On 9 and 10 September 2021 in Tetovo, North Macedonia, the Institute for Leadership and Public Policy (ILPP) organized the event “Servant Leaders for Positive Change”, focusing on community leadership, role and characteristics of servant leaders together with twenty-five (25) CSOs representatives and grass-root initiatives from North Macedonia. The aim was to learn about community leadership, how to mobilize the community and how to communicate their vision to the communities.

During the first training day, the lead trainer Pranvera Kasami supported by two co-trainers – practitioners in the field of community mobilization and communication, Sreten Koceski and Agron Rustemi, presented to the participants different skills for open communication, needs identification and establishing contacts and networks with the stakeholders in the community. In addition, participants heard about positive examples of community mobilizing and community leadership in socio-economic development, education, youth, agriculture etc.

At the end of the second training day, participants mapped the community stakeholders and discussed the possible methods how to approach each party and engage them in addressing common needs. During the group, work participants communicated their ideas on how to articulate and identify initiatives that will serve the good of the community and address issues relevant for the community members. In the upcoming period, the trainer will support interested participants to advance their initiatives further and develop action plans applicable to their respective organizations and communities.

The training was an excellent example of how the young people with different ethnic backgrounds communicated efficiently in their languages and discussed joint actions to improve people’s lives. The training was conducted in English, whereas the participants were in a position to communicate in Macedonian and Albanian using the translation as needed.