Who We Are

Vision and Mission:

TVAC aims to create a civil society where citizens themselves are active in responding to and solving various social issues utilizing their fullest potentials to improve the quality of life and to ensure the well-being of people.
TVAC promotes and strengthens the civil sector in general through promoting and supporting various activities of citizens, NPOs and other voluntary organizations.

* Here, we refer to "voluntary activities" as non-profit activities by citizens willingly perform to contribute to the good of others in society.

Background:

TVAC started as "Tokyo Volunteer Center (TVC)", established in 1981 by the Tokyo Council of Social Welfare (TCSW), as a subsidized program of Tokyo Metropolitan Government to promote and to support volunteer activities in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan.

After the Hanshin Awaji Major Earthquake in 1995, the needs to support non-for-profit organizations in general have become more focused since the needs to support disaster-relief activities of voluntary organizations were exposed, and such trends have led to the enactment of the Act on Promotion of Specified Non-profit Activities (the so-called NPO Law) in 1998. To correspond with such social needs, TVC had discussions with Metropolitan government officials as well as voluntary organizations in Tokyo about the mission and target of TVC. In 1998, TVC changed its name to Tokyo Voluntary Action Center (TVAC), thereby clarifying the mission, roles and functions of the Center in ways to promote, support and develop not only volunteering but also activities of NPOs and other voluntary organizations.

Operation:

TVAC is managed by the Social Welfare Corporation, Tokyo Council of Social Welfare. TVAC's policy/action plan is decided by the TVAC Steering Committee.
This Committee consists of various types of voluntary organizations from various fields, including intermediary organizations, social welfare service facilities/institutions, funding organizations, government officials, academic fields, and others who represent diversified fields and the value of a civil society.

TVAC's income sources are from donations from individuals/corporations/organizations, grants from funding organizations, subsidies from Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and income from business activities, such as training and publishing, etc.

Networking:

The Tokyo Council of Social Welfare itself is a networking organization, having a large number of social welfare service facilities/institutions and social welfare/service related organizations as part of its membership. It means that TVAC is a part/center of such a network.

In addition, TVAC also forms other types of networks of voluntary organizations in various fields, such as environmental protection, international relationship as well as collaborative relationships with corporations, labor unions, educational institutes, researchers/academics, various types/levels of government offices, etc., to correspond to various social issues in Tokyo and Japan.

Intermediary organizations exist not only at metropolitan and prefectural levels but also at the municipal level and the national level in Japan, and throughout the world.
TVAC spontaneously collaborates with such organizations when necessary.