Alayna Charpentier is a very special girl; in spite of her academic load and participation on sports teams she finds time to volunteer at the Wayside House every week and at church every single Sunday.
The Wayside House is a great place that helps low-income women overcome addiction and mental illness. It is a place that empowers women to recover sobriety, identity, family, home and community by providing treatment, housing and supportive services.
Alayna has a large part in the rehabilitation process and has volunteered her services for the past two years by providing childcare for mothers who receive treatment. Most of the women there who have children have no means for childcare, so for them to attend weekly counseling sessions they rely on Alayna.
A Wayside House Family
These women not only learn how to manage their lives, sobriety, and careers, but they also learn to trust again. Alayna has won a place in all of their hearts and homes as a sign of hope, a person who cares for them despite their history and mistakes they may have made, and in support of the changes they strive for to make a better life for themselves and their families.
Alayna herself has had to deal with much adversity in her life, and her health has always been a huge hurdle for her. She has suffered from Sensory Integration Dysfunction, ADD, major depression and many aspects Aspberger Syndrome and major allergies since she was a small child.
For the past two years she has become a very well respected and supportive friend to these women and their children at the Wayside House. She finds resolve and inspiration in helping these women, and believes in the good in others.
The 2011 Business Track will provide employee volunteer professionals with useful sessions, tools, trainings and dialogue in a variety of formats.
Business track attendees will have the opportunity to engage, learn, network and share with other employee volunteer professionals.
If you’re a corporate engagement professional, CSR manager, Vice President or CEO of your Corporate Foundation the Business Track has something just for you.
Here’s a sneak peek!
CEO Roundtable: The Business Champions Playbook.
How C-suite Executives are Leveraging their Company’s Unique Assets for Greater Impact.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
Session ID: 5552
Twitter Hashtag: #NCVSBIZ
This forum serves as the opening for the Business Track and will feature C-suite
executives that have taken an innovative approach in helping to build resilient communities.
Over the past decade, companies have deployed some of their most valuable resources to support and prepare communities during our nation’s most challenging economic, educational and environmental times.
ABC News Correspondent Deborah Roberts will moderate a discussionwith Cliff Burrows, President of Starbucks Coffee U.S., Robert Pease, President & CEO of Motiva Enterprises and other executives as they explore how companies are leveraging and applying their assets to equip communities and solve some of our most difficult societal problems.
How Social Media Can Advance Your EVP and CSR Efforts
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Session ID: 5536
Twitter Hashtag: #NCVSBIZ
Social media is one of the most powerful mediums a company can use to tell their story, promote their employees and showcase their volunteering activities. Learn how new media marketing tools and social media can advance your EVP and CSR programs.
Hear from business leaders and industry experts such as Chris Jarvis, Co-Founder and Owner, Realized Worth Kelly Fisher, Assistant Manager, Philanthropy, Toyota and Anna Cunningham, Manager, Community Investments, Starbucks Coffee Company.
Employee Volunteering Beyond Volunteering
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Session ID: 5460
Twitter Hashtag: #NCVSBIZ
Bea Boccalandro, President of VeraWorks and author of See The End of Employee Volunteering: A Necessary Step to Substantive Employee Engagement in the Community, will moderate this intriguing dialogue as we explore how companies are pioneering radical new directions in employee volunteering with great results.
Additional panelists include: Susan Portugal, Senior Vice President, CSR Philanthropy Director, Bank of America and Caroline Barlerin, Head of Global Volunteering and ProBono Service, Hewlett Packard Company.
What’s Your Story? How to communicate your EVP
Wednesday, June 8, 2011 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Session ID: 5081
Twitter Hashtag: #EVPComm
You’ve launched your company’s EVP, but now what?
This session will focus on how to tell your volunteer story, reach your target audiences and get the most reputational value out of your EVP. Panelists include: Tara Greco, Vice President Corporate Responsibility, APCO Worldwide, Jill Bolton, Director of Community Relations and Global Ambassador Program, Disneyland Resort, Karen Casanova, Manager, Team Member Engagement and Volunteerism, Target Corporation, and Ken Sternad, President, The UPS Foundation.
…and that’s just a small sampling of all the great Business Track sessions.
