The Let’s Do It World NGO held its annual General Assembly on Sunday 4 February, with dozens of members joining a marathon three-hour-long session online, during which the movement’s activities in 2023 were examined and discussed.
The first main item for review was the Annual Report for 2023, containing a thorough breakdown of our projects, events, successes, results for WCD 2023, inspirational stories from countries in each region, a summary of the organization’s accounts, and much more.
The content was approved without objection or revision and we are pleased to publish the entire Annual Report on our website. You can download it directly here.
Next up was a review of the 2023 Leaders’ Survey results, examining principal metrics therein, reflecting the feelings and viewpoints of leaders from 86 countries and territories across the LDIW global movement.
Among the main findings was that satisfaction with the results of World Cleanup Day has decreased compared to last year, especially in European countries. Although this is tempered with the revelation that 92% of leaders are highly motivated to organize a cleanup in their countries on 20 September 2024, a sentiment particularly noticed in Latin America.
An overview of the revision of the strategic development for the organization followed, with a summary of the primary areas to be addressed. The outcome of the working groups is expected in April or May this year.
There then followed a breakdown of the marketing campaigns that will be carried out in 2024, most notably Digital Cleanup Day on 16 March and, of course, World Cleanup Day on 20 September, with additional reference to Earth Day on 22 April and World Environment Day on 5 June. LDIW’s marketing and communication teams will produce engaging content for all days.
The theme for this year’s Digital Cleanup Day will be “change”, inspired by the famous quotation attributed to Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see!” Participants are encouraged to effect positive and lasting change in digital behavioral habits, starting with deleting their own digital waste and reporting the results to our central platform.
The financial report was next up for study, with a review on where the funding to run the organization has come from, as well as discussion, and the subsequent approval, of budgets for operations, including the potential hosting of World Cleanup Day this year, during which the host country would also arrange the Call & Media Center for 20 September.
LDIW’s central management team was the next topic covered, which enabled us to announce a significant change on the team – the current CEO, Rein-Eerik Savi, is stepping aside into a more strategic, project management-related role, allowing former Regions Coordinator for Asia, Anett Linno, to step in. Anett will be a familiar – and clearly a very welcome – face to many in the movement. To those who do not yet know her, you are in for a treat!
Rein-Eerik commented on his sideways step – “I know that I have not been here very long, and some might be surprised by the quick change in role. However, in this very short space of time, I have learnt one very important thing and that is together we can achieve great things. To do so requires having the right people in the right places at the right time, and I saw that LDIW needs a CEO who can hit the ground running if we are to achieve more quickly the successes we clearly seek.
Therefore it is highly appropriate that Anett Linno steps in, as she is already an experienced CEO. She also has the familiarity within, and knowledge of, the whole network. I wish her all the very best at the helm, as I step into a more strategic role where I can give my best value to all of you.”
Anett spoke about her imminent arrival, on 26 February thus – “I am thrilled to rejoin the HQ Team of Let’s Do It World and it is an honor to do so as the new CEO. In an increasingly competitive and polarized world, I believe only close cooperation can balance out what we have already destroyed as a human kind.
Online engagement and participatory leadership are my main strengths in fostering a cooperative mindset, achieving remarkable results in my previous work. I am excited to see how we can further the movement in the coming years, especially as we enter the UN framework following the addition of WCD to their Calendar.”
And, finally, the section everyone was waiting for arrived – the results of the election for LDIW’s Board of Directors 2024–25, which was compèred by CEO Rein-Eerik Savi.
He confirmed firstly that the election process was held in accordance with the NGO’s statutes, ensuring fairness and integrity, thanking Anna Gril (WCD France) and Chun Huo Suen (Country Leader, WCD Singapore) for joining him on the Election Committee.
The results revealed that three pre-existing Regional Directors retained their positions, those being Bill Willoughby (North American), Pål Mårtensson (Oceania), and Nima Zare (West Asia).
Therefore, the Assembly members were presented with four new Regional Directors, who have all now taken their spots on the Board. They are Stephan Senghor (Africa), Agustina Iskandar (Asia), Luan Hasanaj (Europe), and Roberto Palafox (Latin America).
Lastly, the position of Head of Global Network was announced, with Heidi Solba standing unopposed and receiving overwhelming support for a continued term in that role.
The election results concluded the business of the day and we are grateful to all who participated and voted. We extend our sincere congratulations to all Board Directors.
Following the General Assembly, the new Board convened the following day, 5 February, for their inaugural meeting. We are thrilled to announce that, during this meeting, the Board confirmed that Heidi Solba will continue her role as the NGO’s President, much to our delight!
We end with expressing our gratitude to all the leaders who took part in the General Assembly, as well as everyone who contributed to a fantastic set of campaigns in 2023.
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