The remote team who have been doing it right

While some of us may still be adjusting to remote working life, one of the world's leading international youth organizations, Global Changemakers has made it their goal since 2007 to equip themselves with tools which allow them to work, share, teach and collaborate from all corners of the world.

To help them break down barriers in file management, they added iLovePDF to their digital toolkit in 2019. Since then, their remote team has been able to collaborate more easily and focus more time on their mission: To empower young people to drive positive change towards more sustainable, just and equal communities.

Working without borders

Founded by the British Council and now based in Switzerland, Global Changemakers has supported over 6 million young people from across the globe through skills development, capacity building, mentoring and grants. Despite their Swiss HQ, the six team members have always worked remotely, with people in South Africa, Colombia, Brazil, Zimbabwe and Nicaragua. Through daily virtual collaboration, the team has provided:

• Training to thousands of young people from over 180 countries through their online e-learning platform plus in-person programmes.
• Grants to over 360 youth-led projects.

The search for an all-in-one PDF solution

As their global projects require a lot of organization, it hasn't always been plain sailing for the small remote team. From creating guide books and worksheets, to personalizing certificates and reference letters, a normal working day for Global Changemakers used to involve lots of wasted time spent handling PDF documents instead of focusing on their mission.

They needed to find document management tools to help optimize the remote workflow. However, being very few with limited resources, the challenge was finding a free software solution which offered everything they needed to edit PDF files in one place. Then they discovered iLovePDF:

PDF tools for better document handling

iLovePDF offers multiple free tools to edit, convert and manage PDF files. During their daily tasks, the team found iLovePDF's Split PDF tool and Edit PDF tool particularly useful. Global Changemakers team member, Courtney Gehle explains:

"Instead of having to create separate individual documents for our programme participants, it was so much faster to create one large one, then use iLovePDF's Split PDF function to divide the file into individual certificates, weekly worksheets, and personalised reference letters.

Then the PDF Editor made it easy to edit and make comments on PDF documents, especially to the different guidebooks we use and create for our programs. As we work remotely, it was very useful to be able to make the comments and edits and then immediately share the saved PDF back to the team member responsible."

As head Graphic Designer, Courtney's personal favorite had to be iLovePDF's Compress PDF tool. The tool has allowed her to create high-quality materials containing high-res images, then reduce their file size to share them easily. Not only was she impressed that it "saved a lot of time" but also "does not compromise on quality at all."

Thanks to easy-to-use and accessible tools, the team has been able to collaborate better, save time and simplify their document processes.

Leading by example

As fearless problem-solvers, Global Changemakers has shown to be ahead of the game with what today many companies refer to as "the new normal" working environment. By prioritizing finding and developing tools and resources, they have worked remotely problem-free, while supporting an ever-growing virtual audience.

Their widespread virtual popularity led them to host their inaugural Virtual Youth Summit for over 1400 young people from 125 countries in April 2020 as well as a "version 2.0" in November 2020 due to such a high demand - Now that calls for a virtual celebration!

Are you working from home? 

With the right tools just a click away, working remotely can be simple, easy and productive. iLovePDF empowers teams such as Global Changemakers by providing PDF tools to facilitate document management and improve remote collaboration.

Want to discover more tools to help you work from home? Check out our list of top essential PDF tools for effective remote working.

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