About IANYS

The goal of IANYS is to stimulate and facilitate the exchange of information about national youth service (NYS), offer technical assistance to governments or private institutions that seek to develop or reshape NYS programs, and encourage youth to play an active role in their communities.

Leadership

The Global Council is the governing body of IANYS and is made up of experts in the field of youth service from around the world. Currently eleven countries are represented on the Global Council. Dame Elizabeth Hoodless, Director of the UK’s Community Service Volunteers and organizer of the 4th global conference of IANYS, is the Global Council Chairperson. Don Eberly, founder of IANYS, continues to serve as the Association’s Honorary President.

Click here for more information about members of the Global Council.

Membership

Membership is currently informal and there is currently no membership fee for the IANYS network.

IANYS was formed in 1996 at the 3rd bi-annual global conference on national youth service (global conferences are held every two years in a different country). Since its inception, IANYS has grown to include members from 48 different countries on six continents. IANYS is the only network of its kind actively working to encourage every country to consider the implementation of policies and programs to support youth civic engagement. IANYS also works to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas surrounding youth civic engagement policies and programs.