Emily Harle ElectEmily @Emily MSYP ElectEmily Contents 1.Foreword 2.Leadership & Experience 3. Transparency & Accountability 4.MSYP Support 5. Opportunities & Engagement 6.Voluntary Organisations 7.Rural Engagement & Representation 8.Campaign & Local Work 9.Creative Communications & Procedures Group 10. Post-COVID Resilience ElectEmily Foreword Hi there! I'm Emily, MSYP for Glasgow Kelvin and current SYP Trustee for Communications and MSYP Support, and I am standing for Chair of SYP. I've been an MSYP for 3 years now, and this past year I've been an active Trustee on SYP's Board. This experience has proven invaluable- my confidence and leadership skills grew immensely, evidenced by the resilience I displayed as a Trustee, even when faced with the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic. During this time, I utilised my platform to ensure that MSYP wellbeing was at the heart of all Board decisions, and as Chair I am keen to make member support and engagement a core priority. I am best placed to provide the responsive leadership that SYP needs in these changing times, to ensure we are equipped for any new challenges that lie ahead. As your Chair, I pledge to be inclusive, reliable and above all, committed to this amazing organisation. SYP means the world to me, and I am confident that with me as chair, the Board will lead SYP with passion and heart, so we can continue to build better lives for Scotland's young people! Read on to see what I will do for you as SYP's next Chair... ElectEmily Leadership & Experience SYP's Chair needs to be an experienced and strong leader. In my past year as a Trustee, I have shown myself to be capable of assuming this leadership position, and have worked with the rest of the Board to ensure SYP's work never faltered, even throughout a national lockdown. I am determined to ensure that as we emerge from these difficult times, SYP does not stray from its core values- democracy, rights, inclusion and political impartiality. I have experience of both chairing meetings, and leading a team, both of which are essential skills for SYP's Chair to possess. For example, I have successfully chaired Creative Communications Team meetings over the past two years, both as Convenor and as Trustee. I also created a Policy Working Group within my local youth council, where I chaired meetings and facilitated the team's campaigning. If elected as SYP's Chair, I will bring these valuable skills to the position, particularly whilst chairing Board meetings, and whilst working with the membership as a whole. SYP's Chair needs to be a confident spokesperson and representative of SYP, and advocate for Scotland's young people. Throughout my 3 years as an MSYP, I have been lucky to have opportunities to represent SYP's work through interviews and discussions with decision makers and stakeholders. I was interviewed by BBC, speaking about SYP's mission and values, and have also been interviewed for a Scottish Parliament exhibition where I discussed the importance of votes at 16, which has been displayed in the Parliament building for a year now. Not only did these increase my confidence immensely, but they provided me with the essential experience of representing SYP on a public platform. Transparency & Accountability ElectEmily In my past year as a Trustee, Board accountability and transparency are assets I have always strived for. However, it is important to recognise that we can always do better. If elected as Chair, I will make sure that Board decisions are communicated to the membership as quickly as possible, particularly due to the uncertain times we are facing as an organisation due to COVID restrictions. It is now more important than ever to maintain Board transparency, so the membership can hold the Board to account. One way I intend to ensure this transparency is upheld is to hold more frequent Board Q&As. We typically hold these at in person sittings, however we have held these virtually during lockdown, and they proved a success. With these Q&As in place, either virtually or in person, members will have the opportunity to ask questions about our decision making, and we will hopefully improve communication between the membership and the Board- after all, we are elected to do what's best for you, and for SYP as a whole. I will also ensure that I am always held to account as SYP's Chair, both by the rest of the Board and the wider membership. As Trustee, I have always made myself accessible to members, through Twitter, email and in person, and I am keen to do the same as Chair. I want to be a Chair that members can easily approach with problems or concerns, knowing that I will treat any issue raised with compassion and professionalism. Additionally, in my Communications remit, I published regular Board Updates, which I made as accessible and informative as possible. If elected as Chair, I hope to work with the Board to keep producing these regular updates, and investigate new and easier ways for us to communicate with members. MSYP Support ElectEmily If elected as Chair, my number one priority will be member support, because without our amazing MSYPs we wouldn't have accomplished so many incredible achievements over the years. As a Trustee this term, I worked alongside the Chair to implement a new MSYP Support portfolio, meaning for the first time we had a Trustee dedicated to ensuring our members are receiving the right support they need to succeed in their roles. I took on this folio myself, and used it to survey MSYPs about the support they receive, and to figure out areas for improvement. If you elect me as Chair, I will ensure this work