Forum Preview: Citizen Solutions for Economic Empowerment
On Tuesday, June 7th at 2:00 p.m. there are six amazing conference forums for you to choose from.
One f them is:
Citizen Solutions for Economic Empowerment
, a forum focused on economic recovery.
The session will focus on advancing economic opportunities in under-resourced communities as this is a constant challenge.
The forum will highlight the practices of asset-based community development and will present examples of how some communities have effectively promoted new economic opportunities, focusing especially on the roles volunteers can play alongside nonprofit organizations and
community members to effect change.
The Panel will be facilitated by Jeff Johnson, award-winning journalist, social activist and political commentator.
Participants will join the discussion in a live TV audience format, which will include the ability to ask pre-screened questions.
Attendees will likely range from coordinator and manager level employees to vice presidents representing the business, nonprofit, government and philanthropic community.
Panelists include:
David Eisner
President and CEO National Constitution Center
Diahann Billings Burford
Chief Service Officer City of New York
Marta Urquilla
Senior Policy Advisor White House Domestic Policy Council’s Office of Social Innovationand Civic Participation
Ida Rademacher Vice President for Policy & Research CFED
Sample Panel Questions
What are some examples of ways that you have seen service have an impact on
the economic viability and growth of local communities?
Why is this opportunity useful? What did it do?
How are communities and nonprofits best positioned and prepared to receive this
type of service?
How are organizations thinking of developing themselves to leverage this impact?
What are the largest economic needs that can be addressed through service?
6. What are the untapped resources that you see can be best used to improve the
assets of communities and their residents ?
This is a new level of expertise that community based orgs need to develop. What
are skills and competencies that they should be thinking about to leverage against
it?
How do we collaborate with fellow organizations on focuses such as this?
How do you set yourself up to manage effectively, usefully and efficiently without
taking all your time, money resources?
What are the different ways volunteers will be recruited (what is nuance to recruit for
these projects)?
How do you support and orientate volunteer leaders to do this work?
What is broad skill set you are looking for in a volunteer to align efforts?
How do you successfully achieve this in your nonprofit?
How do we recognize them/celebrate their successes?
Citizen Solutions for Economic Empowerment Economy Plenary Tuesday, June 7, 2011 2:00 – 3:30pm CST Morial Convention Center, 900 Convention Center Blvd., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130 Room 243-245
.
If you’re not already a reader of Socialbrite, you should be. It’s a great blog that posts really useful information for nonprofit technologists.
George and JD are always a great help to me. I always walk away from conversations with them or sessions that they’re leading with great ideas.
Information to Impact: Tracking your Action Monday, June 6th, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
Not to start a love fest for George Weiner, but…
George Weiner is one of my favorite Nonprofit Tech Geeks.
If you care about making sound decisions based on real data, George is your man.
Bringing Community Organizing Into Online Campaigns
The Interactive Strategy Forum will feature more than 20 discussion tables, all staffed by leaders in nonprofit technology, all leading relevant, timely discussions and Q&A on topics you care about.
Participants can rotate to different tables/topics during the session, learn best practices & innovative approaches, hear about new tools and get answers to burning questions.
For a complete list of the presenters and topics, click here.
Citizen Centered Service
Wednesday, June 8th, 8:30 – 10:00 a.m.
When it comes to civic engagement dialogue and deliberation programs sometimes get criticized for failing to move from words to action.
On the other hand volunteer and service programs sometimes get criticized for being all action or overly episodic.
A few years ago a nascent movement surfaced which combined the best of both worlds encouraging citizen-led dialog and action as opposed to expert-driven agendas and campaigns.
This “citizen-centered” approach to civic engagement found its roots in traditional organizing deliberation and volunteer action but combining all three has shown promise in motivating
individuals to get engaged and form lasting solutions.
I’m looking forward to joining
Michael Smith, Senior Vice President of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation for a new look at Citizen Centered Engagement.
Brands & Causes: Secrets of Brand/Nonprofit Partnerships
Wednesday, June 8th, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Chris Noble, CEO of Causemedia Group, routinely builds cause marketing campaigns in social media. His company brings brands, celebrities and causes together to do meaningful work online.
