JCI & WJD

Junior Chamber International (JCI) is a nonprofit organization of young active citizens age 18 to 40 who are engaged and committed to creating impact in their communities. Active citizens are individuals invested in the future of our world. JCI gathers active citizens from all sectors of society. We develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to make informed decisions and take action.

The global network comprises more than 100 national associations with around 200,000 members. JCI members assume responsibility for society in specific projects, ranging from sustainable entrepreneurship and climate protection to international cooperation.

As an international NGO and partner organization of the United Nations, JCI is active worldwide. The focus of the work is:

• promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations
• supporting corporate social responsibility (CSR) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the UN Global Compact
• promoting local business initiatives with the International Chamber of Commerce-World Chambers Federation (ICC-WCF)
• participation in the Global Youth Empowerment Fund in cooperation with the UN Social Development Action Campaign

In Germany, Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland are part of JCI. Numerous conferences for international exchange and personal development are held for JCI members every year. Membership in JCI offers a wide range of opportunities for international networking. The Wirtschaftsjunioren Deutschland form the fifth largest nation in the international JCI network and make up around a third of the European members. At JCI we bear the name “JCI Germany”.

JCIBI

The idea for an international JCI Chapter in Berlin has been growing since 2018. Over the last few years, the local Berlin Chapter was contacted by multiple interested people who did not speak German. Not surprising, since Berlin is the city with the highest proportion of foreigners in Germany. Although it was always tried to organise translation, joining fully was difficult, since every WJ and Jaycee wishes to be able to contribute fully and not speaking German was making that challenging.

In 2019 we met members of JCI The Heart of Europe, the English-speaking JCI chapter in Brussels, for the first time at a JCI event. A solution for members who don’t speak the local language? We were immediately convinced that we also needed THAT in Berlin.

For the entire year 2020, the official language of the “International” working group of the WJ Kreis Berlin/JCI Berlin was set to English: communication, events, documentation. We thought at first a separate chapter wouldn’t be necessary, but by the end of the year the international interested parties gave us the feedback that just converting one working group to English meant they still miss out on a large part of the group work.

But we didn’t want to give up. In 2021 we restarted the project. This time we were determined to start our own chapter. We took a lot of time to define our vision and mission, our target group and stakeholders as well as our unique selling proposition. Slowed down by Covid, the time had finally come in June 2022: We launched our first physical event to find like-minded people for our big goal: to shape the future of our intercultural city together. We benefit from the internationality and interculturality in Berlin and Brandenburg through new ideas and diverse experiences. We want to bring together new WJ/JCI members and those moving to us to build an international, English-speaking community.

The first months are behind us – what an exciting and turbulent journey we have already undertaken! 15 different nationalities and many internationally minded Germans came together and now we are preparing the next step: the official foundation of JCI Berlin International!

JCIBI – Board

The new chapter is not yet founded officially. Board members will be introduced on our website after the election. Interested in joining this new chapter? You can connect with us here!