCI, I found investors for my own company! Q. What advice do you have for new members so that they may fully benefit from the organization? A. Only one bit of advice: “Take advantage of the opportunities and Be Better!” Q. Any other information, details or suggestions you would like to share? A. It is great to be a JCI Member! More pictures via http://www.jci.cc/news/en/10730/%3Cb%3EJCI-Vice-President-Callewier-Focuses-on-Active-Citizenship-and-Membership%3C/b%3E