Opportunity Weekend

Project Overview

Opportunity Weekend is an annual volunteering and personal development fair for high school students in Romania. Co-founded this initiative and later started a nonprofit to help match teenagers with organizations where they can improve their skills and experiment with potential career paths starting from the 9th grade. 

My Contribution: Event Production, Engagement Strategy, Partnerships Management, Volunteer Coordination
The Team: Tushar Advani, Maria Stanca, Andreea Gheorghita, Ana Cornea, Thao Chi Vu

The Problem

There was no aggregator for personal and professional development opportunities for young people in Romania. Also, the educational system is theory-focused and teenagers tend to find the right opportunities quite late in their academic journey. 

The Solution

A two-day event, similar to a job fair, where high school students can discuss face to face with representatives and volunteers of organizations that are recruiting volunteers or that are offering personal and professional development opportunities. Throughout the event, besides the expo hall with over 25 organizations, teenagers can sign-up for hands-on workshops with the organizations in the expo hall to get a glimpse into their offerings. 

The Effect

Grew the attendance from 300 to 1500 visitors in one year

Matched 6,300+ teenagers with opportunities over 6 editions

Over 30 partnerships with recruiting organizations

Recruited and coordinated 150 ambassadors and 50-60 volunteers for every edition

Fundraised over 8,000 EUR from sponsors for logistic expenses

Received over 2,000 Romanian Lei in donations during every edition

Donated over 4,000 Romanian Lei to charities in Romania

Generated over 5,000 Romanian Lei revenue from selling hand-made merchandise