1995
January – Founder, Steve Rosenthal, is inspired to create an international volunteer organization after volunteering in Kenya
May – Steve meets local leader, and future CCS India Country Director, Bela Singh; “Project India” is born
December – The first volunteer spends three weeks in India
1996
June – With the first Home-Base set up and NGO partnerships formed, “Project India” is re-named Cross-Cultural Solutions
1996 – 11 CCS volunteers journey to India
1997
January – CNN reporter shares story of CCS volunteers working in India
1997 – CCS grows to 92 volunteers in India
1998
March – The New York Times profiles CCS and stories of several CCS volunteers in India
October – CCS begins working in Africa; first 5 volunteers experience CCS Ghana
1999
September – CCS Peru welcomes initial group of 4 volunteers to Lima, working
in a shantytown nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for Social Development
October – CCS proudly celebrates the 500th volunteer
2000
May – CCS opens Insight Cuba – a people-to-people cultural exchange program
October – First group of CCS volunteers are welcomed in China
2001
February – CCS gains exclusive access to begin volunteer work in Russia
September – CCS leads 9/11 World Trade Center volunteer effort for American Red Cross, providing 6,500 volunteers to support rescue workers
October – CCS begins partnership with CARE to design and develop CARE Corps Program
2002
March – International outreach begins with the opening of the CCS UK Office
June – First group of CCS volunteers travel to Costa Rica
September – CCS expands to Southeast Asia; CCS Thailand begins welcoming volunteers in Bangkok
October – CCS Brazil welcomes first group of volunteers
2003
January – First CCS volunteers travel to Tanzania
May – CCS is granted Special Consultative Status by the United Nations
May – First group of CCS volunteers travel to Guatemala
October – First Lady of Tanzania honors CCS for supporting local initiatives with over 400 volunteers
December – After over 3,000 participants, Insight Cuba closes when travel to Cuba is suspended
2004
January – Today Show travels to Ayacucho, Peru to highlight inspirational work of CCS volunteers.
September – CCS introduces Intern Abroad and Insight Abroad programs
2005
February – The New York Times highlights growth of CCS in “More Vacationers Answer the Call to Help ”
December – CCS proudly celebrates 10 years and and a milestone 98% volunteer satisfaction rate
2006
March – MTV travels to CCS Costa Rica to feature university students volunteering abroad on an Alternative Spring Break. Watch Video
2007
January – CCS Canada office opens
April – Operations are expanded in Africa with the introduction of CCS Morocco and CCS South Africa
June – CCS Australia office opens
2008
February – Forbes.com highlights CCS volunteer to demonstrate new trend of executives volunteering abroad
July – Teen Volunteer Abroad is launched with Costa Rica and Guatemala
2009
February – CCS celebrates over 20,000 international volunteers
– CCS participates in international volunteering study by the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis
2010
– CCS celebrates 15 years and 25,000 volunteers
– CCS creates its first Impact Assessment to measure the impact and efficacy of programs/volunteer work.