Earlier this year Causemedia Group helped to create
In this session, Chris will discuss what he’s learned about building successful partnerships between brands and causes.
You won’t want to miss it!
The Good Food Paradox
by Melissa Norris, Peggy Berry & Susan Danish, NCVS Speakers
In a nation criss-crossed by strip malls dotted with fast-food restaurants where one thousand-calorie meals are available in an instant for less that what it costs to buy a gallon of gas, and where no fewer than five shows dedicated purely to cooking tantalize viewers from flat-screen televisions daily, it’s hard to imagine that nearly 15 percent of U.S. residents will go without a nutritious meal every day.
Not only will they not be digging into a terrine of torched foie gras or licking their fingers after devouring a technicolor slice of cake, but they will not even be able to afford a McDonald’s Happy Meal. And even if they can afford a hamburger patty or Chicken Nuggets, that’s the only quasi-nutritious food they may eat every day for a week.
This is the paradoxical concept of food insecurity: normal eating patterns of one or more household members are disrupted and/or food intake is reduced for as much as a week out of every month for as many as eight months during the year. The problem, which tends to be chronic as a result of low income or neighborhood, afflicts an astounding 17 million U.S. households, according to the latest statistics (2008) available through the U.S. Census Bureau.
Not only are the food-insecure going hungry or inadequately nourished by skipping meals, failing to vary their intake, or missing food for an entire day, but the foods they are eating are lacking in nutrition, in many cases because the resources for fresh produce, whole grains, and fresh meat and fish are either too far away from their homes or too expensive to afford on a poverty-line pay check.
And the problem is on the rise. Between 2007 and 2008, the rates of low and very low food insecurity increased by an average 33 percent. In Texas, the rate of food insecurity is above the U.S. average, and the communities of Plano and Tyler are no exception.
In 2004, The Junior League of Collin County, then known as the Junior League of Plano, identified a need within its community: food pantries such as the Plano Food Pantry required fresh produce for their clients. Partnering with the City of Plano on issues such as land use and irrigation, the League and a far-ranging variety of community volunteer partners including school and church groups, Girl and Boy Scout troops, and local businesses, spent the next seven years planting and harvesting produce ranging from mustard greens, green beans and radishes to cucumbers and squash. To date, more than 6,000 residents have benefited from several tons of produce harvested.
In Tyler, Texas, in 2006, it was low-income senior citizens who were the target of a food security initiative that has as a result not only been recognized by the U.S.D.A., but also served as a template for other communities around the country. The Junior League of Tyler partnered with Meals on Wheels and the East Texas Food Bank not only to cover the meal gap on weekends during which some seniors were going without food or purchasing badly needed medications (rather than food) with the limited funds of a fixed income, but also to ensure that the meals delivered were more wholesome, nutritious, sensitive to special dietary requirements resulting from individual health conditions, and packaged in a way that seniors could both access and prepare them with minimal effort. To date, “Senior Servings™” has increased the number of seniors it serves by 270 percent and has served as a template, sanctioned by the U.S.D.A. for communities around the country.
So, if you do only one thing today, make it that you’ll add the phrase “food insecurity” to your vocabulary. And if you take away only one message from what has been done in Tyler and Plano, Texas, make it that you yourself have the power to help another person put a good meal on the table. All it takes is a smart idea and a community of people who can get behind it.
Creative Partnerships to Address Hunger and Food Insecurity Session ID: 5199 Wednesday, June 8, 2011 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
What do a city government, corporate sponsors, two longstanding food relief groups, and two Junior Leagues add up to? Two creative solutions to hunger in two Texas cities. In Plano the result is a Community Garden making fresh produce available to food pantries. In Tyler it is an expansion of Meals on Wheels to ensure low-income seniors have food on weekends. Both initiatives demonstrate the capacity of volunteers to provide leadership on critical issues coupled with the creativity of partnering. Twitter Hashtag: #foodpartners
, Texas; representing “Plano Provides: the Plano Community Garden,” a collaboration between The Junior League of Collin County and the City of Plano . Melissa has been an Active member of the Junior League of Collin County, formerly the Junior League of Plano, for 9 years. She has served in a variety of leadership positions and currently serves as President on the Board of Directors.Melissa has also volunteered at her children’s schools and in PTA as well as in other community organizations since moving to the Dallas area.Melissa graduated from Baylor University with a BSHE.Melissa and her husband, Mike, have been married since 1990 and have two children, Michael and Emily.
