AIESEC

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AIESEC (pronounced "eye-sek", originally an acronym for Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales') is an international youth organization that engages in international student exchange and internship programmes for profit and non-profit organisations. Its international office is in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The AIESEC network as of June 2009 includes over 38,000 students in 107 countries and territories. It is present in over 1700 universities across the globe, and sends students on 5500 international exchanges yearly.^[1]

History

The idea behind AIESEC started in the 1930s, when representatives from schools across Europe exchanged information about various programs and schools that specialized in business and economics. Students were carrying out internships in other countries, but mostly on their own initiative, and it all came to a standstill with the onslaught of World War II.^[2] In 1944, though, the neutral Scandinavian countries were still exchanging: in Stockholm, Bertil Hedberg (official at the Stockholm School of Economics) and the two students Jaroslav Zich of Czechoslovakia and Stanislas Callens of Belgium founded “AIESE”, the predecessor of AIESEC.^[2]

Informal activity “to help develop ‘friendly relations’ between member countries” began in 1946, and AIESEC was officially founded in 1948. At the time, the mission was “to expand the understanding of a nation by expanding the understanding of the individuals, changing the world one person at a time.”^[2] In 1949, 89 students participated in the so-called “Stockholm Congress”, the first of many “Exchange Programs”.^[3] Soon, AIESEC became popular: by the end of 1960, 2467 exchanges were reported, and 4232 by the end of 1970. A landmark in AIESEC history was the “International Theme Programme” that officially established all international, regional, and local seminars on specific topics, which in time grew to be a guideline for future AIESEC generations.^[3] In the following decades, debated topics were International Trade, Management Education, Sustainable development, Entrepreneurship and Corporate Responsibility,^[3] and in the 1990s, intranets called Insight were established to facilitate networking.^[3]

AIESEC Today

AIESEC identifies itself as “the international platform for young people to explore and develop their leadership potential." ^[4] It annually offers “7,700 leadership positions and delivers over 470 conferences to [its] membership of over 80,000 students". AIESEC also runs an international exchange program that enables over 5550 students and recent graduates the opportunity to live and intern in another country.”^[4] It is one of the largest student-run organizations in the world.

2008 marked the 60th anniversary of AIESEC's founding. Celebrations occurred in London (January 2008), Tokyo (March 2008), Budapest (May 2008), Brussels (June 2008), Brazil (August 2008), Stockholm (October 2008), and the United States (December 2008).

To maintain its relevance in the face of changing international relations, AIESEC expands the organization to new countries periodically, a process which is outlined in the organization's global compendium. Countries listed as "Official Extensions" of AIESEC as of March 13, 2009, include Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ireland, Iran, Mauritius, Mongolia, Oman, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam.

Structure

Each country (sometimes group of countries, or territories within a country) with an AIESEC presence has its own national Member Committee (MC), which coordinates activities for that area. Members also belong to a Local Committee (LC) for each university or college.

AIESEC Approach

As stated on its website, AIESEC strives for “positive social change” by using the “AIESEC Way”.^[5] The AIESEC Way is described as a way of reaching “Peace and fulfilment of humankind’s potential.”^[5] According to AIESEC, there are six main values, namely; Activating Leadership, Demonstrating Integrity, Living Diversity, Enjoying Participation, Striving for Excellence and Acting Sustainably.^[5]

On an individual level, AIESEC enables students to live the AIESEC Experience by taking on leadership opportunities, gaining business skills, and connecting to a global network of students by attending international conferences and interning abroad. There are five key principles, namely Taking an Active Role (main goal: proactive behaviour), Developing Self-Awareness and Personal Vision (assuming responsibility), Increasing Capacity (learning theory and applying it in practice), Building a Network (networking) and Challenging Worldview (holistic world view).^[6]

Partners

The AIESEC website proclaims that it holds several high-profile partnerships, among them with companies like Alcatel, ABN AMRO, Cadbury Schweppes, DHL, Electrolux, AB InBev, PwC, Enterprise Asia, HP, Microsoft and UBS. These partnerships are mainly related to presence of these partners at AIESEC's forums, and provision of talent from AIESEC to these partners.^[7] AIESEC provides global talent sourcing for AB InBev, Alcatel Lucent, and DHL.^[8][9][10]

Alumni

According to the AIESEC Alumni website, several prominent individuals have been involved with the organization^[11]. They include:

Government Heads of State

• Cavaco Silva
• Martti Ahtisaari
• Helmut Kohl
• Janez Drnovsek
• Junichiro Koizumi
• César Gaviria

Business Leaders

• Andrija Kojakovic
• R Behrens
• NA Binefell
• N Magamola
• Willie Ramashaba
• Israel Skosana
• Gerhard Heiberg
• Martin Bean
• Jonny Vorce

Others^{[citation needed]}

• Johannes Stauch
• Francisco Gil Díaz
• Ratan Tata
• Adi Godrej
• Nandan Nilekani
• Klára Dobrev
• Enrico Antiporda

References

External links

• AIESEC