is continued, and will explore carrying out similar consultations, which are more engaging and interactive for MSYPs, so that areas of improvement can be identified within the support system. This will hopefully push towards better mental wellbeing and increased accessibility and inclusion for MSYPs. Additionally, I am determined to ensure that sittings are safe spaces for every MSYP, regardless of whether they are held in- person or online. From my own experience as young woman, I realise how difficult it can be to speak up in certain environments, for fear of being drowned out by louder voices. I don't want any MSYP to feel they can't speak their mind- regardless of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion or disability, every MSYP should experience SYP as a welcoming and inclusive environment. For this reason, as Chair I will work to ensure that accessibility and interactive engagement is a priority at every sitting, so that all MSYPs feel welcomed and able to contribute. I also want to ensure there are always quiet, safe spaces at every sitting, either physically or virtually in the form of breakout rooms, and that MSYPs are made aware that these spaces are available, and are informed how/where to access them. Opportunities & Engagement ElectEmily Though in-person SYP opportunities may not be available for a while yet, there are still many ways we can make sure MSYPs are involved and engaged in SYP work. Many stakeholders and decision makers are still working alongside organisations like SYP online, and I believe that every hard working MSYP deserves the chance to experience a national opportunity during their term. With this in mind, as Chair I will look into new ways to circulate information about upcoming opportunities, so that every MSYP can easily access them. Additionally, I want MSYPs to be involved in planning SYP events, especially sittings. Unfortunately due to COVID restrictions, we've missed out on in-person sittings. For this reason it is more important than ever for MSYPs to have a say in what future sittings will look like, be them virtual or in-person. For this AGM, we created the Sitting Planning Team, a group of MSYPs who helped plan and design SYP73. If elected as Chair, I intend to utilise feedback from this team, to improve and implement similar groups are created in future, both for virtual and in-person sittings. During lockdown, SYP as an organisation had to drastically change our ways of working; staff began working from home, MSYP events and meetings have been carried out over Zoom, and the membership has found new ways to socialise. Online working has proven successful (if a little glitchy at times!), and now we know how easy it can be to engage with MSYPs virtually. As Chair, I hope to continue this online engagement even after COVID restrictions lift. Making meetings accessible virtually, will make it easier for both rural and younger MSYPs (who require support workers to accompany them) to attend and contribute to SYP meetings. ElectEmily Voluntary Organisations Throughout my 3 years as an MSYP, I have witnessed first hand the valuable insights that Voluntary Organisation MSYPs bring to our organisation. For instance, being bisexual I was enthused when I first saw LGBT Youth Scotland represented in our Vol. Orgs, and I believe that every single Vol. Org. that's represented plays an extremely important role in furthering SYP's success. However, I recognise that Vol. Org. MSYPs sometimes feel forgotten or underrepresented. Therefore, as your Chair I will work hard to ensure that Vol. Org. MSYPs have equal opportunities to engage in SYP work, from participation in internal groups to campaigning. As Trustee I recently took on responsibility for researching new Voluntary Organisations for SYP to engage with, and potentially expand our range of Vol. Org. MSYPs. I have jumped into this head first, by reviewing our current Vol. Org. framework and looking into potential new organisations to work with. If elected as Chair, I am eager to continue this work and investigate how we can expand our Vol. Orgs, in order to increase our diversity and provide better representation of Scotland's young people. If elected as Chair, I am also keen for the Board to investigate the potential for a Vol. Org. Trustee, who is elected from our pool of Vol. Org. MSYPs to provide them with the valuable representation they need. With the changes from SYP's governance review coming into place at the 2021 elections, I view the addition of an eighth Trustee as the perfect opportunity to give Vol. Orgs. that extra support and representation. As Chair I will work with the Board, advisors, staff team, and of course Vol. Org. MSYPs themselves to explore this proposal. Rural Engagement & Representation ElectEmily Having previously been an MSYP for Angus, I realise rural MSYPs can feel distant from the rest of the membership, and I want to see this divide eliminated. I would like to investigate new ways for regions to communicate with their allocated Board member, so that MSYPs feel supported by the Board no matter where they're based. I've always been passionate about building these strong relationships between regions and their designated Board member, but if elected as Chair I will be better placed to implement this change, and work alongside the Board and staff team to consider alternative routes of communication, such as 'check in' video calls within regional groups. As previously mentioned, I also want to take advantage of the new remote communications that SYP began to use during lockdown, such as video meetings and events. As Chair, I will work