Action Without Borders, also known as Idealist, is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

service organization based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, founded in 1995 by Ami Dar. The group has offices in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. In 2023, 45,000 nonprofit and charitable organizations worldwide are registered on the site and gets 35,000 visitors a day. On January 14, 2025, it was announced that Idealist and VolunteerMatch are merging.

History

Founder Ami Dar was interested in solving social and environmental problems in the world since childhood. In 1985, after his mandatory army service in the Israeli Defense Forces, while Dar was traveling in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, he got the idea to use modern technology (phones, PCs, and fax machines) to build a network that would make it easier for people to connect and act on issue that concerned them. Dar was 24 at the time. By 1995, Dar had founded an early iteration of Idealist, initially called The Contact Center Network. They sponsored meeting spaces in several communities where people could connect with neighbors who might share interests and ideas for local action. In 1996, Action Without Borders launched the site, idealist.org. In 2016, Idealist closed its

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

office, laying off two-dozen people who worked there.

Notable people

Ami Dar (; born January 7, 1961) is the founder and executive director of Action Without Borders. Dar was born January 7, 1961, in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, the eldest of three children, to a schoolteacher mother and diplomat father. He grew up in Peru and Mexico, and it was in Mexico City where he first became aware of the contrast of wealth and poverty around him, which started him on a path of dedication to social justice. In 1976, Dar and his family returned to Israel and from 1979 to 1982, he completed his mandatory service as a

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

. In 1988, Dar joined Aladdin Knowledge Systems, a software company based in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. From 1988 to 1992 he served as the international marketing manager. In 1992, he was named president and he relocated to New York City to establish their North American branch..

References

{{Reflist Charities based in New York City Organizations established in 1995 Social networks for social change Employment social networks Internet-based activism 1995 establishments in New York City

History

Notable people

See also

References