Why have you chosen to be KVT’s member? What has joining our activities given to you, how could we continue to improve the way we work, and how could you gain even more of your KVT membership? Share us your thoughts!
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Would you like to enhance your leadership skills and gain valuable experience of managing a small association? KVT is looking for a new chair person for 2026!
Chair of KVT’s board is a voluntary position in which you will coordinate the work of the board, chair board meetings and collaborate closely with the office staff for example in preparing topics for the board’s meeting agenda. More information on tasks of the board can be found here. You won’t be carrying all the chair responsibilities alone but will share tasks with one or two vice chairs depending on each of your interests. You will also get briefing and support from the previous chair.
You will get valuable experience of administration of a small association and volunteer coordination. Working together with a great crew of volunteers, you will get to enhance your leadership, collaboration and practical facilitation skills. If you already have ideas of how you would like to see KVT develop in the near future, as a chair you will be in a great position to advance those goals (and if you don’t, no worries – general motivation to be the chair is equally important)! You will also have a great opportunity to get to know KVT’s partners and networks, both in the SCI’s international network and the Finnish NGO sector.
We hope for the new chair to already be at least somewhat familiar with KVT’s activities and have previous experience as a board member of a non-profit association. Knowledge of written Finnish is an asset (although does not need to be native-speaker level), as the position involves dealing with official documents written in Finnish. To enjoy the tasks coming up with the position, it is also helpful to like working with people and doing things together, building group spirit and motivation among other volunteers, and at least tolerate administrative tasks.
No. The chair, too, is a volunteer who is carrying out their tasks according to their own capacity and other commitments in life. It is possible and even recommended to share responsibilities with the vice chairs and to delegate tasks to other board members. However, it is good to have time for the board meetings (although you don’t need to be able to attend every single one of them) and for coordinating the board’s main responsibilities, such as preparation of the annual report and plan of action. We hope you are ready to commit to the position for a full year, but acknowledge that sometimes life happens and that’s totally ok.
Message the current chair Hanna () and ask for more details! Applications for the position can be sent to the same email at the latest by Monday, November 24th. In your application, please tell briefly
The new chair will be elected in KVT’s fall annual meeting on November 27th along with the other board members. The meeting will be organized at Rauhanasema, Helsinki on Thursday, November 27th at 5:30pm. Online participation is also possible.
Are you interested in association activities and gaining a deeper understanding of how to manage a small organization? Would you like a front-row seat to make an impact on what happens in KVT? Apply to join the board for 2026!
KVT’s activities are planned and carried out by a board, known as “Johtis,” consisting of 9-12 volunteers elected by KVT members. In Johtis, you will gain a deeper understanding of KVT’s work and peace activities both locally and internationally. You’ll gain experience of governance of an association and have the opportunity to do meaningful volunteer work in a great team. As a board member, you can develop your skills not only in traditional board activities but also by participating in events, trainings, and seminars.
The board meets about once a month, and meetings are held both in person and online, depending on the preferences of the board members. It’s also possible to attend in-person meetings remotely when needed.
You are welcome to join Johtis with any level of experience with association work; there are roles for both beginners and veterans. Board members share tasks based on their interests: you don’t need to know everything beforehand, and you will not be working on things alone. The most important things are enthusiasm for influencing KVT’s activities, active participation in the board’s work, and sharing KVT’s values.
Board members and chair person will be elected in KVT’s fall annual meeting on Thursday, November 27, starting at 5:30pm at Rauhanasema. It is also possible to join the meeting online.
We are looking for people for the following roles in KVT’s 2026 board:
Vice members participate in the activities of the board like actual members, apart from that they cannot act as a chair or vice chair and can only vote when an actual member is absent. The board will select the vice chair(s) in its first meeting of the year.
The board plans, implements and evaluates KVT’s annual activities together with the office staff and working groups. The main responsibilities of the board are creating and following KVT’s annual plan of action, representing KVT as an employer, following up on the association’s finances, and making important decisions concerning KVT’s activities and future plans (including updates on the annual budget, approving proposed voluntary workcamps for the coming camp season, recruiting new employees, applying for project grants or joining international projects..).
In addition, activities of the board depend on the interests of its individual members. As a board member, you can decide yourself what kind of tasks or topic you would like to focus on. Here are some examples:
If you are interested or would like to know more, please be in touch! To apply, you can send a short introduction of yourself to KVT’s current chair Hanna () at the latest by Monday, November 24th. In the introduction you can share:
Welcome on board!
What:
A video competition for young volunteers (18 to 29 years of age) currently living in Finland.(*) The winner gets a gift card that covers KVT’s coordination fee for attending a voluntary workcamp.
How to participate:
Send us a short video (30 s. to 2 mins) through this form by May 31st to tell us why you would like to attend an international voluntary workcamp. There is no standard format for the video – creativity is an advantage! Just make sure the picture and voice on the video is clear.
Why to participate?
A voluntary workcamp is an amazing opportunity to get to know a new place and people while giving your contribution to a local community project in an international group of volunteers. By bringing people from different backgrounds to work together for a common goal, workcamps contribute to building peace and intercultural understanding. During the camp you get to learn about different cultures, gain valuable experience of working in an international group, and of course make new friends from different parts of the world! Learning about a local non-profit project can also give you inspiration and ideas for how to make an impact in your own community.
Where can I go for camp? What kind of workcamps there are?
The gift card covers a coordination fee for a camp in Finland, elsewhere in Europe, or in the U.S., Australia, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan or Turkey. Workcamps usually last from one to three weeks. Camps have different themes, and the type of work done at different camps varies from environment protection to manual renovation work, organizing community events, or work with children or marginalized groups. You can find a full list of camp themes and browse upcoming workcamps in our international network in this database.
