2010 JCI President Kwemain issues a challenge to all JCI members and asks what impact means to you.

by 2010 JCI President Roland Kwemain

In 2002, I wanted very badly to help bring positive change to my home city of Buea, but needed a spark to help ignite the impact I could create. Eyong Tedd, then JCI Cameroon President, visited my office and invited me to Join JCI. That was the opportunity I had been waiting for and JCI was the spark. I knew from the start that, with JCI Buea Summit, I could go on to do amazing things and here I am, eight years later, leading the premier worldwide organization for young active citizens.

Making an impact, however, means different things to different people. Many JCI members I have met throughout my travels have grand visions of a powerful global change with JCI as the catalyst and I truly admire the ambition of these members. But I urge you not to discount creating an impact on a smaller, more local level.

Whether you are providing computers for schools in Lebanon, cleaning up the environment in Estonia or dedicating your birthday to saving lives with the JCI Nothing But Nets Birthday Campaign, you are making an impact. The collective efforts of all of our members making even small impacts in their communities create a great global change for good.

I believe there is no greater force for positive change in the world than the collective effort of JCI members. It is for this reason that we must bring new young active citizens to JCI to expand our influence and grow our impact. This is why I have issued the Impact of One Challenge for the month of September.

To me, impact means transforming lives and creating a positive change in my community. I know that there are millions of individuals throughout the world looking for the spark just like I did. I cannot think of a more powerful impact than giving someone else the tools and resources they need to make an impact of their own with JCI.

This week, as we launch the Impact of One Challenge and the “What the Impact of One means to me” Video Competition, I urge you not only to take part, but to spread the word through Facebook and Twitter by saying what Impact means to you. Remember to include the tag “JCI2010Impact” so we can begin a trend and show the world how JCI is making positive changes worldwide.

You have the opportunity this month to amplify JCI’s impact and gain recognition for your hard work in the process. Remember every JCI member’s story begins with another JCI member, just like mine. Will you bring a future president to JCI?

Impact of One Contest Rules:

The Impact of One Challenge

• Only new members officially registered with JCI during the month of September 2010 are eligible to be counted as contributing to an individual member or JCI National Organization’s total.
• All new members must be entered through the Impact of One web page in the JCI President’s Corner.
• New member totals will be calculated and the results announced at the 2010 JCI World Congress in Osaka, Japan.

“What the Impact of One means to me” Video Competition

• Videos are limited to 30 seconds. Videos of longer duration will not be considered.
• Videos must include the tag “JCI2010Impact” in the “Tags” field in YouTube to be found.
• Only videos uploaded to YouTube will be considered for the competition, but feel free to repost your video on Facebook.

[Quoted from https://www.jci.cc/news/en/16870/Change-the-World-with-the-Impact-of-One]