AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) was established in 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew, a onetime economics professor at Harvard University and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Begun as a service of volunteer ambulance drivers in 1914, AFS has evolved into an international youth exchange organization.
Worldwide, AFS is a group of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations called partners, each with its own network of volunteers, professionally staffed office(s), volunteer board of directors and website. In 2007, almost 13,000 participants traveled abroad on AFS cultural exchanges between 65 countries, as supported by 36,000 active volunteers. The U.S.-based partner, AFS-USA, sends more than 1,500 U.S. students abroad and places international students with more than 2,800 U.S. families each year. More than 370,000 people have gone abroad with AFS and over 100,000 former AFS students live in the U.S.
Read more about AFS Intercultural Programs: Statement of Purpose, Notable AFS Ambulance Corps Volunteers, Notable AFS Exchange Students, AFS-USA, Inc.
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