; representing Senior Servings™, a collaboration of East Texas Food Bank, The Junior League of Tyler, Texas, and Meals on Wheels.
Susan Danish
, Executive Director of the Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. Prior to joining the Association, Ms. Danish was the Executive Director of the Center for Women’s Leadership (CWL) at Babson College in Wellesley, MA and her substantial general management and marketing experience was honed at some of the best-known companies in the world. Her early marketing management experience includes work at Procter & Gamble, Playtex and Clairol. Her career also includes being President and CEO of her own retail skin care business. Ms. Danish holds a BS degree in Speech from Northwestern University, an MS in Public Relations from Boston University and her MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a founding member of 1,000 Women for Mentoring and serves on committees of a number of national and international nonprofit organizations.
Beyond Both/And: Achieving Deep Integration of Service and Leadership Development
By Max Klau, Ed.D., Director of Leadership Development,
Many service programs aspire to integrate a dual focus on service impact in communities and leadership development of volunteers.
It is one thing to insist that it is possible to maintain this “BOTH Service AND Leadership Development” integration, but programs without a sophisticated understanding of exactly how these two elements work together will continue to struggle.
After two decades, City Year has recently achieved breakthrough advances in the clarity and sophistication of both our service model and our leadership development model—as well as the interconnected workings of the two.
City Year’s tagline is “Give a year. Change the world.”, and we believe that there are two dimensions to that challenge: Changing the outer world through service, and changing the inner world of our corps members through leadership development.
We have developed a school service model—Whole School, Whole Child—that is deeply informed by research illuminating the nature of America’s high school dropout crisis. That clarity and focus of that model has empowered us to dramatically improve the scale, quality, and measurement of our service impact.
At the same time, we have developed a new leadership development model deeply informed by cutting-edge thinking and research from the field of leadership.
Called The Flame of Idealism, the model integrates a focus on civic action, civic capacity, civic identity, and culture.
It represents a breakthrough advance in the sophistication of our leadership development work, and it allows us to move beyond the simple assertion that we need to balance BOTH service AND leadership development.
With this new model, we’ve been to take the integration of our service and leadership development efforts to a whole new level of clarity and sophistication.
At this year’s conference, we will provide an opportunity for participants to get an experiential taste of this comprehensive model.
The Idealist’s Journey is City Year’s leadership development curriculum designed to thoughtfully, intentionally develop the civic identity of our corps members.
In the midst of a very demanding year of service, the Journey provides regular opportunities for our corps members to step away from service, reconnect with their deepest sense of purpose, practice the art of critical reflection, and consider the personal meaning of their service experience.
It deepens the transformational impact of a long-term service experience by ensuring that the outer work of service is integrated with the inner work of leadership development.
City Year has great clarity regarding the leadership development outcomes we aspire to achieve with the Idealist’s Journey, and we have seen how this work strengthens service impact, sustains idealism, improves retention, and deepens the transformational impact of a year of service.
Intrigued?
We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to present this work in New Orleans, and hope that you will join us for our session
Developing Leaders Through Service: An Idealist’s Journey Experiential Session
on
Wednesday, June 8th at 8:30 a.m.
(ID: #5206).
We hope to see you there!
Books and Beignets? Yes, Please!
What better to pair with mouthwatering beignets than a good read?
At NCVS, five book-club style breakout sessions will offer opportunities for intimate discussions with featured authors about topics that range from jump-starting volunteerism in one’s own community to providing valuable resources for active civic engagement leaders.
Be one of the first 20 book-lovers to register for each session and receive a free copy of the featured book!
