In the fall of 1968, Mrs. Egmont Frankel of Toronto, Canada, President of the Auxiliary of the Princess Margaret Hospital and Lodge, invited 26 women from 11 countries to spend a week learning and sharing about the role of volunteers in cancer care.
Among the participants were Mrs. Burton Clemens (Virginia), Chairman of Volunteers, and Mrs. George F. Wasson Jr. (Eleanor), Coordinator of Volunteer Services at the UCLA Center for Health Sciences. The experience of connecting with women from around the world proved deeply meaningful. By the end of the meeting, they invited the group to reconvene in Los Angeles in 1970 for a similar international gathering.
When they returned home, Virginia and Eleanor began meeting with community leaders to share their experience and their vision for an international conference. The seeds had been planted.
On February 27, 1969, the first organizing meeting was held to make plans for an international volunteer conference that would “encompass all phases of volunteer activities in health, welfare, education, recreation and culture.” The date of October 18, 1970 was chosen for the opening of the conference. At the meeting, Ruth Powlison suggested the conference theme of “Volunteering – The Bridge of Understanding.” The idea was inspired by a ceramic tile wall entitled “Bridge of Understanding,” designed by artist Florinda Leighton in the International Lounge of the Commons at the University of California Riverside. This marked the beginning of the biennial IAVE World Volunteer Conference.
Today, IAVE serves as the connective tissue to a global network of volunteer leaders, NGOs, businesses and national leadership organizations, that share a belief in the power of volunteering. IAVE’s mission is to enable leaders of volunteering worldwide to stand in solidarity with one another to promote, support and celebrate volunteering in all of the many ways it happens throughout the world. Within the past 50 years, IAVE has brought together thousands of leaders in volunteering, through their shared passion and belief in the importance of volunteering for sustainable development. Click here to learn more about what IAVE has grown to become.
From the first world conference in 1970 in Los Angeles, IAVE has convened 27 world conferences across the globe. In 2026, we will meet in Saudi Arabia for the 28th IAVE World Volunteer Conference in Riyadh.
1. Los Angeles, USA (1970)
2. Manila, Philippines (1972 )
3. Nairobi, Kenya (1974)
4. San Francisco, United States (1976)
5. Istanbul, Turkey (1978)
6. Cret Berard, Switzerland (1980)
7. Oxford, United Kingdom (1982)
8. Bogota, Colombia (1984)
9. Sydney, Australia (1986)
10. Washington, DC, USA (1988)
11. Paris, France (1990)
12. Buenos Aires, Argentina (1992)
13. Tokyo, Japan (1994)
14. Cape Town, South Africa (1996)
15. Edmonton, Canada (1998)
16. Amsterdam, Netherlands (2001)
17. Seoul, South Korea (2002)
18. Barcelona, Spain (2004)
19. New Delhi, India (2006)
20. Panama City, Panama (2008)
21. Singapore (2011)
22. London, United Kingdom (2012)
23. Gold Coast, Australia (2014)
24. Mexico City, Mexico(2016)
25. Augsburg, Germany(2018)
26. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (2022)
27. Busan, South Korea (2024)
28. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2026)