Forming your WAVES Corps Leadership Team

One of the most important aspects of creating a strong, sustainable chapter is establishing a leadership team. As a chapter president, you are not on your own! The most successful chapters have the foundation of a strong support system with clear delegation of tasks and responsibilities among the team. An executive board or sub-committee ensures accountability and breaks down Corps planning activities into easily manageable tasks.

Recruiting a Team

When choosing a group of dedicated students to join your leadership team, it is helpful to choose students from a variety of majors so that your club is multi-disciplinary in constituency and perspective and so that you have more access to student volunteers and contacts outside your field of study. Additionally, remember to get younger students involved, as they will be critical in upholding the sustainability of the chapter as older leaders graduate. Most importantly, look for committed, enthusiastic, and passionate students who are willing to work towards the mission and vision of WAVES for Development!

Role Delegation

Based on the structure of your chapter and dynamic of your group, roles can be split to cover a variety of tasks. You may want to consider assigning the following roles:

• President or Co-Presidents
  • Chapter leader

• Secretary
  • Takes minutes, manages chapter records, notifies members of meetings and other events, and administers day to day activities of the chapter

• VP of Finance and Logistics
  • Manages funds, collects deposits, collects student information, and works with Corps Coordinator to book flights

• VP of Fundraising and Grant Writing (may be split into two positions based on chapter needs)
  • Plans and coordinates fundraising events, reaches out to corporate sponsors, and drafts grant applications. Works with college/university to gain fullest possible support for chapter

• VP of Outreach and Marketing
  • Coordinates recruitment efforts, builds awareness about WAVES and development issues in Peru through traditional and social media, and leads collaboration with other Waves Corps chapters on campus

• VP of Spanish Language and Culture
  • Leads Spanish language workshops and presentations on Peruvian political, economic and social culture

Post-Corps Transition

Your job as a WAVES Corps Chapter President or team member does not end with the trip! We must work together to make sure there is follow up, year-round communication, and smooth transitions from one year to the next. All of this is to ensure the sustainability of your chapter.

Identify potential leaders immediately after the trip, and be sure to elect a successor president. Hold elections for your general group members to vote on their next year’s president and leadership board. Meet with the newly elected president and leadership board, and pass as much pertinent information along as possible.