ROTTERDAM, October 2007—AIESEC brought forward youth’s perspectives on education at the 2007 EFMD Undergraduate Management Education Conference, held in Rouen, France earlier this month. 

Emanuel Gavert, Global Networks Manager for AIESEC International was invited to partake in a panel discussion with representatives from universities and business, including Augusto Lopez Claros, Former Chief Economist and Director, Global Competitiveness Programme, World Economic Forum and Jean-Pierre Méan, Senior Vice President of Legal and Compliance for the SGS Group in Switzerland.

The theme of the conference, hosted by the Rouen School of Management- Groupe ESC Rouen, was the role that a business school presents in developing a complete student. Representing AIESEC, Gavert had the opportunity to offer the student’s perspective on the future of business schools. 

"It is extremely important that the students of today get access to a high quality and complete educational system. When I say complete I mean that the system should not be lacking on any aspect and should also have a good combination of theory and practice. There are many times that a student misses out on an opportunity as no practical knowledge or experience was provided to him/her for tackling the same situation. That is why practical knowledge is extremely important these days," said Gavert.

In this day and age a student surely needs a holistic knowledge and educational environment to excel when he or she enters the market. This forum acted as a place for these management and business schools to get more clarity on not only what students are looking forward to from the education system but also what the companies are looking at in students once they step into their offices.

AIESEC also runs a global internship program with the leading corporate and non-corporate organizations of the world for students and recent graduates to gain practical experience in the management, technical, educational and development fields, in order to understand and capitalize on their potential. AIESEC also runs projects and works on various issues in order have a positive impact on the youth of the society and thereby impacting the society in the longer run.

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Tamer Zikry, Director of the Middle East North Africa Growth Network for AIESEC International and one of the keynote speakers of the event, speaks about his experience at the conference.

Q: You attended the conference as a representative of AIESEC. What was AIESEC’s particular role in the conference?

Other than having representatives who sat on the panel, AIESEC in Egypt assisted in the organization of the conference. We gave support to the organizers in terms of brainstorming ideas on session development, and we gave input to the agenda that was built. We also sat with some of the members from the movement and had discussions on session content. Furthermore, we supported the conference in assisting in the promotion, so to receive participants from all over the world. Many members from AIESEC in Egypt attended the conference as delegates as well. I think that our presence really highlighted the importance of the role of young people in creating the future.

Q: What would you say are some of the major benefits you have gained from this conference?

I would say that AIESEC as an organization has reaped some major benefits from the conference in particular to our external positioning. We were one of the few, if not the only, entirely youth-run organizations that were present in the conference. We had lots of young people, organizations or even enterprises approaching us as they were very interested to find out more about AIESEC, and the work we are doing in the region and the entire network. The exposure on AIESEC really brought a lot of value and shed light to these participants on our organizational identity. We were able to create some new networks for the AIESEC members who were present, and vice versa. Discussions on the local leadership opportunities and the global internship program were had as well. In general, I would say that the conference provided a platform for AIESEC to showcase our various opportunities, and it left a very positive image in the network of professionals and students that were present.

Q: Judging by your participation in the conference, did you identify some potential partnerships between AIESEC, and the organizations/students that were present?

As I have mentioned in the last question, AIESEC has had the opportunity to engage a lot of organizations, companies and students who had never heard of us before in the conference. We definitely increased our profile, and I am sure some of the students who were present would be interested to join our leadership pipeline.

Q: As per your experience in the conference, what do you feel is the role of AIESEC – generally speaking- in this region of the world?

AIESEC really stood out as a special entity. Our impact was more multi-dimensional, it is bigger, and the external environment that we are engaging is increasing everyday. I really feel that with conferences like this we are continuing to establish our presence and uniqueness as an organization. The same principle of course applies to AIESEC in the global network.

AIESEC activities grow to over 100 countries worldwide

AIESEC in Germany initiated the expansion of AIESEC’s activities to Iran a couple years ago, after the set-up of an expansion initiative in Afghanistan. Research for a possible expansion in Iran has been undertaken over the past year, which concluded Iran needs an organization like AIESEC to ensure that the country has a generation of positive leadership to carry forward to the future.

Jonas Lilienthal, who is part of the team leading the expansion team says that it is a great opportunity for AIESEC to be present in Iran, both for AIESEC members to create a lesser bias or perception of Iran, but also for Iranian people. “It is important for AIESEC as a non-political organization to enhance contact between Iran and the rest of the world,” he said.

Iran has been accepted as an Official Expansion by the global leadership body of AIESEC’s 100 country network, officially recognizing their efforts to join AIESEC’s network. They will be eligible to gain full membership rights within two years provided they fulfil necessary membership criteria, including proper organizational structure and number of exchanges that have been made.

The historic move took place at International Congress, AIESEC’s largest congress of the year, bringing together over 650 members from 100 countries around the world. The conference was held in Istanbul, Turkey from August 21 – 30, 2007.

More impact in more places

ROTTERDAM, March 12, 2007—AIESEC continues to expand its network to have more impact in more places by adding five more countries, raising the total number of countries where AIESEC is present to finally reach 100.

After official extensions to Bahrain and Qatar last year, AIESEC continues to widen its network to and making impacts in Gabon, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. The decision was past at the recent International Presidents Meeting 2007 held in Egypt in February.

In July last year, AIESEC activities were initiated in Jordan, and some 63 members from the University of Jordan and Yarmouk University were introduced to 23,000 global members of AIESEC.