What happens if I win?
You can use your gift card for a coordination fee of a workcamp in any of the countries listed above during 2025 or 2026. You can apply for a camp of your choice in the database. You can apply for many camps at the same time, but the gift card only covers the participation fee for one camp. Please note that we cannot guarantee you a place at a specific camp as the participants for the camps are selected by our partner organizations in the receiving countries . You can find more information on the application process here.
Conditions:
The gift card only covers the camp coordination fee for the camp charged by KVT (120€). You will still be responsible for your travel costs to the camp location, possible visa costs and any extra fees possibly charged by the receiving organization abroad (most camps in Europe don’t have these). All volunteers attending workcamps through KVT are required to join as KVT’s members. You cannot exchange the gift card for money.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to be in touch:
(*) KVT’s board and working group members excluded from attending
Hi KVT’s volunteer, alumni, partner, or a young person interested in volunteering and peace,
Here is something to mark in your calendar: KVT’s bi-annual volunteer weekend is coming again on April 5th at the Peace Station in Pasila, Helsinki.
Join us for a day full of exciting program from getting to know this summer’s projects, workshops and getting to know other volunteers. You will also have a chance to enjoy sauna and hang out together in the evening. We will try and organize accommodation with our Helsinki volunteers to those of you coming from outside of Helsinki.
Registration for the event is free and participants will be provided with food the whole day. Registration and a more detailed program will be published soon!
All KVT’s members are welcome to join the weekend; if you are not yet a member or have not yet paid this year’s membership fee, you can do that at any time before the event.
If you would like to help with practical arrangements of the event (kitchen help, workshop facilitation, evening program..), feel free to contact Anni ().
Hope to see you in April!
Working groups have an important role in keeping KVT’s core activities going, for example by coordinating long-term volunteering exchanges and workcamp activities in Finland. Working groups are also a great opportunity to learn more about KVT’s work outside the workcamp season and about the field of international voluntary work in general. At the moment we are looking for new members to two active working groups:
Koordis is the coordination group for KVT’s international voluntary workcamps in Finland. Koordis searches and keeps up contact with our local camp hosts, recruits and trains camp coordinators, visits the camps during summer time and evaluates the camp season. In Koordis you get a chance to have your impact on what kind of camps KVT organizes and to participate in shaping the camp experience of our volunteers and camp hosts. If you got interested or would like to know more, please contact our volunteer and exchange coordinator Gweal Monykuany:
Pave is the coordination group for KVT’s long-term volunteer exchange (in Finnish ‘pitkäaikaisvapaaehtoisvaihto’, hence the name). Pave group consists entirely of volunteers and its tasks include processing applications for long-term volunteering projects, interviewing and training our outgoing volunteers, collecting feedback from returning volunteers and keeping up contact with our partner organizations abroad. If you have some existing experience or knowledge of long-term volunteering and are interested in joining the group, feel free to reach out to Anni Lamponen ().
In addition to these two working groups, we are looking for new volunteers with at least some existing knowledge of KVT’s work to join our social media group. Volunteers in the group take care of updating content on KVT’s social media channels (Facebook, Instagram) in one-week shifts according to predefined themes. For more information, please contact Hanna Rask: . Also: if you have a new idea that you would like to make become reality in KVT’s communications, we are more than happy to hear about that!
KVT has also had a separate working group for advancing equity in our work and improving accessibility of our activities to volunteers of diverse backgrounds. In the past the equity working group has, among other things, helped with communicating about KVT’s workcamp opportunities in Finland to asylum seekers and immigrants. The group has been inactive for a while, but we hope to restart it in the near future – if you would like to be part of that, feel free to contact Hanna (see email above) for more information!
Would you like to get to know how a small NGO operates? Do you wish to have a greater impact on what KVT is doing? Join our board for 2024!
KVT has worked for peace through grass-root level voluntary work already for more than 70 years. On our voluntary workcamps we bring together people from different backgrounds to contribute to a common cause and to learn from each other, which we believe helps to create understanding and combat harmful stereotypes and prejudice. This grass-root level peace work is based on ideas of cooperation, equity and promoting of active citizenship.
KVT’s work is planned and coordinated by our board that consists of 10 to 12 active volunteers. As a board member, you will learn about KVT’s activities and peace work on both local and international level, get experience of how a board of a small organization operates, and get to do meaningful voluntary work in inspiring company. In addition to ‘traditional’ board activities, you will also get to participate in different events, trainings and seminars.
The board meets about once a month, either in person or online depending on the board members’ preferences. It is also possible to attend the in-person meetings online if needed.
The board is open to people with all levels of NGO experience; whether you have years of experience in different NGOs or are just beginning to learn about the field, you are welcome as you are. Tasks are divided among board members according to everybody’s own interests, and you don’t need to know everything beforehand. The most important that you are interested in having your impact on KVT’s work, share our values and are ready to commit to be an active part of the board.
If you are interested or would like to know more, please contact the chair person Hanna Rask () to provide a short introduction of yourself, of how well you know KVT and why you would like to join the board. The new board members will be elected in our annual meeting on Tuesday, November 28th.
Are you already familiar with KVT and board work, and into broadening your experience of both?
We are also looking for a chair person and two vice chairs for 2024! Some of the tasks of the chairs are chairing of board meetings, preparing the meetings together with the executive director, representing the board as an employer, coordination of the annual plan of action and annual report, and closer follow-up of KVT’s finances together with the executive director. The chair person will be elected in the same annual meeting on November 28th, and the new board will select the vice chairs at the beginning of the year. Contact Hanna for more details!
