A Billion + Change, a growing national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars of pro bono and skills-based volunteer (SBV) services from corporate America, is bringing into sharp relief the valuable role SBV programs play in building the capacity of nonprofit organizations to meet community needs at home and around the world. In less than a year, nearly 200 companies have pledged an estimated $1.8 billion worth of time and talent to nonprofits, keeping the campaign on track to inspire 500 companies to create or expand a SBV program in their workplace by 2013.
Campaign pledge companies like Capital One, HP, Deloitte and IBM shared the inspiration driving their SBV programs, and how they are achieving high-impact, transformative change through service at a special Pre-conference session, “Leading Service and Inspiring Change.”
“At HP, we ask ourselves how we can harness all the skills of our company to give back to our communities. For example, HP worked with nonprofits and ministries of health on a pro bono basis to develop a system to verify counterfeit drugs abroad and help save 700,000 lives lost every year due to counterfeit drugs. The concept of shared value to give back to both your company and your communities is very important,” said Caroline Barlerin, director, Communications and Global Community Involvement for HP.
PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, GlaxoSmithKline and the Advisory Board Company also discussed how their programs are addressing critical issues such as global health and education, water resource management and improving STEM education through skills-based service.
Today, Pranav Kothari, managing director of Mission Measurement, will lead a dynamic conversation about innovations in business and philanthropy and how corporate innovation can spark broader social change in “Beyond Business as Usual: Leading Innovation and Driving Social Change.”
These sessions are the latest in a national tour of A Billion + Change events that will culminate in a White House Forum on June 27, at which the campaign will start to imagine the phenomenal possibilities of collective action, with 500 companies working in partnership with nonprofit professionals to change communities for the better.
To learn more about A Billion + Change and to take the pledge for free, visit: www.abillionpluschange.org.
For the past two days, more than 150 staff and representatives from HandsOn Network affiliates came together to network, discuss important sector trends, share best practices and celebrate their collective success. Their time together focused on innovative programming, partnership development, technology and more. The Pre-conference also featured an impressive lineup of presenters and speakers, including communication experts Michael Margolis and Allison Fine.
“Reframing the Story of the 21st Century Volunteer Centers,” presented by Margolis, focused on how reframing our message is the key to reinvention, relevance and relationship building with our constituents. Margolis, founder and president of Get Storied, an education, advisory and publishing company, takes the traditional notions of storytelling and re-invents them in the context of branding, innovation and cultural change with the goal of teaching the world to think in narrative. His popular book, Believe Me: A Storytelling Manifesto for Change-Makers and Innovators, quickly turned him into a leading voice in the world of storytelling. Margolis also teaches brand storytelling as an executive education instructor for Schulich School of Business.
Fine shared her expertise during her presentation, “From Institutions to Social Networks,” which provided a framework for re-organizing as social networks, how to use social media to power the network and how to energize a community and volunteers with this new lens. Fine is the co-author of the bestselling The Networked Nonprofit and author of the award-winning Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age. She is a senior fellow on the Democracy Team at Demos, a New York-based think tank. Read more about Fine’s thoughts about the intersection of social media and social change at her blog.
The presentation of the George W. Romney Award of Excellence to HandsOn South Alabama (HOSA) was a highlight of the Pre-conference. The award was established in 1996 to honor Governor Romney and his personal commitment to volunteer service at all levels of society. The award honors the collective success of Affiliates in making a meaningful difference through volunteering and service in their communities and across the sector.
HOSA’s mission is to mobilize individuals and resources to develop creative solutions to community problems. Their innovative Volunteer Guardianship Program matches trained volunteers with wards who are incapacitated, with no family and unable to make life decisions. HOSA volunteers ensure the ward has access to safe and secure housing, nutrition and medical care.
In a challenging economic climate, HOSA has been able to build capacity for the future by securing $100,000 grant from the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to expand volunteer mobilization across South Alabama, assisting victims of the oil spill. HOSA successfully developed an endowment to provide annual, unrestricted funding to support their mission of mobilizing volunteers to meet community needs.
Good & Ready Helps Families Prepare
Good & Ready, led by Points of Light, is a collaborative emergency preparedness engagement initiative, online and on-the-ground, working to increase youth and family preparedness working with core partners including the American Red Cross, Ready.gov, and the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes. The program seeks to elevate awareness, engage more people in preparing themselves and others, promote the importance ofbeing prepared for emergency situations and disasters within homes and communities, and raise the profile of September’s upcoming National Preparedness Month.
Individuals and families can become more prepared by making emergency plans with family members, hosting a preparedness activity, building disaster prep kits and by seeking training to be a volunteer in emergency response.
