AIESEC is a global non-political independent not-for-profit organization run by youth +100000 members +120 countries +4000 partners +10,000 lead AIESEC is an international not for profit organization that provides students with leadership training and internship opportunities at for-profit and non-profit organizations. "AIESEC" was originally the French acronym for Association internationale des é
tudiants en sciences économiques et commerciales (English: International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences); however, the full name is no longer in use. Its international office is in Rotterdam, Netherlands. As of August 2012, the AIESEC network includes over 86,000 members in 113 countries and territories. It is the largest student run organization in the world, being present in over 2,400 universities across the globe, provides more than 24,000 leadership experiences to its members and sends students and graduates on 20,000 international exchanges yearly. AIESEC is supported by over 8,000 of partner organizations around the globe who look to AIESEC to support the development of youth and to access talented individuals keen on personal growth. 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.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,[3] which 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.” In 1949, 89 students participated in the so-called "Stockholm Congress", the first of many exchange programs. AIESEC committees host a number of conferences every year that range in length and demographic scope. The purpose of conferences are to bring the international community of AIESECers together to enhance their professional skills, provide networking opportunities, and work on organizational strategy. Each year, AIESEC organizes an estimated 500 conferences world wide.
