AIESEC history

60 years in 6 minutes…

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The first 2 decades (1946-1969) 1946 A precursor to AIESEC, called AIESE, is formed at an international meeting of students in Liege, Belgium

1949 Official statutes of AIESEC adopted at Stockholm Congress Exchange of first 89 students

1951 First international study tour (Scandinavia)

1953 Co-operation established with International Chamber of Commerce and UNESCO AIESEC in the United Kingdom is founded

1955 Traineeships break the 1000 mark

1957 United States joins as first non-European country

1958 First International Presidents' Meeting South Africa joins AIESEC as first African country and Venezuela as first in South America

1961 Establishment of permanent secretariat in Geneva

1963 First Congress in North America, Princeton 1963, ends with White House reception by President Kennedy AIESEC extends to Asia with the inclusion of Korea and Japan

1964 Pope Paul VI receives the delegates of the 16th International Congress in Rome

1965 With Australia joining, AIESEC is now on all inhabited continents. Czechoslovakia joins as first country behind the "Iron Curtain"

1966 Co-operation with Swiss Bank Corporation starts AIESEC co-sponsors "Education for International Business" conference in Switzerland, forerunner for the International Theme Programme

1967 First Seminar Traineeship Programme is held

1969 First time a computer is used to exchange students ITOMS (International Transfer of Management Skills) world conference is held in Turin, Italy AIESEC Norway organized the International Presidents meeting in BERGEN

AIESEC logo in the 50s

1970 - 1990 1970 Lufthansa joins AIESEC International as official carrier

1972 "Extension and Consolidation" programmes begin as aid from developed to developing countries in AIESEC

1974 Minimum allowable length on AIESEC traineeships is increased to six weeks to ensure quality

1976 "Management Education in the 80's" is adopted as the first International theme for 1976-78 President of AIESEC International is Arnstein Endresen from Norway

1977 Concept of the "Leadership Development Seminar" is formulated First "Export Mission" is undertaken by France

1980 Theme of "Energy: A Factor in the World Economy" is chosen at the World Conference in 1980

1982 "Meeting the Challenges of the Information Age" is chosen as international theme for 1982-1984 In 1983, in Randsvangan, AIESEC Norway organized International Presidents Meeting

1985 AIESEC decides to improve the relationship with the People's Republic of China "Services: a Dynamic Forces in Tomorrow's Economy" chosen as international theme 1985-87

1986 Refusal by the Swedish authorities to grant visa for the South African delegation to International Congress feeds debate on non-political nature of AIESEC 1st AIESEC Alumni congress held in Hungary.

1987 International theme - "Towards a global economy: The Challenge of co-operation" chosen for the years 1987 to 89.

1988 Launch of AIESEC Global Seminar Series( AGSS) under theme of "Our common future: The challenge of co-operation"

AIESEC logo in the 70s

1990 – 2000s 1990 Launch of the first "Global Theme Programme" with theme "Entrepreneurship and Corporate

Responsibility"

1991 New global logo is introduced "Youth Action Guide on Sustainable Development" is published

1992 The Global Theme for the year 1992-1994 is adopted: "Education towards International and Cultural Understanding" AIESEC sends a delegation to the Earth Summit in Brazil (UNCED)

1993 "Corporate Responsibility & Entrepreneurship, A Youth Insight" is published

1994 "Education and the 21st Century Citizen - A Youth Action Guide" is published

1995 AIESEC attends the World Social Summit (WSSD) in Copenhagen

1996 Lufthansa sponsors an exclusive flight for over 300 delegates to travel for Congress in Warsaw, Poland First paperless matching of traineeships Global Theme is adopted: "Interdependence–Learning and Acting for a Shared Future" AIESEC attends Habitat II meeting in Istanbul

1997 Matching of traineeships goes online with launch of "Insight" global information system

1998 AIESEC International relocates to Rotterdam Launch of AIESEC Learning Tool

1999 At International Congress in South Africa the "AIESEC 2005" is formalised, a shared medium-term vision for the organisation

AIESEC logo since 1991

Exchange during these times If you have been involved in exchange administration of AIESEC at any time during the past 50 years, you will have contributed to managing some of the estimated 20 million pieces of paper and 350,000 different exchange forms, that have passed through the different matching processes.

A 1953 document recalls the following about how exchange was done:

• "In November or December every school or committee starts preparation of the exchange by asking commercial and industrial enterprises whether they want to offer openings for foreign students during the following summer.

• The offers made by the enterprises on special forms are bought to the Annual Congress and exchanged in accordance with the number of students having applied for traineeship in the various countries. These students are selected carefully by local committees composed of professors and students. Each student working in a country as a trainee should have a particular scientific interest in it, he should try to perfect his knowledge of the language, to study the economic structure of the country and to learn to see the problems of business administration in foreign trade and industry. After their stay abroad, the students are obliged to give exact reports on their experiences, from a scientific point of view as well as from a human and social one"

Source: General Report to the 5th Annual Congress, Núrnberg, 1953

2000s

The core of AIESEC is defined as:

1. Developing individuals for an impact on society 2. The full exchange process is a core to developing individuals (with physical exchange being a fundamental part) 3. Our primary target audience are students of higher education

• External View

The internet years were a period where everything had to be faster and better.

Globalisation causes governments to re-organise themselves and companies to attempt large global mergers

• In the 2000's, the organisation saw a steady increase in exchange performance with over 5000 students sent on internship in 2008. The introduction of development internships, as a distinct pool of exchanges, added to the diversity of experiences offered. During this period of time the introduction of further management and measurement tools for exchange have supported countries to increase the number of exchange experiences they are providing.

The 60th anniversary celebrations of 2008 saw AIESEC celebrating the history and achievements of 60 years of activating youth leadership in over 100 countries and territories.

Looking into the future…2015 How will AIESEC look like in