Feature

Junior Jaycees in UIU

Aneesa Rahman

JUNIOR Chamber International has been shaping leaders around the world for almost 60 years. The Junior Chambers concept began as a local movement became citywide and then national. In 1944 the organization became international. However, the seeds of Junior Chamber sprouted much earlier, at a dance club in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, which was formed to elevate the social significance of its members. The leader of the club was Henry Giessenbier, a bank cashier, who today is referred to as the founder of the Junior Chamber movement. Gissenbier organized a meeting of the Federation of Dancing Clubs on Octover 13. 1915, at Mission inn in St. Louis. At this meeting 32 young men agreed to form the Young Men's Progressive Civic Association (YMPCA). In 1926 the YMPCA changed its name to Junior Citizens.

JCI is a membership-based nonprofit organization of 200,000 young people ages 18 to 40 in 5,000 communities and more than 100 countries around the world. Each JCI Member shares the belief that in order to create lasting positive change, we must improve ourselves and the world around us.

We seek targeted solutions to the unique problems in our communities to build a better world, creating global impact. With this concept in mind JCI had approached UIU to make a few of our students Junior Jaycees so that these students can make corporate links and can become future leaders in their coming years. Representing UIU in JCI is a group of Junior Jaycees who are working under Mr. Suborno Barua, Senior Lecturer (Finance), School of Business, UIU and Junior Jaycee Coordinator. It was our plan to organize six workshops within six months, of which we have completed one workshop recently and also a seminar.

The seminar was on “Sustainable Tourism Development in Bangladesh” the keynote presenter on this occasion was Ms. Majbritt Thomsen, Originator “Views on Tourism” Project on Bangladesh. The other guest speakers were Dr. Mubina Khondoker, Chairman of Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, University of Dhaka, Mr. Fashir Ahmed, Director of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation and Prof. Mahabub Jamal Jahangir, Chairman The Peoples University of Bangladesh, Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management. The event was graced by people in the tourism industry and many more from the media industry.

Next, a training was held at UIU on “Branding Yourself and Your Firm” which was jointly organized and certified by Junior Chamber International, Bangladesh (JCI) and United International University (UIU). The event was conducted in two sessions on 13th July, Tuesday. The first session was conducted by Dr. Habibur Rahman Former Professor of Marketing, University of Dhaka and Dean, School of Business, UIU. The second session was conducted by Aftab Mahmud Khurshid, Brand Strategist and Specialist & Head of Marketing, Standard Chartered Bank.

The event was not only open to students of United International University but also other universities and professionals. The responses regarding the registration were overwhelming to say the least. And students from Dhaka University, ULAB, BRAC, Jagannath University, ASA University and City College attended the training.

This was the second event organized by Junior Chamber International, Bangladesh (JCI) and United International University (UIU). Many more such seminar and trainings are going to be held within the next six months which will again be jointly organized by Junior Chamber International, Bangladesh (JCI) and they are going to be open to anyone who wants to participate.