SID 5707: Everyone Helps, Everyone Wins
Featured Book: Everyone Helps, Everyone Wins – How Absolutely Anyone Can Pitch in, Help Out, Give Back and Make the World a Better Place
Author: David T. Levinson – Founder and Executive Director, Big Sunday
“Give back” is a message we hear everyday, but most of us have no idea where to start. Luckily, David Levinson has spent more than fifteen years matching people who want to help with causes in need. By commandering more than 50,000 volunteers every “Big Sunday,” Levinson knows that everyone – no matter what their age or where they live – has something they can give to someone else. In this frank, funny and useful guide to giving back, Levinson dumps the “holier-than-thou” perception of volunteerism and gets down to the nitty gritty.
SID 5710: Leading the Way to Successful Volunteer Involvement
Featured Book: Leading the Way to Successful Volunteer Involvement: Practical Tools for Busy Executives
Featured Author: Betty Stallings – International Trainer, Keynote Speaker, Consultant and Author
Not a how-to book on managing volunteers, “Leading the Way” focuses on those aspects of volunteer engagement in which executive leadership is crucial, including strategic planning, policy information, staffing and evaluation. Senior administrators can hit the ground running with over 80 worksheets, checklists, idea simulators, action steps, real life examples, self-inquiry assessments and other practical how-to tools to:
Develop a philosophy statement about volunteers and make it a mantra for everyone in the org.
Integrate support for volunteers in every unit and department of organization
Ask legal counsel and risk managers the right questions about volunteers
Assess staff training needs for working with volunteers
Discover how the right volunteer can help you, the executive
SID 5709: SHIFT AND RESET: Strategies for Addressing Serious Issues in a Connected Society
Featured Book: Shift and Reset: Strategies for Supporting Causes in a Connected Society
Featured Author: Brian Reich
In these challenging economic times, it is more important than ever for nonprofits to focus on shaping policy, building capacity, developing talent, improving their marketing and promotion, fundraising and developing partnerships/collaboration for organizational success. “Shift and Reset” teaches the nonprofit social change/philanthropy/ cause community how to take advantage of rapidly changing technologies and new communication ecosystem that exist in our connected society.
SID 5741 Collaborative Today, Thrive Tomorrow
Featured Book: Boomer Volunteer Engagement – Collaborate Today, Thrive Tomorrow
Featured Author: Jill Friedman Fixler – Trainer, Facilitator, Speaker
This book presents a step-by-by step process for creating a culture in which volunteers will thrive in your organization. It explores how organizations can make changes to address the needs and engage the talents of Boomers and the generations that follow, and demonstrates how the skills, talents, and profound circles of influence of today’s volunteers can grow organizational capacity beyond what staff alone can accomplish. Info, tools, and strategies help the reader understand the world of today’s volunteers, assess volunteer engagement needs, create work plans and position descriptions, cultivate volunteer resources, conduct motivational assessments, interview and place volunteers, and support ongoing engagement efforts.
SID 5739: The Power of “What If?”
Featured Book: The Power of “What If?” …Extra Mile America: Stories of Inspiration, Possibility and Purpose
Featured Author: Shawn Anderson
Amidst a climate of difficulty, it’s necessary to dream bigger, be creative and recommit to “going the extra mile.” Hear empowering stories of people who took initiative, pushed forward, and created incredible change. Be inspired to remain determined in the face of challenges by asking the question, “What If?”
What it means to be a “good neighbor” post-disaster: resident engagement in New Orleans
‘s monthly newsletter as a great neighbor in her New Orleans community.
Her neighborly work?
She organized a community clean-up of blighted lots in her neighborhood that were being used as illegal dumping sites.
Yes, there are still many vacant lots and homes in New Orleans, many that have not been touched since the levees broke during Hurricane Katrina almost six years ago.
Bringing together resident volunteers and visiting volunteers working with Beacon of Hope, Ms. Kimberly was able to clear overgrown lots and get rid of years worth of debris.
Her motivation was to beautify the neighborhood and boost morale in her still recovering community.
A pretty great neighbor, right?
Six years ago, Ms. Kimberly didn’t even know that the Paris Oaks/Bayou Vista Neighborhood Association existed.
She would get up in the morning, go to work, and come straight home, with little notice of issues happening in the neighborhood.
So what changed?
Well, Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing levee breaches displaced every resident in her neighborhood, an area of the city that experienced up to seven feet of flooding.