to utilise these means even after restrictions ease, in order to explore both online and blended meetings. This would provide rural MSYPs in particular with greater opportunity to attend meetings, without the lengthy travel time, and will also ensure that opportunities are not only given to those who live within the central belt. Every MSYP should have the chance to engage in meetings and events, regardless of where they happen to be based. Campaign & Local Work ElectEmily Due to all the changes created by lockdown, this year the Board and Convenors group made the decision to forego the typical process for choosing a campaign, to instead focus on a campaign based on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, approached from a human rights perspective. Since the usual campaign voting will no longer take place, as Chair I want to put MSYPs at the forefront of our campaign planning and actions. If elected, I will ensure MSYPs are given the opportunity to engage in workshops which will shape our campaign, as well as ensuring that MSYPs are regularly consulted on how they feel the campaign is progressing. I would also like to explore creating a campaign delivery group, similar to the one we implemented for 'Pack It Up, Pack It In', to ensure that members are steering all of our campaigning. I am personally extremely excited to begin our campaign work this year, and as Chair I want to see the whole membership engaging with it. Being such a unique campaign topic, I feel that local work will be key to its success, particularly since COVID-19 will have affected every area of Scotland in a different way. Therefore, as your Chair I will work alongside the Board's campaign lead and the Convenors, to implement workshops and create accessible campaign materials, so that every MSYP feels well equipped to carry out effective, local campaigning. Creative Comms & Procedures Group ElectEmily I have been a member of SYP's Creative Communications Team since I was first elected as an MSYP three yeas ago, and having been both Convenor and the Trustee responsible for it, I realise how integral the team is to SYP and our work. The graphics and media produced by it's MSYPs have been essential for engaging young people during lockdown, and in order to keep this momentum going, as Chair I will be sure to reinstate the Creative Communications team. I also will investigate ways to make it a more permanent feature of SYP, something I began working on this as a Trustee prior to lockdown but unfortunately progress was halted by the new challenges we faced. However, if elected as Chair I will be much better placed to implement these much needed improvements, and will work with the rest of the Board and our advisors to do so. I also recognise that for many members, the delay of the Procedures Group this year was a disappointment, as the team is a key group which carries out in depth reviews of SYP's internal procedures, and is therefore invaluable to our organisation. If elected as Chair, I am eager to propose that the group is reinstated once more, so that MSYPs have even more avenues to get involved in SYP internally, and utilise their own experience of the organisation's procedures during their review. I would also work alongside the Board and staff team to explore new working methods for the group, to ensure that its structure fits with either virtual or in-person working. Post-Covid Resilience ElectEmily SYP will be emerging from lockdown as a very different organisation. This experience has proven that nothing is guaranteed, and as a Board this year we were faced with extremely tough decisions, facing quite possibly the most unprecedented circumstances in SYP's history. I believe that following this experience, it is more important than ever to elect a Chair that will maintain Board cohesion, so that SYP is well equipped to face similar challenges in the future. I am confident that I have the experience, knowledge and strength to cope with even the most difficult situations. If elected I will make teamwork within the Board a priority, because a cohesive Board will make for a stable and healthy organisation. I have dealt with internal conflict successfully before, both within SYP and outwith it, and for this reason I am sure that I am best placed to lead both SYP and the Board for the challenging year ahead. As a Trustee this year, I have also been a Board representative on SYP's new Elections Working Group, which is a team of MSYPs and advisors who are reviewing the election timings. our goal is to ensure MSYPs this term get a complete SYP experience, as well as creating a smoother elections timeline for future. When attending these meetings I have always kept MSYP wellbeing in mind when contributing, since changes could potentially impact mental health of MSYPs or SYP candidates. I have also kept Vol. Orgs. at the forefront of the discussions too, since I want to ensure we work with all MSYPs to identify the best election timings. This Group is due to continue working long after the AGM, and therefore if elected as Chair, I will be ideally placed to represent the Board on this group, whilst continuing to make sure that MSYP wellbeing remains a top priority for the team. Thank you for reading my manifesto, I hope I have convinced you to give me your number one vote for Chair this AGM! If you still have questions about my candidacy, or about any of these manifesto policies please feel free to contact me. I will be happy to have a chat! Remember, if you want an inclusive , reliable and committed Chair, who will lead SYP to success in the coming year, then... ElectEmily @Emily MSYP