President:
Nolan Heinrich
Most Important Duties:
Your main job as President is coordination. You are in charge of managing the board, planning meeting agendas, arranging National Convention activities, and the NJCL as a whole. You will be responsible for staying on top of all proposals and subcommittees, so organizational skills are vital. The President presides over all meetings and General Assemblies, so lots of public speaking experience is important (though you will get plenty during the whole campaigning process). Besides leading the NJCL, what you do in office is largely up to you; the rest of the board and National Committee are all there to support whatever changes you want to make within the organization.
How to Prepare for Office:
When campaigning, make your platform easily accessible to everyone. My best advice is to make a bit.ly link (or any other link shortener) for a campaign Instagram account or website. Create handouts with this link (things to hang on your lanyard work great) and pass them out wherever you can. Posters and digital flyers can be very helpful in visually getting your name out there as well. Before you make it through NomCom (which you totally will, I have confidence in you!), have an elevator pitch of yourself and your platform ready. You’ll need to have this on hand, especially for Meet the Candidates where you’ll inevitably be asked the same 2-3 great questions for an hour. Being knowledgeable and clear about your platform will make you really stand out.
Campaign Analysis:
As a presidential candidate, all eyes are on one specific aspect of your platform: your qualifications. When preparing your campaign, be sure to highlight all of your leadership experience with roles both inside and outside of the JCL. Have you been a state officer? team captain? Camp counselor? Club leader? Let the delegates know! Experience in leadership positions is essential, so they should be at the forefront of your platform. However, do not let them overshadow your goals for the year. The office of President is intentionally vague so that you can make changes within the JCL as you see fit. Something that I wish I could have done better was connect with more of the delegation, so I encourage all candidates (not just those running for President) to attend as many events as possible. Spend time talking to people on a personal level and really get to know everyone, but don’t make the point of every conversation trying to win their vote. The more confident people feel about you as a person (in addition to your platform), the more successful your campaign will be.