Apply to join the UAEM North America Coordinating Committee!

We are excited to announce that the application for the 2025-2026 UAEM Coordinating Committee is now open! Applications are DUE by June 17, 2025.

It’s important that you assess your availability for the coming semester and year before accepting a position. In order for the CC to successfully do its job, it will need committed members. Remember that serving on the Coordinating Committee is only one of many ways to stay involved with UAEM. 

The CC is not intended to be an advisory committee or board, it is a team of predominantly student leaders and sometimes  alumni across the UAEM network who guide and steer UAEM campaigns and drive much of the work of the organisation.  If you have any questions email us at justin@uaem.org.

To understand the opportunities, responsibilities and commitments that come with CC service, please carefully read through the information below.

• Who Should Apply?

  • All UAEMers – from enthusiastic novice members to grizzled veterans.

  • Student leaders who wish to contribute to driving UAEM’s strategic decision-making processes, including strategic planning, coordinated advocacy campaigns across multiple campuses, and national and international engagement and advocacy. 

  • Students who value a ‘team of teams’ approach and who recognize that much of UAEM’s work will involve working closely with others.

  • Self-starters with a strong work ethic and ‘can-do’ attitude.

  • Students who understand that a strong time commitment and effective communication are crucial to this position and the general good functioning of the CC and UAEM. Applicants should carefully evaluate whether they will be able to dedicate the amount of time that a CC position demands (see ‘Expectations and Commitments’ for details).

  • Students with previous experience in advocacy, organizing and activism, including but not limited to lobby visits, bird dogging, creative actions and demonstrations, and social media campaigns.

  • UAEMer’s who are going into the year after their degree please apply to be a CC Fellow if you have served on the CC. Please note these spots are available in order to balance the presence of experienced UAEMers with our value of emphasising student leadership. These positions will always vary depending on the pool of candidates at the ED’s discretion.

• What does CC entail?

  • Directing UAEM Strategy through Bi-Weekly Conference Calls: ​All CC members actively participate in a mandatory weekly conference call to set and advance UAEM’s overall strategies, policies, goals and activities. Each call lasts 1 hour, and CC members moderate and take notes on conference calls on a rotating basis. These calls are the key space where CC members give and receive updates on current UAEM campaigns and projects, present ideas for advancing core projects or exploring new opportunities, and develop strategies and next steps to move UAEM’s advocacy, campaigns and vision forward. In the summer these calls are bi-weekly. These calls are also attended by UAEM North America’s Executive Director, and open to any member of UAEM or the Board of Directors to attend.

  • Communicating with the Network: ​The UAEM North America network relies on the CC to keep them connected to our regional and global activities and informed about and involved in our advocacy and campaigns. CC members are expected to disseminate information and materials from weekly calls to the broader network and across chapters. Via emails, signal, social media, nation-builder and activity-specific calls, and other updates as necessary. 

  • Working Groups:​ As campaign needs arise there may be certain working groups that form. CC members are expected to give leadership to these working groups and use their efforts to ensure the success of the group.

• Expectation and Time Commitments

  • Time Commitment: ​CC members are expected to volunteer an average of ​5 hours per week to UAEM, including attendance at an hour-long bi-weekly call​. These hours will not be assigned but would be based on the work you would volunteer to do. Being able to be a self-starter and work independently is key. CC members manage their own workloads and should assign themselves responsibilities accordingly, reaching out to the rest of the CC if they need more to work on. Leaders of specific projects, eg. the Report Card Project, may invest many more hours over the course of the year especially as deadlines or launch dates approach. If you don’t think you are willing or able to make this commitment, you can of course participate in UAEM in other ways, such as by joining a project team – this is not the place to apply for those types of roles.

  • Attendance Policy​: The CC meets for an hour at 9 PM ET on every other Tuesday. The CC has a firm but flexible participation policy: CC members are expected to join the CC conference call each week unless exceptional circumstances arise. If a CC member must miss a call, that member should inform the rest of the CC in advance of the call. A pattern of non-attendance without notice may result in removal from the CC. If a member gives advance notice of absence but still consistently misses multiple conference calls, the Executive Director will work with that CC member to re-evaluate the member’s ability to fulfill their CC duties. (See “Leaves of Absence” below.) ​IMPORTANT NOTE: ​School work as a reason to miss a CC call is not considered an “exceptional circumstance.” This means that attendance is expected on all other calls unless there is an illness or emergency.

• What are the Benefits?

  • Amazing opportunity to work closely with a team of leaders from across North America (and where appropriate throughout the globe) committed to improving affordable access to medicines for all.

  • Get a say in the decisions and direction of UAEM during your time on the Coordinating Committee, and learn about campaign strategy development with hands-on experience.

  • Modest financial support to contribute to the costs of travel to attend the annual North American leadership meeting, the North American conference.

  • Valuable networking experience with the UAEM staff and leaders in the access to medicines community as well as allies in the global health advocacy community.

  • Increased opportunities to participate in international, National and Local UAEM or allied organization activities.

If this all sounds good to you, we would LOVE to have you apply to join the UAEM North American Coordinating Committee!

ALL APPLICANTS are asked to join us for a virtual Meet and Greet on June 24, 2025 at 8:00 PM EST.