The Challenger Plus community, during 9 editions held in Romanian and one edition in Russian (Ethnic Challenger) reached over 140 graduates!
On December 2nd, 63 young men and women gathered at the Challenger Alumni Reunion 2023.
The aim of event was to:
- Celebrate the successful ending of the ninth edition of Challenger and the results achieved by its participants;
- Gather the alumni of previous Challenger editions to keep them informed about the progress of the program, as well as for networking and involving them in designing the future of the program.
The event started with greetings from the guests of event:
- Martin Angeby, Country Director, NDI Moldova;
- Ion Donea, Director, National Youth Agency of Moldova;
- Stella Jemna, Country Director, Western NIS Fund in Moldova and former coordinator of the NDI-led program „Femei cu Idei” (Women with ideas);
- Vlada Ciobanu, first coordinator of the Challenger program.
The speakers aimed to encourage the young graduates not only to sustain their civic engagement within Challenger but also to extend it into their professional and daily lives. Notably, Mr. Ion Donea expressed the intention of strategic collaboration, acknowledging Challenger as a reference program for youth movements in Moldova and advocating for increased cooperation with state institutions.
The event continued with a retrospective of the Challenger 9 and its stages and results:
- 1775 respondents questioned within the first stage of the program;
- 10 strategies on solving the traffic jams issue in all the districts of Chisinau developed by participants and improved after the debate competition;
The promotional and advocacy campaign conducted prior to the general local elections, aimed to promote the strategies among relevant stakeholders, as well as citizens of Chisinau.
The Challenger 9 retrospective was concluded by the graduate Doina Stati, who has briefly talked about the previous discussions with the Chief of the General Directorate for Urban Mobility, Vitalie Mihalachi, and the perspective of further involvement of Challenger 9 alumni in solving urban issues, together with the authorities.
Later on the diplomas were handed to the participants by Martin Angeby.
The event continued with the „organizations fair” during which each of the organizations founded by Challenger alumni was presented, together with its latest results, plans for the future and ways other alumni could get involved in its activities:
1. Primaria Mea was presented by its co-founder and administrator, Natalia Slepuhin, alumna of Challenger 1;
2. DeFacto was presented by its co-founder and executive director, Cristi Mariuța, alumnus of Challenger 2;
3. Guvernul Meu was presented by its co-founder Dan Popovici, alumnus of Challenger 6;
4. Comunitatea Plus was presented by its co-founder and president, Tudor Arnăut, alumnus of Challenger 4. Tudor has also announced about the beginning of the administration of a grant from NDI, supporting the final stage of Challenger 9 and Challenger Gagauzia.
The final stage of the event was the interactive session in a „World Cafe” format, aimed to brainstorm ideas about the future development of the Challenger program.
Overall, the event was attended by 63 participants and alumni, as well as four invited guests.
„Challenger” program, is implemented by „Comunitatea Plus”, with the support of National Democratic Institute branch in Republic of Moldova and the USAID. Opinions expressed within this material do not necessarily represent the position of NDI Moldova and USAID.