Our first Strategy Weekend in 2020 took place in Varese in the north of Italy again. As we enjoyed our first stay so much and Lorenza and her family kindly invited us again, we came back excitedly.
This time, we were a much smaller group, which enabled us to work more efficiently and gave us the opportunity to discuss some of the important “future” questions on an in-depth level.
We arrived on Friday, the 17th of January, and went out to have the “best pizza in town”, as it is tradition to start the weekend nutritiously. As always, this first dinner was a great opportunity to reconnect with members we already knew and get to know those we haven’t met before.
On Saturday morning we started as usual, with a quick warm-up and the department updates which gave everyone an overview about the work, accomplishments but also difficulties of each department during the last half year.
Luckily, we also had Aida with us, the project manager at the PEHI, who flew in from Addis Ababa with Lorenza, to give us a detailed update on the situation on the ground. 
The presentations led to discussions about some pressing issues, like the Income Generating Activity (IGA) project of PE, the details of moving into a new institute and the application and implementation of the Level 3 training programme. Since we were such a small group, department time was cut short a little bit. After intense conversations we had a refreshing and very filling lunch: incredibly delicious pasta made by Lorenza’s dad. Thank you again!
In the afternoon we took group pictures and then went into more detail on some discussions we had already started in the morning. After a coffee break, the Fundraising department worked together with MB on donor profiles and current concerns in Addis with Aida and Public Relations updated some general information about the project.
Dinner was made by Aida, who brought Injera and spices from Addis to prepare Ethiopian dishes like Shiro. It was extremely delicious and a great end of the day. Afterwards, we had time to catch up personally and connect over some Italian wine and snacks.
Sunday morning was election time again. We welcome Lorenza back in Team Europe, after she did an amazing job as Country Representative, she is re-joining the Management Board. Sena Kinati is back in Addis to take on her position as Country Representative again. Josefine Weindorf was voted into Management Board, as well. Stella Sak became Junior Management Board. She now shares the responsibility of Department Head (DH) of Fundraising with Florian Gaede. Also sharing the position of DH are Hanna Rössner and Anne Stellberger from Public Relations. Christina Penker goes back to being the Head of Talent Management and Carina Herbers stays Head of Finance.
After this weekend in Varese, we feel motivated and eager to implement and address the issues and goals we discussed. In order to do that, we are urgently in need of new members, so please click here to see our career opportunities and become part of an amazing project!
Written by Anne Stellberger
