About

History

AIESEC was started in 1948 as an organization to help develop friendly relations between member countries. It 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.

In 1949, students participating in the exchange program reached 89. Exchange was defined as the core activity of the organization. AIESEC shortly became a global organization with chapters on all continents.

The number of students and organizations involved in the exchange program grew rapidly and constantly. There were 2467 exchanges by the end of 1960 and 4232 by the end of 1970.

As a result of a proposal from AIESEC Germany in 1961, seminars were first introduced as part of trainees’ reception experiences. A general set of seminar topics to be addressed was proposed and accepted. For the first time AIESEC was addressing specific issues in its activities in a non-political way.

At the 1974, an important motion was passed by the International Congress in Bordeaux; the minimum length of an Exchange traineeship had to be six weeks. This measure improved the quality of our Exchanges.

An International Theme Program in 1976 was established. It focused on specific topics for all international, regional, and local seminars. 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. Increased 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. The number of exchanges started to grow as the focus of the organization was on the eXchange program.

Today, AIESEC is the international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential. Our innovative approach helps young individuals to take proactive roles, develop self-awareness, build networks, and develop capacity to drive change. We do this through an international platform of opportunities that provides over 5,000 leadership opportunities, 3,500 work abroad opportunities, 350 conferences, and virtual tools to build networks.