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Club Meeting Ideas

Step-by-step Outlines to help you host impactful Pre-Brigade meetings to educate your volunteers.

As a Chapter Leader or Education Chair, you play a crucial part in leading the education and engagement of volunteers. This is an essential role within your Chapter to help each volunteer understand Global Brigades, the impact of their work as a volunteer, and the active role they can all play as advocates for impact. In your role, you will: 

  • Host engaging and educational meetings to prepare volunteers for their Brigade or TeleBrigade. 
  • Review and discuss relevant  topics such as ethical volunteering, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Holistic Model, and content specific to your Programming Countries, such as history and culture.
  • Incorporate regular language lessons. Ask your Program Associate for our language preparation packets for volunteers!
  • Bring in subject experts from your university to support your Chapter.

🔎 These are our suggested Pre-Brigade meeting ideas and access resources related to each meeting topic:

PHASE 0: PREPARATION
  • Build your Leadership Team
    Do you have support in leading your Brigade? Wondering what other positions you can include in your Leadership team? Start building your leadership team and its capacity to effectively run a Chapter with these associated resources.
  • Learn How to Host Effective Meetings
    Start planning your Chapter meetings by learning about effective meetings and facilitation! Learning how to plan for and execute Chapter meetings will allow you to facilitate meetings that are effective and engaging.
  • Pick Out Icebreakers to Use at Each Meeting
    Having an icebreaker at the beginning of each meeting can be a great engagement tool and allow volunteers to get to know each other more casually! Be sure to include an icebreaker even if your meeting is virtual. Here are some examples:
    • Line Up
      This is a quick game where volunteers have to form an orderly line without any discussion, verbal cues, or help. The line is formed by predetermined criteria (like height, birthdays, the color of each person’s eyes, etc.). The tasks can get more complicated the more familiar the group is. 
      Improves: Team collaboration and non-verbal communication.
    • Toilet Paper
      You will need one roll of toilet paper. Pass it around, and have everyone rip off how much they would use for spending a night in the woods. Everyone will feel awkward and not really see the point at the beginning; they may even think you’ve lost it. When everyone has taken off their squares, have them count them. The amount they have is how many fun facts they should reveal about themselves in the circle or in pairs. 
      Improves: Group comfortability. 
    • Rock Paper Scissors Tournament
      This game is based on the traditional Rock Paper Scissors game but with a twist. The people who lost become fans and have to cheer for the players still in the game. The final is cheered on by a large crowd involving the entire group.
      Improves: Group energy  and morale.

PHASE 1: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
  • Meeting 1 - Introduction to Sustainable Development
    Learn more about the history of international and sustainable development, and the realm in which Global Brigades operates.

 🔎 Check out more information here.
  • Meeting 2 - United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
    Develop awareness about the United Nations and the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Global Brigades aligns its Programming with 3 of the SDGs: #3, #6, and #8. 

🔍 Check out more information here.

PHASE 2: GLOBAL BRIGADES FOUNDATIONS
  • Meeting 5 - Monitoring and Evaluation
    In sustainable development, it is incredibly important to track, measure, and report impact, so that an organization can improve and meet its goals. Learn more about our Monitoring and Evaluation team at Global Brigades and the tools they use to measure impact here.

PHASE 3: ETHICAL VOLUNTEERING
  • Meeting 6 - Introduction to Ethical Volunteering
    Gain foundational knowledge of the historical context of volunteering abroad and the common critiques of international volunteers. Help us shape an ethical volunteer mindset worldwide by thinking critically about your role in large -- but sustainable -- organizational efforts through Global Brigades and beyond. 

 🔎 Check out more information here.
  • Meeting 7 - Using Social Media to Empower
    Tell your Global Brigades Story using photos, captions, or in-person, making sure to do so through an empowering lens for communities and community members. The Global Brigades 3 C’s can help to guide your experience responsibly. 

PHASE 4: CULTURAL PREPARATION
  • Meeting 9 - History and Culture
    Begin to discover the history and culture of the Program Country in which you are experiencing a Brigade or TeleBrigade. This only scratches the surface of the immense history each Programming Country has, but helps start the conversation with your volunteers about how your cultural and social backgrounds are similar and/or different. 
  1. 📖 Global Brigades Webpages
    Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Belize
  2. 🎥  Historical Overviews
    Ghana (6 mins), Greece (7 mins), Guatemala (7 mins), Honduras (8 mins), Panama (7 mins)
  3. 🎥 Cultural Overviews
    Ghana (6 mins), Greece (6 mins), Guatemala (8 mins), Honduras (7 mins), Panama (7 mins)
  • Meeting 10 - Language Workshop
    Acknowledge the variety of phrases and languages that you may hear on Brigade or TeleBrigade. Explore common terms and their counterparts in your native language to continue expanding your worldview and critically think about the scope of your role. 
  1. 🎥  Language Overviews
    Ghana (2 mins), Greece (Slides), Guatemala (2 mins), Honduras (3 mins), Panama (2 mins)
  2. 📖 Practice Common Terms and Phrases
    Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama