Global Volunteers' unique philosophy of service requires volunteers to work at the invitation and under the direction of local community partners, and one-on-one with local people. By remaining faithful to this philosophy for three decades, we've created opportunities for you to provide a genuine service to others all over the globe.

We believe that if you embrace our guiding philosophy, you will personally enjoy the richness of the people you serve, and truly wage peace in the most direct manner possible. The basic elements of this philosophy are:

• We work at the direction of local leaders
  
• At the invitation of community partners
  
• On comprehensice community-based development projects
• Hand-and-hand with local people
• With sustained, long-term goals and impacts

We are dedicated to delivering the 12 Essential Services to local people through appropriate, sustained volunteer assistance on community-led projects. Likewise, we invest in continuous improvement in our volunteer management, ensuring team productivity and new volunteer learning opportunities.

Above all, we're committed to integrity in all our operations, striving for program excellence and transparency in our home office and abroad.

"Links of a Chain" describes Global Volunteers' development focus.