AIESEC Globally
AIESEC is the world’s largest student-run organization. Active in over 1700 universities across more than 107 countries and territories, our international platform enables young people to explore and develop their leadership potential for them to have a positive impact in society.
In partnership with business and higher education, AIESEC has over 61 years of experience in developing high-potential students into globally minded responsible leaders.
AIESEC uses an innovative approach to engaging and developing today’s youth. By offering opportunities to build extensive international personal networks and explore leadership opportunities, we provide a platform for young people to discover direction and ambition for their futures.
AIESEC Bucharest
In Bucharest we have 19 years of experience in projects organized by youth for youth. Founded by AIESEC in Vienna , Bucharest became in a short time renowned in the global network (created in 1948) for the quality of the people it has. As a proof of that stand the former AIESEC Bucharest members we now have around the world in leadership teams.
We started as an organization of students with economical background but now we have a diverse range of members with different backgrounds and interests and different wishes from AIESEC, both regarding daily activities and Global Internships.
One of our first projects was Study Tour that took place in the summer of 1990 covering key points from our culture and giving a new perspective of Romania to almost 40 foreign delegates promoting thus our culture and moreover our friendly way of being.
In 1993 the first Career Days took place in spring organized in Sala Palatului and the reason for which this project was so important was because it stimulated competition which in turn developed bit by bit our economy. Another event that took place in 1993 was The Organizational Development Seminar (21-27.11.1993) which attracted the attention of the media: Tvr 1 was there to record and to broadcast across the country our real first steps.
Starting with 1994 we managed to bring our first foreigners through the Exchange Process: Ragnar Horn (6 weeks), Sara Recenti (3 months), Dan Welch, Caroline Vienot (6 weeks) and the list goes on. We may consider them to be the ones that destroyed the walls of ignorance and connected with us. We connect young people globally to help our world become a better place through realizing these international exchanges as they are the core of any learning experience.
We ensure the quality of all our activities through the creation of integrated learning processes around our traineeships. The first Romanians to leave for an internship in another country were: Alexandra Balanescu (Austria), Laura Stinghe (Germany), Gabi Mocanu (Slovenia).In a few words they managed to develop their characteristics and competencies by connecting around common interests through opportunities provided by AIESEC.
AIESEC History
What began in 1948 as an organization to help develop "friendly relations" between member countries is now a global association with activities in 89 different countries and territories.
The founding members of AIESEC started to build the organization between 1946-1948, but a clear identity was defined in 1948 and later in 1949 at the Stockholm Congress.
89 students participated in the Exchange Program in 1949 and Exchange was defined as the core activity of the organization.
In the coming years more and more countries joined the network and AIESEC became global in a very short period by being present on all the continents.
The number of students and organizations involved in the exchange program grew rapidly and constantly, reaching 2467 exchanges by the end of 1960 and 4232 by the end of 1970.
Seminars were first introduced as part of trainees' reception experiences, in a proposal from AIESEC in Germany in 1961. It was well received by other countries, and a general set of seminar topics to be addressed was proposed and accepted. They were mainly economic in nature, and for the first time AIESEC was addressing specific issues in its activities-stated clearly in a non-political way.
At the 1974 International Congress in Bordeaux, an important motion was passed: the minimum length of an Exchange traineeship had to be 6 weeks. This measure improved the quality of our Exchanges.
In 1976 an International Theme Programme was established that focused all international, regional, and local seminars on specific topics. This idea continued and grew through various stages.
After this the focus of the organization was on addressing global themes besides the traditional Exchange Program. Themes like International Trade, Management Education, Sustainable development, Entrepreneurship and Corporate Responsibility were discussed at local, national and global seminars.
In the late 90's the discussion about the relevance of the organization brought the Exchange Program on the main agenda and more and more effort was put in ensuring growth in this area.
Information systems were developed to make the process faster and easier. Insight I was launched in 1997 and Insight II in 2001. As the focus of the organization was the eXchange program again, the number of exchanges started to grow.
Looking for more relevance, nowadays AIESEC is the international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential. Our innovative approach to developing young people focuses on taking a proactive role, developing self-awareness and a personal vision, building networks, and developing capacity to drive change. We do this through an international platform of opportunities that provides over 5,000 leadership opportunities, 4,500 work abroad opportunities, 350 conferences, and virtual tools to build networks. |
