Aiesec

AIESEC is a global student organization that works to place university students and recent graduates from one country into short term internship positions in another country which focus on leadership development. Its tagline is "The international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential". AIESEC is present in over 800 universities in 95 countries and territories, and aims to provide its members with the opportunity to work abroad, develop leadership skills, build a personal network, and explore their future ambitions. As of 2005, the network has 19000 members and places over 4000 graduates annually. It is the largest student-run organisation in the world.

HISTORY

After World War II , in 1946, students from 9 universities in six countries met in Liège , Belgium , with the intention of fostering a new form of international cooperation. They created the ''Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques'' (AIESE). Its aim was to establish relations between students all over the world, in order to build peace between the countries and to fight against racial discriminations providing to its members wide traineeships and exchange opportunities.

Jaroslav Zich , a young Czech , was elected its first president. The new association was first headquartered in Prague , Czechoslovakia but had to leave the country within a year in order to stay politically neutral after the communists gained power. Its headquarters moved to Rotterdam , The Netherlands , where they remain.

In 1949 a second congress was held in Stockholm. Seven countries attended it: Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , The Netherlands , Norway , and Sweden . The representatives signed the association's foundation document. The name changed a bit to ''Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales''.

The name ''Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales'' was supplanted by the Acronym AIESEC, pronounced "eye-sek" because many of its members belonged to other studies.

AIESEC TODAY

AIESEC is a student-run, non-profit educational organisation which aims to be independent and non-political. It is comprised of students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education, many of whom are interested in economics and management. The organization's values forbid unfair discrimination, and one of its aims is to realise its vision of peace and the fulfilment of humankind's potential.

AIESEC corework actually consists on providing its members an integrated development experience ("AIESEC Experience") comprised of leadership opportunities, international internships and participation in a global learning environment. In short, AIESEC's goal is to provide young people several learning and intercultural opportunities to develop their potential as individuals in order to make them able to have a positive impact on society.

AIESEC International is still based in Rotterdam, however each country with an AIESEC presence has their own Member Committee to co-ordinate activities for that area. Members belong to a Local Committee for their university, with the executive posts for the LC (as well as the MC and AI) being determined in yearly elections.

Members regularly attend conferences, ranging in scale from small regional events to huge international gatherings (such as the yearly International Congress). Conferences allow delegates to learn how to carry out the organisation's work more effectively, often with the help of business leaders and other speakers. The organisation's unique internal culture is highly visible at these events, with various songs and other Memes known throughout the network.

Away from conferences, members frequently use AIESEC's extensive intranet (AIESEC.net) for communication, which is notable for being the world's largest OpenACS installation. In addition to hosting hundreds of virtual communities, suitably trained members can use the "InsightXP" online database to match potential trainees with companies. This greatly streamlines the work of exchange, since before the introduction of this system in the 1990's, members were required to meet and exchange physical forms.

AIESEC now focuses on facilitating international traineeship exchanges and supporting other activities that provide learning experiences for its members and trainees. AIESEC trainees are placed in one of four pools:

Management traineeships - the biggest pool, covering most areas of business

Technical traineeships - generally IT or engineering work

Education traineeships - teaching

Development traineeships - any work with underprivileged communities, whether or not in a developing country

AIESEC has also decided on a set of core values, which it attempts to instill in its members and the events/programs it operates. These values are: Activating Leadership, Demonstrating Integrity, Enjoying Participation, Living Diversity, Striving for Excellence, Acting Sustainably.

AIESEC EXPERIENCE

AIESEC corework actually consists of providing its members an integrated development experience internally known as "AIESEC Experience." It is realized by providing young people several learning and intercultural opportunities to develop their potential as individuals in order to empower them to have a positive impact on society.

As seen in the picture, AIESEC's approach to enabling young people to discover and develop their potential is a full experience with several stages that is based on a few key principles. This approach, which comes through the AIESEC Platform, helps to build young people that have the desire and capacity to have a positive impact in society. This flow and the opportunities within it are reinforced by 5 key principles, that are reflected in all parts of the process. These principles are:

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Aiesec