International Association for Volunteer Effort

Network DevelopmentIAVEs mission statement accurately describes our long-term goal and our primary strategy for achieving it: IAVE creates a more just and sustainable world by enabling the leaders, organizations, and environments that empower volunteers.IAVE is the largest global network of leaders of volunteering. Our member network includes individual volunteers, government agencies, multi-national agencies and institutions, academics, NGOs and businesses. IAVEs Global Corporate Volunteer Council (GCVC) is the only leadership network for global companies committed to supporting the engagement of their employees as volunteers in their communities. Our Global Network for Volunteering Leadership (GNVL) is a peer-to-peer network that allows volunteering organizations around the world to learn from one another and to forge global partnerships. IAVEs work falls into four major categories: convening, advocacy, thought leadership and leadership development.In 2023, we:Convened a roundtable on youth volunteering in London, England to focus on the interrelationship of volunteering, employability, and sustainable livelihoods;Convened 18 members of the Global Corporate Volunteer Council in Lisbon, Portugal to discuss topics such as employee development through volunteering, climate action through volunteering, self-volunteering, and volunteering in times of war. Concurrently 15 members of the Global Network for Volunteering Leadership met to discuss techniques of impact assessment of volunteering. The two groups then met together on the second day for a forum on volunteering in humanitarian crises.Members of GCVC established working groups to learn from one another through focused conversations on cross-company collaboration, disaster response, impact and innovation.IAVE supported peer organizations through participation on the programs of their conferences in Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, South Africa, Korea and the U.S.IAVE partnered with the African Union to bring together experts from Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Asia to explore the potential of South to South collaboration. More than 180 leaders for volunteering attended the live webinar.IAVE organized online master classes for members of GNVL from throughout the world on corporate volunteering, the role of branding in the volunteer sector, and harnessing technology and reducing research inequality in the Global South.The second part of IAVEs research on the state of health of corporate volunteering throughout the world was published in 2023. The study drew on interviews with staff of 80 companies with operations in 175 countries and a combined workforce of over 8 million people. Part 2 explores regional issues in greater depth with essays written by members of the research team local to the region.In 2023, work was begun on research and thought leadership on the relationship of volunteering by youth to employability, well-bring, activism, and sustainable livelihoods. Each paper was paired with a webinar to stimulate discussion and collaborative thinking around each facet of the research. As a solid outcome from this work, in December 2023, IAVE announced a collaboration with the African Union on volunteer-powered pathways to youth employment, the Reskilling Revolution Africa.

Knowledge DevelopmentIAVE organized online master classes for members of GNVL from throughout the world on corporate volunteering, the role of branding in the volunteer sector, and harnessing technology and reducing research inequality in the Global South.The second part of IAVEs research on the state of health of corporate volunteering throughout the world was published in 2023. The study drew on interviews with staff of 80 companies with operations in 175 countries and a combined workforce of over 8 million people. Part 2 explores regional issues in greater depth with essays written by members of the research team local to the region.In 2023, work was begun on research and thought leadership on the relationship of volunteering by youth to employability, well-bring, activism, and sustainable livelihoods. Each paper was paired with a webinar to stimulate discussion and collaborative thinking around each facet of the research. As a solid outcome from this work, in December 2023, IAVE announced a collaboration with the African Union on volunteer-powered pathways to youth employment, the Reskilling Revolution Africa.