LEAP is a Mensa International initiative that gathers Mensa members together to work on leadership projects for the benefit of their home Mensa, and Mensa groups across the world. There are 6 members of Mensa participating in the exchange this year and will be presenting their projects at the United States Mensa Annual Gathering (USMAG) in Dallas/Fort Worth and the European Mensa Annual Gathering (EMAG) in Bratislava, Slovakia.
First, a massive thank you to all the people who have encouraged and supported me so far, and an extra thank you to my husband Dimitri who has been so awesome through the application process and will continue to support me as I work through the program. Also a huge thank you to Mensa New Zealand, who gave me their vote of confidence when they nominated me for the program. I am so grateful to all of you!
I decided to set up this blog and try to document what the project I am working on is, how it is going and of course my trips to Dallas/Fort Worth and Bratislava.
Of course the first thing of interest is what my project is about. I am the Young Member's Coordinator and Gifted Children's Liaison for Mensa New Zealand, and have been working hard to help establish a community for members of Mensa New Zealand under 30. Below I have included part of my application to LEAP, to show what my experience has been so far, and what I hope to achieve by doing LEAP.
"I decided to
take on the role of Young Members coordinator for Mensa New Zealand in 2009
when I saw there was nothing additional available for young people when they
joined Mensa New Zealand. Our Young Members were isolated around the country
and had few ways of connecting with one another and as a Young Member, I felt I
was missing out on potential benefits of my Mensa membership. I implemented a
strategy that I believe has been extremely beneficial for Mensa New Zealand.
"Young people
today are more likely to participate in a movement with their peers, rather
than just join a group. In response to this, I developed a strategy of creating
a movement that young people could participate in on top of the other benefits
of Mensa membership. This strategy involves leading from within, rather than on
top, being the group’s biggest cheerleader, and encouraging participation in
whatever way the members feel comfortable in doing. This means that Young
Members of Mensa New Zealand is a community its members have become very
passionate about, and it is growing in strength and number every week. The
group evolves to meet the needs of the members and is member owned and
orientated.
"Because of this
movement-based strategy, we now have a strong group of 105 young members who
participate daily in a Facebook group and meet each other regularly at Young
Members events. The Young Members movement has led to an increased
participation of young people at Mensa events all around the country, including
local events and our national conference. It has also led to young people who
are able to interact, participate in discussions and make friends with people
who they would not have met outside of Mensa.
"I believe this
strategy has been effective in encouraging young people to participate in Mensa
events and will be a key factor in the growth of Mensa New Zealand. Our Young
Members are going to be promoting Mensa New Zealand in universities throughout
New Zealand in March 2013. Young members
are not only looking forward to meeting up with each other, but actively
planning how they will be talking to potential members and helping to raise the
profile of this great organisation.
In addition to this application, I had to submit a video about why I believe I should be accepted for LEAP and what my project is about. You can watch my video here:
So as you can see, my topic is quite large, but I think I can make this a worthwhile project, for both Mensa New Zealand, and Mensa groups all over the world.
I have a long way to go before presenting in Dallas and Bratislava, and I hope you don't mind joining me on my journey there.
If you have any questions about Mensa, LEAP or my project, feel free to email me at young.members@mensa.org.nz.
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