Youth Advisory Committee - European Federation for Intercultural Learning

What is YAC?

EFIL is committed to promoting the active participation of citizens, especially young people (aged 18-30), who form the vital volunteer base of the EFIL Network. To strengthen youth involvement in the organisation’s decision-making process, the EFIL General Assembly unanimously approved the creation of the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) in June 2025. The YAC’s core purpose is to ensure the perspectives and insights of young people are actively integrated into EFIL’s work, particularly reflecting the objectives of the 2026-2028 strategy.

What the YAC Does

The YAC serves as a crucial advisory body with several key roles:

Provide Input: Deliver youth perspectives on selected subjects upon request from the General Assembly, Board of Directors, and/or the Secretary General.
Inform Board Work: Be actively considered by the EFIL Board for input in specific areas of work as part of their work plan.
Suggest Actions: Propose relevant topics, actions, and input for EFIL’s overall work.
Strengthen National Engagement: Support a stronger engagement of EFIL Member Organisations with their National Youth Councils (NYC) to establish a link with EFIL’s advocacy efforts.

Composition and Representation

The YAC is composed of a maximum of five (5) members, ensuring a strong link between EFIL’s internal structures and its external youth representation.
The first mandate runs from 1st October 2025 to 30 September 2027.

Contact: [email protected]
Meet the Members of the 1st EFIL Youth Advisory Committee below!

Josef Burker

AFS Austria

Josef started his AFS journey with a trimester exchange to France with the (then) ECTP programme in 2014. Afterwards, he has been engaged in EFIL, national and regional structures as volunteer, trainer, camp organizer, city committee vice-chair and currently national board member of AFS Austria, in an effort to promote intercultural learning and creating spaces for youth activism. At the same time, he represented his student constituents in faculty and university student unions in three mandates. His journey through AFS continues starting 2026 as member of the Council of Europe’s Advisory Council on Youth, after having been EFIL’s co-representative to the European Youth Forum.

Andrew Ormsby

EIL/AFS Ireland

Andrew began volunteering with AFS after he received a scholarship from AFS Ireland in 2015 to study abroad in Switzerland for a trimester, as part of the EFIL ECTP programme (now PEACE). Since then, he has been engaged at a local, national and international level as a facilitator, mentor, trainer, representative and board member, working to promote active global citizenship and intercultural learning. Andrew has been very involved with EFIL activities as a participant and team member at multiple international events, such as the PEACE camp and the VSS, and he is a member of the European Pool of Trainers. From the 1st of January 2026, Andrew is representing EFIL at the European Youth Forum, and is a co-opted member of the YAC.

Jorren Almey

AFS Low Lands

Jorren is from from AFS Low Lands, born in Belgium (Flanders) in the lovely city of Ghent. He went on an exchange to France in 2021 and after returning, he got involved with his local chapter, first helping to recruit new AFS students and later becoming active at the national level, mainly supporting host students. He has been president of his local chapter since 2023 and became a Qualified Facilitator in 2024.
In 2024, he was also part of the support team during the PEACE Camp. In addition, he represents his AFS organisation in the National Youth Council and he’s a member of the Youth Panel at EYCA, where he work on various policy projects and collaborate closely with the board.

Sara Manuela Moreira

AFS Portugal

Sara Manuela has been an AFS volunteer since 2017. She has served as a local chapter coordinator and engaged in a wide range of volunteering tasks, from facilitating arrival and departure camps, workshops, and international AFS activities to organizing hosting campaigns and managing volunteer development and local logistics. Currently, she is the AFS representative at the Portuguese Youth Council, bringing AFS values to Portuguese youth discussions. Beyond volunteering, she is passionate about global and EU affairs, gender equality, and social inclusivity. Her personal AFS path is slightly different from many others in the network, as she did not have the opportunity to participate as a student in the AFS exchange program. This motivates her even more to advocate for greater inclusivity in AFS exchange programs, reaching students, volunteers, and host families from diverse backgrounds. She believes that the AFS mission is not only necessary, but urgent.

Stamatina Giakoumi

AFS Greece & Cyprus

Stamatina grew up in a small rural community in Greece and is now an International Business student at The American College of Greece (Deree). In 2023/24 she spent her final year of high school on an AFS exchange in the United States, an experience that changed how she saw her own possibilities. After returning, she became a volunteer with AFS Greece and a facilitator, supporting incoming and sending exchange students through orientations and workshops. She is also a contact person for incoming exchange students and coordinates the contact person network across AFS Greece. Alongside her studies, she is Secretary of the International Business Society and Vice President of the business consulting club at Deree. Through the EFIL Youth Advisory Committee, she hopes to help more young people, wherever they come from, access the same opportunities she was given.