“Our vision for AIESEC is to be recognized in Jordan as a place where all people have the opportunity to fulfill their potential and impact change in their society and the world. We aim to develop and empower the youth of Jordan with a mindset of peace and international understanding to bring a positive contribution to the development of their country,” President of the Extension of AIESEC to Jordan, Monika Gmucova said.

On top of the five new countries, AIESEC also started researching for possible extensions to Algeria, Oman, Palestine, Iran, and Israel. With these possible extension countries, AIESEC hopes to continue striving for its vision of peace and fulfilment of humankind’s potential, regardless of social, cultural, and educational background.

As for the five new official extensions-- Gabon, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam--, they were approved as such at the recent International Presidents Meeting held in Egypt, attended by over 200 current and elect Presidents of AIESEC Member Committees from over 95 countries.

These countries will be able to apply for full membership status after two years, provided that they have completed all necessary membership criteria, including sustainable organizational structure, healthy financial performance and number of student exchanges they facilitated.

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(Cairo, February 15, 2007)—Four courageous individuals are stepping up to the challenge of running for President of one of the world’s largest youth NGO’s this year.

AIESEC International is holding the elections of their President during their annual International Presidents Meeting 2007, held this year in Egypt, February 18 – 27. The conference brings together over 200 leaders from across AIESEC’s more than 95 country network, to elect the incoming global leadership team, and plan global strategies for the coming year.

All Presidential candidates are currently part of the AIESEC International team and include; Edyson Dos Santos (current President of AIESEC International); Jarda Dokoupil (Director, AIESEC International), Ryan Sheppard (Director, AIESEC International) and Gabriela Albescu (Vice-President, AIESEC International).

	Edyson Dos Santos is the current president of AIESEC International. He has been working for more than 10 years with AIESEC, leading projects and initiatives that enable leadership development in youth worldwide. His enthusiasm and commitment to such tasks had taken him to visit and work closely with young people in 65 countries. He is running for another term as President to pursuit out his goals and lead the organization.
	Jarda Dokoupil is the current Director of Central east Europe of AIESEC International. He has been working for six years with AIESEC, taking numerous responsibilities and leadership roles and local, national and international level. His passion was leadership and working with people. Jarda is running for AIESEC International President because he has a clear vision for the organization and has the right mix of personal qualities.
	As Vice President People Development in AIESEC International, Gabriela Albescu has been working for five years with AIESEC, involved in several local, national and regional AIESEC teams. Her previous achievements are in the areas of organizational management, people management and development, and expansion to new countries. Today, Gabriela is running for PAI because she feels that AIESEC needs to become a world famous success story and that she can achieve those goals in a passionate, committed and empowering environment.
	As Asia Pacific Director of AIESEC International, Ryan Sheppard, working for more than five years with AIESEC, has had the chance to be involved in facilitating at international conferences, participating in the Exchange Growth Board and Steering Team. His background in AIESEC has been around generating results in environments that many would consider low capacity and under performing. He is running for President because he believes in the capacity of every single country in the AIESEC network to perform, and see the beauty exists within that potential.

Elections will begin on February 19 with candidate speeches and question and answer sessions. The final voting and announcement of the President of AIESEC International for 2007-2008 term will be made on February 21, 2007.

_{Young Talent in the Middle East: insights from within}

AIESEC Symposium offers platform for insights

CAIRO , February 12, 2007—The AIESEC Symposium provides businesses, NGOs, and country leaders a unique opportunity to interact with top university talent from the Middle East about factors that drive them.

To be held in Cairo, Egypt on February 15, 2007, this event will bring together 25 AIESEC members from seven Middle Eastern countries and over 40 senior, global level corporate staff focused on people development, branding, and strategic and business development.

“The aim of this event is to provide participants with insights into the unique perspective of young generation about the factors that drive them to being active and contribute to the company, community, and country,” said Ondrej Gandel, Corporate Relations Manager of AIESEC International and organizer of this event. “This is an exceptional opportunity to develop understanding of the perceptions, aspirations, and cultural background of youth from the Middle East and find answers to some of the key challenges companies and organizations may be facing on how they can attract, motivate and retain talent.”

The day is designed to allow both industry and young people to gain perspectives from both sides through facilitated workshops, focus group discussions, and networking opportunities. Sessions will discuss case studies of recruitment and retention strategies in the Middle East, youth-run projects, career aspirations and decision making among young people across the region. Speakers invited include:

· Dr. Yusuf Mansur , CEO, Envision Consulting Group (EnConsult)

· Jonathan Winter, Director, Career Innovation

· Khaled el Miniawi, Human Resources Director, Cadburry Schweppes Egypt

Also in attendance will be Tarek Mansour, Country Senior Partner, Business Solutions Leader, Mansour & Co. PricewaterhouseCoopers and Stephane le Camus, Global HR Brand Director, Unilever.

Both PricewaterhouseCoopers and Unilever are partners of this event, seeing the value in finding out more about youth in the region as one of the sources of talent. In addition they will be sharing with other companies their best case practices in sourcing young talent, as well as gathering these insights from others.

As one of the AIESEC’s distinguishing platforms for young people and community leaders to interact, the AIESEC Symposium will be held to coincide with the annual AIESEC International Presidents Meeting in Egypt, running February 18 – 28, 2007.

Agenda of the event – most interesting for media

9:00 – 10:00 Opening and Keynote address

16:00 – 17:30 Panel discussion

17:30 – 18:00 Closing keynote speech

If you are a member of the media who would like to attend the event please contact Michelle Gallant , Vice President Communication to confirm your participation at michelleg@ai.aiesec.org.

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