November 7th, 2010
After moving to San Antonio, Texas, I met with Desiree Whitney, Vice President with the San Antonio Area Foundation, to discuss the nonprofit sector in my new home. During these initial talks, I realized that San Antonio had a vibrant sector, but they were open to new ideas and opportunities. We discussed the current volunteer center operated by the United Way, and how there might be some opportunities for the Center for Nonprofit Support (CNS) to support the volunteer center with some volunteer management and project leadership workshops.
These meetings have been very excited and I’m looking forward to working with them more in the future and we begin to develop more plans for strengthening the volunteer efforts of the agencies and the community.
November 6th, 2010
My first job out of college was as an AmeriCorps VISTA at the HandsOn Atlanta office where I served in the role of Volunteer Relations for the organization. At that moment I knew that I had found my calling, I saw first hand the change that comes when effectively educating and mobilizing volunteers across the community. Ever since then, I have always had my hand in engaging volunteers in some capacity. As I prepared for my move to San Antonio, I was working as the Program Director over HandsOn Northeast Georgia, a volunteer center I helped create at Community Connection of NEGA, and reached out to HandsOn Network to see if there any opportunities to continue to support the mission from San Antonio, knowing that there wasn’t a HandsOn affiliate here, yet. As fate would have it, there was an opportunity to support the Networks efforts as part of the support team for the new volunteer management software that they were developing for the action centers. Having a deep appreciation for technology and a love for volunteer management, I saw no better opportunity to meld these two passions into one position while having the opportunity to serve on a national level an organization that I had come to deeply value and respect.
I feel honored to be working with all the affiliates across the country to learn about the projects and efforts they are leading in their communities, and excited to be working on the Force.com platform and see how powerful our program, HandsOn Connect, will be for the nonprofit and volunteer sector.
If you want to learn more about HandsOn Connect and how it can help your organization and community, click here!
To learn more about HandsOn Network and how they are mobilizing volunteers across the country, click here!
October 27th, 2010
After a few months of working with HandsOn Network’s HandsOn Connect and with the San Antonio Area Foundation- Center for Nonprofit Support, I decided to officially lump all the work and ideas that I have under a single umbrella.
While I know it is easier to stand on the mountain and preach how things should run and what is the best practice, I feel that the day-to-day business of running nonprofit organizations often get in the way of implementing the methods learned at workshops, conferences, and seminars. I know that had often been the case when I was dealing with the day-to-day operations of the programs and organizations I managed.
With Artwrks, I decided I wanted to use my grassroots experiences and lessons learned from my work as an executive director, launching new initiatives, and board leadership to help other nonprofits avoid the pitfalls involved in building our communities and saving the world. I look forward to working with agencies to provide direct support to their programs as well as working with the to develop realistic and attainable goals to more effectively address their mission.
I look forward to working with you to continue to move our communities further!
