United Planet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United Planet (UP) is a non-profit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 2001 by Dave Santulli, who serves as its Executive Director. The Boston office has around 25 employees, many of whom are students from foreign universities completing internships. According to their website:
"United Planet (UP) is a leading international, educational, humanitarian, and peace-building, non-profit organization with members and volunteers in over 150 countries devoted to fostering cross-cultural understanding and friendship and supporting communities in need in order to unite the world in a community beyond borders."
United Planet initially centered around an online community, which included forums and a cultural-sharing tool called Voices of Earth, which allowed visitors from around the world to update information about their home country (for example: recipes, proverbs, traditions). While these online tools still exist, the organization now focuses primarily on its Quest Programs, which send volunteers abroad to work on service projects. Quests are either Short Term or Long Term. Short Term Quests are between one and twelve weeks, and are run directly by UP. United Planet is the official delegate to International Cultural Youth Exchange (ICYE) from the United States and Canada, and UP's Long Term Quests (between six months and one year) are run through ICYE.
In 2008, United Planet was chosen by CNN to be a featured organization on its "Be The Change" site, which focuses on international volunteering.
