Carey Benn : AIESEC and Me - an expose of my serious side
Colleen Bowker : Why AIESEC shaped my life
"When I joined AIESEC in 1991 at a small university in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, my intentions were far from going on a traineeship. But many things happened during the course of my 6-year involvement....
After 4 years of AIESEC in South Africa, I served on AIESEC international. It was then that I had the privilege to see the magnitude of what was possible through our exchange process. It was the opportunity to see what AIESEC had offered to so many people around the world, but also to see how much more we could and really should be doing with our exchange programme. My passion and commitment at the time was to help change the way we as AIESECers view our core programme. And this involved understanding the impact that exchange could have in creating agents of positive change.
But what did this really mean? For one, it was about exposing SNs to diverse learning and involvement. This meant partnering with organisations where trainees could get involved in projects, it meant that companies with trainees understand the expectations of creating a leadership and learning experience for trainees, and it meant that we needed to think more creatively about how and where we are raising traineeships. For this reason, I helped set up YDEP - the youth development exchange programme - which, back then, was an effort to raise more traineeships in NGO's. Together with many individuals, I was responsible for introducing Corporate Social Responsibility as a major component to trainees' experiences. This included convincing companies of the value and importance of involving the trainee in its sustainability and volunteering initiatives. It also involved building a strategy for raising traineeships, which directly work in the area of CSR.
And I can ramble forever about our efforts to help the association realise the capacity to develop a truly relevant and internationally recognised learning experience through our exchange process. But I won't. What did happen from this experience was that I realised the need to walk the talk. So I went on a traineeship with PwC in New York. My responsibilities included setting up a nation-wide community involvement programme for all employees of PwC in the US, as well as working on diversity-recruiting strategies. My role was essentially to convince partners and managers of the importance of getting their employees involved in identified key areas of community service. Again, I was challenged to actually do all of the things I was trying to promote in the firm.
So I chose to do one of 2 things - I mentored a 65 year old, unemployed man from Harlem, New York, through a programme called Welfare to Work. For 6 months, I met with Harold every Saturday morning to coach him on computer skills, interview skills, writing his resume etc. One of my proudest moments was when Harold got a job, working in an office for the national parks board.
The second thing I chose to do was volunteer myself as a tutor to 8th grade students at a high school in Harlem once a week. It was basically a programme that taught them about life skills - career choices, money management, study skills and entrepreneurship. Many of these students came from broken homes and desperately poor backgrounds (yes, even in America), so had never been exposed to such opportunities. It was an eye opener - that only a few kilometres north of the wealthiest areas of New York, such realities existed. It reminded me very much of growing up in South Africa, where we lived in similar warped environments.
I often wonder about who benefited more from those experiences:
Harold and the kids I taught, or me. I learnt so much about myself and my convictions from those encounters. Sometimes more than I ever did sitting in a fancy hotel at an AIESEC conference. And it was at this stage of my life where I was at a crossroads - do I accept a permanent job at PwC, or go and do what became more and more of my passion - to be directly involved with empowering people, particularly those who don't have many choices in life, by helping them take responsibility for their futures.
And I chose to join a couple of Alumni friends in creating Pioneers of Change, an international learning network of young people applying their work to change that will serve the peoples of the world in a more sustainable way. Essentially, I'm still living those ideas that developed through my traineeship experience. I live in Johannesburg, South Africa, and work on many levels in changing the way individuals and organisations alike view their involvement in this turbulent society.
And I am one of many people that has been forever changed through an AIESEC traineeship experience. You all have such power to create that opportunity for others, including yourselves. I look forward to seeing how you will evolve this magical organization.... "
Alumni Stories, 2002
After 4 years of AIESEC in South Africa, I served on AIESEC international. It was then that I had the privilege to see the magnitude of what was possible through our exchange process. It was the opportunity to see what AIESEC had offered to so many people around the world, but also to see how much more we could and really should be doing with our exchange programme. My passion and commitment at the time was to help change the way we as AIESECers view our core programme. And this involved understanding the impact that exchange could have in creating agents of positive change.
But what did this really mean? For one, it was about exposing SNs to diverse learning and involvement. This meant partnering with organisations where trainees could get involved in projects, it meant that companies with trainees understand the expectations of creating a leadership and learning experience for trainees, and it meant that we needed to think more creatively about how and where we are raising traineeships. For this reason, I helped set up YDEP - the youth development exchange programme - which, back then, was an effort to raise more traineeships in NGO's. Together with many individuals, I was responsible for introducing Corporate Social Responsibility as a major component to trainees' experiences. This included convincing companies of the value and importance of involving the trainee in its sustainability and volunteering initiatives. It also involved building a strategy for raising traineeships, which directly work in the area of CSR.
And I can ramble forever about our efforts to help the association realise the capacity to develop a truly relevant and internationally recognised learning experience through our exchange process. But I won't. What did happen from this experience was that I realised the need to walk the talk. So I went on a traineeship with PwC in New York. My responsibilities included setting up a nation-wide community involvement programme for all employees of PwC in the US, as well as working on diversity-recruiting strategies. My role was essentially to convince partners and managers of the importance of getting their employees involved in identified key areas of community service. Again, I was challenged to actually do all of the things I was trying to promote in the firm.
So I chose to do one of 2 things - I mentored a 65 year old, unemployed man from Harlem, New York, through a programme called Welfare to Work. For 6 months, I met with Harold every Saturday morning to coach him on computer skills, interview skills, writing his resume etc. One of my proudest moments was when Harold got a job, working in an office for the national parks board.
The second thing I chose to do was volunteer myself as a tutor to 8th grade students at a high school in Harlem once a week. It was basically a programme that taught them about life skills - career choices, money management, study skills and entrepreneurship. Many of these students came from broken homes and desperately poor backgrounds (yes, even in America), so had never been exposed to such opportunities. It was an eye opener - that only a few kilometres north of the wealthiest areas of New York, such realities existed. It reminded me very much of growing up in South Africa, where we lived in similar warped environments.
I often wonder about who benefited more from those experiences:
Harold and the kids I taught, or me. I learnt so much about myself and my convictions from those encounters. Sometimes more than I ever did sitting in a fancy hotel at an AIESEC conference. And it was at this stage of my life where I was at a crossroads - do I accept a permanent job at PwC, or go and do what became more and more of my passion - to be directly involved with empowering people, particularly those who don't have many choices in life, by helping them take responsibility for their futures.
And I chose to join a couple of Alumni friends in creating Pioneers of Change, an international learning network of young people applying their work to change that will serve the peoples of the world in a more sustainable way. Essentially, I'm still living those ideas that developed through my traineeship experience. I live in Johannesburg, South Africa, and work on many levels in changing the way individuals and organisations alike view their involvement in this turbulent society.
And I am one of many people that has been forever changed through an AIESEC traineeship experience. You all have such power to create that opportunity for others, including yourselves. I look forward to seeing how you will evolve this magical organization.... "
Alumni Stories, 2002