At the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, Youth Summit attendees did their part by creating Good & Ready “Black Out Boxes,” filled with flashlights, batteries, food, water and notes of comfort to help seniors prepare for emergencies.
For more information, visit the Good & Ready Conference booth in the exhibit hall or attend the Good & Ready Solution Center Monday from 1-2:30 p.m. in room W175A.
Headline: Creating Change through Collaboration
Today’s post is written by Glenn Tilton, chairman of the Midwest for JPMorgan Chase.
Throughout the economic downturn and continuing recovery, individuals and organizations have looked to the volunteer sector to address community needs. While nonprofits have stepped in to help, the challenge of how civic engagement can build a stronger economy, more highly skilled and versatile workers, and create economic benefits remains.
A welcome trend is that corporations, too, are turning their attention toward volunteerism. Companies are expanding volunteer programs to not only help their communities, but also because they help attract, develop, motivate and retain the most dynamic and passionate employees. The most innovative businesses in the world understand these programs are critical to their bottom line.
Chase believes that supporting collaborations between nonprofits, governments, foundations and companies, and fostering social innovation, is creating new ways to drive forward economic and social well-being. We believe inspiring and supporting the active community engagement of our employees is central to our role as a corporate citizen.
Since 2009, more than 50,000 Chase employees have contributed nearly one million hours of service to their communities across the globe. Our employees bring not only their commitment to service, but also their expertise and skills. Whether it is helping communities and individuals build assets, prepare for home ownership, learn financial basics or prepare for greater employment opportunities, we know our people make a difference in the economic progress of the many communities we call home. Chase is committed to working across sectors to build innovative partnerships that leverage the very best that nonprofits, government and the private sector have to offer. Chase makes an impact in a community, but it is our people that make the biggest difference in lives when they commit their time and skills to addressing the most pressing needs in our communities.
At Points of Light’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service, June 18-20 in Chicago, thought leaders, corporations and individuals will come together to discuss the how we are making an impact in our local economies and showcasing that service provides a tangible economic benefit to individuals, municipalities and the business world.
By discussing innovative solutions to the most pressing economic issues in our communities, we can find new ways to use service to partner, leverage resources and engage communities across the country through financial literacy, job empowerment, coaching and readiness.
As a company that strives to demonstrate leadership in social responsibility in communities around the world, Chase hopes to lend an important voice to the nonprofit dialogue on economic opportunity and long-term organizational planning.
Green Dollars and Sense: Community Gardening on Vacant Land
– Neal Santos
Today’s guest post is written by Diana Jih, a speaker at our National Conference of Volunteering and Service in Chicago and AmeriCorps member at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS).
What can be done in historically vibrant communities burdened with neglect? As new studies report on what community members experience daily as the consequences of blight effect safety, health, and land value, we hope to offer some solutions. Diana Jih will present case studies of urban farms and networks of sustainable gardens and businesses in Philadelphia along with Michael Thompson, Co-founder and Farm Manager of the
, whose work includes many years of honey and fresh food production as well as job training, community education, and non-profit and cooperative business management. We’d like to present a framework for those interested in incubating or undertaking green ventures on vacant land.
We’ll cover
and different growers and buyers networks. Our discussion will also illuminate the often confusing path towards land stewardship or eventual ownership of vacant lots by navigating Philadelphia’s current land use policies and the potential for a land bank in its near future. We’ll also highlight policies in other cities.
No matter if you’re working with a market garden or an urban farm, we plan on incorporating your insight and lessons from the field into the discussion as well as any questions you might have. Together, we can examine different funding, cost-saving, and value adding approaches based on various economies of scale. We look forward to hearing about inspiring ventures from different cities and neighborhoods and to learning from each other.
Let’s empower our green initiatives to transform vacant land into healthier communities.
Diana Jih has engaged with environmental justice initiatives for many years including the current network of partners in community greening she works with through the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). She builds capacity among individuals and organizations who want to plan their community’s development through urban greening. Her solution center highlights PHS’s City Harvest community gardens in her neighborhood that have transformed vacant land into sustainable garden spaces. Jih is presenting at Green Dollars and Sense: Community Gardening on Vacant Land.
Why I Do What I Do
Today’s guest post is written by Faiza Kanji, speaker at our National Conference of Volunteering and Service in Chicago. Kanji is currently the General Manager, Volunteer Development at the YMCA of Greater Toronto.
I’ve been working in the field of volunteer engagement for 12 years. I can say with full confidence that I am living out my life’s purpose. This is the only career I’ve ever known and for a member of Generation X, I might be one of those few people who doesn’t change careers multiple times in my life. Why do I do what I do? It all began in Canada on October 3, 1972. I wasn’t even born but this was a day that changed the course of my life forever.
