New Signed Agreement to Field Volunteers in China
May 29, 2015
On May 11, IESC and the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel (CAIEP) signed a formal agreement to field U.S. volunteer experts in China during 2015. This agreement advances the trilateral initiative between IESC, CAIEP, and AARP that began in November 2013.
Under the terms of the agreement, IESC will collaborate with CAIEP to field volunteer experts for 25 assignments in 2015. The agreement was signed at IESC’s offices in Washington, DC, by Liu Yongzhi, director of CAIEP and Ambassador (ret.) Tom Miller, president and CEO of IESC.
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| IESC President Tom Miller and CAEIP Director Liu Yongzhi sign the agreement in Washington, DC. |
Also present was a nine-member Chinese delegation headed by Vice Minister Zhang Jianguo of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China.
Josh Collet, vice president for international affairs at AARP and Bradley Schurman, senior advisor of AARP International also attended the signing.
The new signed agreement comes after four highly successful pilot volunteer assignments that were completed in summer 2014. IESC’s expert volunteers completed technical assistance projects related to biomass energy production, food safety and processing, sinkhole remediation, and supply chain management. A typical volunteer assignment is 3 to 4 weeks, during which the volunteer expert advises the host organization or business on current practices or challenges in the volunteer’s field of expertise.
IESC has already completed three strategic projects in 2015. The first volunteer of the year was deployed to Tianjin to advise on strategy and marketing with the dairy division of a large company. Among his recommendations was that the dairy expand its product line to include chocolate milk. Even as IESC hosted the delegation from China in May, two volunteer experts were on assignment in Taizhou to design a long-term development plan for a new biomedical research park.
IESC was founded as a volunteer organization more than 50 years ago. It has both a wealth of experience managing successful international programs and a robust database of skilled volunteers who are eager to share their knowledge internationally. The initiative in China taps into the large pool of market economy experience in the United States and provides an exciting opportunity for mid-career professionals or retired Baby Boomers to be engaged internationally. Finally, it establishes market linkages between the United States and China, opening vistas for cooperation between the two countries.
To learn more about becoming an expert volunteer with IESC in China, click here.
