Letter from the President, Post AAIC Edition

It’s with great pleasure that I share with you another update on our global activities.
In this edition, we want to illustrate what has happened during the recent weeks with a review of AAIC and as well as concrete activities that have been undertaken since.

Before continuing with our in-depth reporting, we want to invite you to support us by becoming an official member in our Call for Membership article. We need and appreciate your support to be able to achieve the impact we are seeking.

AAIC Cartagena was an amazing conference! More than 280 global Alumni delegates were present, and the Congress Committee did an outstanding job by putting in hundreds of man-hours over the course of a year of preparations. The agenda designed by AAI was excellent and everything came together magnificently in Colombia.

Joining the AIESEC Youth with over 1000 AIESECers, we could really get a sense of one global family, one true AIESEC movement.

In addition to meaningful and well-delivered sessions (you’ll find links to the material below), the AIESEC Alumni elaborated on Vision 2020+ based on the 10 Key principles that had been released before the AAIC in the EB-report at the beginning of June.
One of the decisions was to establish global Task Forces (TF) for enabling the global Alumni Leadership to focus on small working groups dedicated to specific topics.

Here is a brief overview on the TFs including their status:

TF on Vision 2020+ and Value Proposition:
This global TF lead by Martin Branchi with the support of David Epstein is continuing the work that has been started immediately after AAIC in Warsaw and is ongoing ever since.

The strategy is built on top of the transformation Project, based on Key principles that were agreed upon during AAIC and further developed. All regions have appointed their representatives, and the TF is currently working the third round of Feedback with the aim of producing a tangible output by the End of November.

TF on Platform / AlumNet V2:
Based on the key lessons learned from the assumptions that have led to the creation of AlumNet V1 and the performance of the platform over the last five year, this TF aims to analyze, consolidate and define the correct strategy based on today’s needs of our global community. Representatives with relevant core competencies from all regions have delivered two rounds of input, and some scenarios have been compared and discussed. A shortlist of options has been identified for moving forward. Beatrice Pesci from AAI-EB is leading this TF.

TF “Think Big” on fundraising:
Following the invitation of our highly respected Alumnus Lionel Simons during AAIC and seconded by two highly respected Alumni Patricia Ralston and Haruo Kano this TF has been established to support our global association in raising funds on a large scale. AAI-EB member Mariel Flores is leading this TF, and we are expecting promising output that will help ensure financial sustainability for AIESEC Alumni.

TF on integrated & organizational membership:
This TF lead by AAE-President Peter Mandl had already started its work before IPM 2017 in Venlo, with the first output already having been reviewed and discussed. The TF will conclude in November with a release of a white-paper.

TF on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):
By April and May 2018 strict new regulations on data privacy protection will come in effect. These will apply to personal data of all EU citizens. Since AAI is legally based in Brussels, Belgium, the new rules will apply to us. Along with AI, we are working on being ready for these changes by April 2018.

TF on AIESEC History:
You will find a dedicated article on this topic in this Newsletter. A TF has been formed consisting of around 20 members to document the history of AIESEC and launch the document on 70th-anniversary celebration at IC 2018.

TF on joint Corporate Development together with AI:
With the signed agreements of the past years between AI and AAI, this TF aims to transform the written commitments into reality. The goal is a joint offer to AIESEC’s corporate stakeholders.

TF on legal venue of AAI:
Long with AI’s move of its HQ during the summer of 2018, AAI is reconsidering its current official legal location. AAI is using the same process as AI has to maximize efficiency.

TF on global AIESEC Branding:
As we are an integral part of AIESEC global value proposition to its corporate stakeholders, this TF is working on a powerful branding for our global family and the different means of sharing our message.

In addition to these activities that focus on the most important topics, further objectives have been achieved, as you’ll see in further reading in this newsletter. Many topics have been discussed in smaller working groups during the Supervisory Group meeting with AI in Rotterdam such as upcoming international events such as IPM, RACs and IC 2018.

On the topic of AAIC output and feedback, a survey we have conducted post-AAIC delivered following results:
94% of respondents said the organization and work done by the CC were satisfactory or very good.
75% said that AAIC overall was absolutely great or great.
91 % found it was very valuable or somewhat valuable to have IC and AAIC at the same venue.
48% stated that having an adequate venue, accessible logistics and a quality Congress Committee was the most important thing.

We were delighted to be able to conduct productive discussions with Alumni leadership, joint sessions with Youth AIESEC Leadership and be able to increase the cooperation within the global AIESEC family. An agreement for a close cooperation was made with AIESEC Life. We want to thank Daniele Waldrop for her continuous engagement and ongoing support for making this possible.

You can view some of the content from the various sessions by following this link