country programs
YCWA's Samantha Dorn was largely responsible for the success of our recent international conference in Orlando. As Sam prepares to move on in her professional career, we asked her to give us her thoughts about what Youth Crime Watch has meant to her.
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May 2009, by Samantha Dorn
The conference is over, the school year is ending, and so is my time with YCW as Chief of Staff and Conference Coordinator. That said, in the past every time I thought my time with YCW was coming to a close, I end up getting involved in another way, moving from intern to Youth Advisory Board member to volunteer Project Manager for YCW Zambia to Board of Directors member to Chief of Staff and Conference Coordinator, all within three years. Therefore, to say this is the end is definitely premature. My work with YCW over the past few years has included some of the greatest challenges I have had to face, but these experiences have had an invaluable effect on me. I have learned through YCW, but in the interest of brevity I will stick to the time spent as Chief of Staff and Conference Coordinator in the Miami office.
After I graduated from college in 2007 I went to Zambia for a year to volunteer as the Program Manager for YCW Zambia and many of you, or at least I like to think many of you, followed along on my journey through my blog. Early last July Chris DiCarlo, YCW’s new CEO, asked that instead of spending my second year in Africa, I move to Miami to take on the dual roles of Chief of Staff and Conference Coordinator. I moved to Miami in September 2008 and have been here ever since.
One lesson I learned in this job was flexibility to deal with the circumstances that could not be planned for. The dates, hotel and number of room nights were chosen and reserved in August based on participation numbers in previous years and the fact that we would be in Orlando. Then came September, a time I am sure we all remember well, when the banks and the economy overall took a nosedive. I began working in the Miami office on October 1. Planning a large event is always a challenge, but planning a conference in a worsening economy creates new meaning for the word. This is why we worked to be frugal in the beginning so that we did not run into difficulties later on and were able to do so much with limited resources.
Other lessons learned include: the fact that a positive attitude can work wonders in the toughest time; quality and dedication trump quantity every time when it comes to volunteers; that stage management requires some skills I am not sure I posses; that I can only work 18 hours a day for three days before my brain starts to hit the breaks; that there is a lot of negotiation involved in coordinating a conference; and that the kids involved in YCW are more amazing than I could have imagined.
Right now I do not think I am capable of recognizing how much I have learned or grown in the past several years or how much of that is owed to YCW. It may be some time before I do, but what has particularly struck me is the dedication of everyone I have met in the YCW network. From the staff here in Miami to the Board of Directors to the volunteers to the adults and youth working in the field, the passion for crime prevention is evident. Pulling off a national conference on a meager budget in this economy may have been a feat, but it is nothing compared to the remarkable work of the youth on the frontlines of crime prevention in their schools every day.
I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the planning and execution of the conference, who carries out the work of the organization at a national level, who dedicates their time and effort as volunteers or Board Members, who carries out the work of YCW overseas, who is a YCW advisor, and most importantly, every kid participating in YCW. It is a privilege to be a part of this great…and sometimes nutty family.