Iraida Manzanilla Guerra, Vice President and LATAM Regional Representative - introducing her association
1. When was your association founded?
1970
2. Where is your association based, how many members do you have & in how many countries?
- Washington DC, USA.
- Members in more than 70 countries
3. Who are your members?
Leaders of volunteering, NGOs, businesses and volunteer centres
4. What is your mission & aim of the association?
IAVE exists to promote, strengthen and celebrate volunteering in all of the myriad ways it happens throughout the world.
5. What are the major challenges facing your association?
To strengthen a global culture of volunteering that is recognized as vital to creating a fair, peaceful, sustainable and compassionate world. Our pillars are Advocacy, Knowledge development and dissemination, Network development and mobilization and Convening.
6. What kind of events are organised by your association?
We bring together, in person and online, leaders in volunteering to discuss, debate and deepen our shared understanding of volunteering and its potential as a global force for good. Examples include, but are not limited to, world and regional conferences, in-person meetings of our networks and webinars.
7. What is the decision process behind the selection of a destination/venue?
We call for proposals from our members from all over the world and a special committee appointed by the Board of Directors evaluate the proposals and make recommendations to the Board. The final decision is made by the Board.
8. Can you share your insights about the latest trends within the association community?
Among the critical issues which are global, our members are involved in programs that face migration, human rights, climate change, natural disasters and entrepreneurship, catering to different audiences according to their specific needs: children, mothers, older adults, young women. By 2020 all members share a common challenge: to generate a positive impact in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
9. What does your association do in terms of legacy, do your meetings have a societal impact on the destination?
Our conferences give visibility to the global volunteer movement in each host city or country and have also generated proposals such as the Universal Declaration of Volunteering, the Celebration of the International Year of Volunteering 2001 (IYV) and IYV+10 in 2011
10. Are you looking to forge collaborations with other associations? If so in what areas of expertise?
Volunteering, knowledge development and advocacy
For more information on IAVE please check their website: www.iave.org