With members from more than 1,000 universities and more than 100 countries, the Association Internationale des Estudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales, or AIESEC, is the largest student run organization in the world. Members of AIESEC’s University of Illinois chapter hope to contribute to the numbers as they begin recruiting students to a world of traveling abroad, planning exchange projects and assisting international interns.

The group helps students build international relationships through global exchange programs. Members send University students to work for international corporations while helping integrate interns from around the world. Chris Hornibrook, senior in LAS and president of the AIESEC chapter on campus, said being a part of a global network is what sets this group apart from other student organizations at the University.

“It sets us apart by providing us a diverse membership,” Hornibrook said. “We are able to point out different countries where we have chapters; different countries where they’re doing the same thing we’re doing.”

AIESEC was started after World War II when students involved in exchange programs decided to form a group that fostered intercultural understanding. The organization has grown since then and reached the Illinois campus in the 1970s, said James Chesterfield, senior in LAS and vice president of the chapter’s incoming exchange committee.

“In response to World War II they said, ‘How can we not let this happen again? So we’re going to create an international exchange organization that exchanges cultures and ideas,’” he said.

As a nonprofit organization, the group also operates as an international company, Chesterfield said. It is registered with the State Department and takes in money from internships.

“Being in AIESEC is like running your own international not-for-profit company,” Chesterfield said, “not just a student organization, not a club; a real, breathing company.”

Yeh Chuin Poh, a graduate student in Engineering, helps mentor the student members with projects. He said being a member of AIESEC while earning his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan helped him start his own company two years ago. The exchange programs and internships helped him develop long-lasting business skills, teaching him how to interact with his foreign customers, he said.

“It was all the cultural aspect of things that I got to learn through AIESEC and that’s how I got to learn how to run a business.” Poh said.

Poh mentors the members who are placed in one of the chapter’s six committees. The committees, which range from External Relations to Finance, allow the students to work together and create their own social projects, Hornibrook said. They are encouraged to address social issues that involve the organization’s global value and must create a plan and a budget to execute it, he said.

Iva Gaylord, sophomore in LAS attended the group’s information night last week. She said the presentation gave her a lot to think about, and that she has experience working abroad.

“I thought this organization had a lot to offer that was pertinent to my future career goals,” Gaylord said.

The chapter has begun its application process, which consists of an interview and social screening, where members assess applicants’ teamwork skills. While the organization is affiliated with the College of Business, it welcomes all majors, Poh said. What is most important is that the applicants are business-minded with a desire to reach out globally, he added.

“It’s not so much as how many people we are accepting, but more about the quality of students we are accepting, whether they are business-minded and whether they are global minded,” Poh said.