Post-Katrina, New Orleans residents embarked on a cross-country diaspora, relocating to Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, Minneapolis–all over.
We’ve all heard the saying “there’s no place like home,” but imagine an entire city’s population experiencing this sentiment simultaneously across the country (and the globe).
It is this experience that has provided a catalyst for some displaced New Orleanians to become engaged in their communities like never before.
It was precisely this longing for home–not to mention lessons learned in neighborhood litter prevention in her evacuation-stay in Arkansas –that got Ms. Kimberly interested in being a leader in recovery in her New Orleans neighborhood.
There’s nothing like a collective trauma–be it a natural disaster, violence, or oil spill–to bring a community together in efforts to recover.
Beacon of Hope Resource Center was founded on this very premise by a New Orleanian, named Denise Thornton, dedicated to see her own neighborhood recover after the storm.
Beacon’s mission is to provide a model for recovery in neighborhoods devastated by Hurricane Katrina. And that starts with engaged residents.
Certainly Ms. Kimberly will not be leading neighborhood lot clean-ups forever–those lots will be developed into residential housing, community gardens, or will be land banked–but she will surely be involved in other neighborhood initiatives like neighborhood block parties, crime watch groups, and block captain communications. And that’s what it’s all about.
A disaster might get people involved for the first time, but Beacon of Hope’s model helps to ensure that they stay involved so that neighborhoods become even better and more resilient for the future.
I hope you’ll join me for the workshop “
Engaging Resident Volunteers in Sustainable Neighborhood Revitalization
” to learn more about Beacon’s model that teaches how to engage residents initially from ground zero of a disaster and how to sustain that level of engagement post-recovery.
Laura Mellem is the Neighborhood Coordinator at Beacon of Hope Resource Center in New Orleans. She works to engage and empower neighborhood leaders on issues like blighted property, crime, infrastructure problems, and neighborhood capacity-building.
Come get a firsthand look at the Beacon of Hope Resource Center Neighborhood Revitalization MODEL (Mapping, Outreach, Development, Engagement, Leadership), which develops sustainable neighborhoods by creating a resident-led community resilience plan.
Twitter Hashtag
:
#NCVS5684
Reserve Your Seat Now for the Closing General Session
The entire Gulf region has become a laboratory for social innovation in areas reaching far beyond disaster recovery.
Since 2005, millions of volunteers have helped address educational challenges, economic development issues and government leadership in New Orleans. And the region keenly understands the importance of volunteering and service to strengthen community bonds and take sustained action.
Now, more than ever, people are at the heart of community change and must champion efforts in their communities to solve problems.
Our 2011 National Conference theme, “Champions of Service,” recognizes that everyone can be a champion in their community by mobilizing the energy, ingenuity and compassion of citizens to lead the way for a better future.
The closing general session, “
New Orleans – and a Nation – Say Thank You
,” will honor the individuals, organizations and programs that are proving that service solves problems.
for the Closing Session at NCVS – you won’t want to miss it!
As we conclude our time together in New Orleans, we will continue our exploration of its culture and celebrate Champions of Service from around the globe.
You’ll hear stories from both local change-makers and transformers from around the country of the power of service.
To compliment the themes of celebration, entertainment and inspiration, we have a stellar line-up of performances including legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Percy Sledge; Grammy-Award Winning musician Chris Thomas King; actor and activist Rosario Dawson and appearances by nationally recognized actors, chefs and media personalities; all hosted by comedian John Oliver from “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
We’ll leave the 2011 NCVS inspired, equipped for greater impact and mobilized by new tools and resources.
This session will conclude with the announcement of the location of the 2012 National Conference on Volunteering and Service.
PARADE magazine is teaming up with generationOn to find this year’s All-America High School Service Team! This is the service teams second year in existence and it will consist of outstanding high school students who’ve made a significant contribution to their communities through health, education, the environment, economics or human rights.
All nominees are appreciated and are winners in the sense that they are helping people and making a difference. The top 50 finalists, 10 per issue category, will receive certificates. The top 15 (3 per issue category), will receive a two-day paid trip to Washington, D.C. to receive their award and special recognition.
2011 winners will be announced in PARADE Magazine on August 14.