Rewind two months prior to August 4, 1972. My Mom and Dad were both 25 years old and living in Tororo, a town in Eastern Uganda. They were a young newlywed couple and 6 months pregnant with my oldest brother Karim. Mom was a nurse and Dad had a blossoming career in hotel management and hospitality. Their world was forever changed when former Ugandan President Idi Amin issued a decree expelling 60,000 Asians from their birthplace of Uganda. This act of ethnic cleansing came with a condition of giving Ugandan Asians 90 days to leave the country or else. Or else what? I’m not sure really when I hear stories of police brutality, corruption, murder and abuses of the worst kind that took place immediately after the decree. Luckily, my Mom and Dad had family in England and in Canada, two countries who had opened their borders to those that had been expelled. My pregnant Mom went to England right away and stayed there to deliver my brother Karim. Dad had planned to wrap a few things up before following my Mom to England so he could be there for the birth of my brother. He was victim to his own individual hardships as a result of corruption amongst local authorities. He’s only ever talked to me twice about a painful day that he experienced that had him escape to England sooner than he planned. I can’t even imagine what my 25 year old Dad was going through and where he got the strength to envision a future for his family in Canada.
Dad missed the birth of Karim and arrived on Canada on October 3, 1972 to set about building our family’s life. Four months later, Mom and Karim joined Dad and for the first 6 years of their life in Canada, my parents grew their family (my brother Aneez came first and then me) and moved from one community to the next trying to figure out where they could work and where they as newcomers could establish security for their young family. In the Canadian context, a newcomer is a person that is newly arrived. It has no socio-economic, cultural or political connotation. It simply denotes how long your feet have been on Canadian soil.
This year, on October 3, 1972 our family will celebrate 40 years of building a life and legacy in Canada. My parents don’t really talk about leaving Uganda and what that was like for them. Perhaps, at 25 they weren’t able to process all that was happening to them. Maybe they are trying to protect us from realities they hope are never ours. What I do know is that they’ve lived in Canada longer than anywhere else in their lives. Canada is home. Canada, a country built on immigrants, diversity and global influences is also a place where they learned to belong as newcomers through receiving kindness from volunteers. Canada has also been a place where they can actively and freely contribute as volunteers. My sense of belonging comes from witnessing my Mom and Dad in various incarnations as volunteers. As new Canadians, they were leaders in the Canadian Scouting movement. My Mom took on various leadership roles in our mosque. My Dad chaired a provincial Association of Dry Cleaning Professionals and showed me what leadership looked like. They’ve taken their decades old experience as newcomers and turned it into learning and support for newly arrived Central Asians to Canada. My Mom spends her weekends promoting heart health in the South Asian community. Dad visits a senior’s home once a week and has gone back to school to learn how to be a teacher so that he can compete for meaningful volunteer roles as he prepares for retirement.
I do what I do because my life wouldn’t be the privilege it is today without the generosity and compassion of volunteers who paved the way for my parents. I do what I do because there is no greater gift that we can give each other than a few moments of our time. To facilitate that process for others is an honour. I do what I do because volunteers and volunteerism are transformational on an individual, community and global level. I do what I do because the currency of kindness makes us all wealthier than we can ever imagine. Why do you choose to do what you do? Share your story with me on the blog or come say hello at this year’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service. I’ll be presenting “Youth Matter: Introducing Youth to Volunteerism” on Thursday June 19th at 2pm and can’t wait to talk to you about how to get youth fired up about volunteerism!
From a very young age, Faiza Kanji’s parents instilled in herself and her brothers a strong sense of volunteerism. They, as immigrants to Canada 40 years ago, made a successful transition into Canadian life with the help of many kind and generous volunteers. A volunteer herself from a very young age, Kanji has successfully managed volunteers at the Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), Youth Employment Service (YES) the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) and Surrey Place Centre. Kanji believes strongly that a community with a sound sense of volunteerism and a committed volunteer base improves the overall quality of life and health of all its members. Kanji will present at Why Volunteer? Introducing Youth to Volunteerism.
How Can You Use Writing to Make a Difference?
Today’s guest post is written by Dalya Massachi, a speaker at our National Conference of Volunteering and Service in Chicago. Massachi is the author of Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.
For 20 years, I have answered the call from community-benefit organizations to help them use their writing to make a difference. As a writer and editor, I have guided them toward:
• Engaging new and varied audiences
• Boosting their impact
• Projecting professionalism
…and a host of related outcomes.
While this work has been interesting and rewarding—even fun—I know it is only part of the whole picture. You see, I am not content with always being the one to fix up, clean up, or punch up documents. Sure, it’s an ego boost to help make my clients’ documents the best they can be. But to really serve my community in the long run, I have to pass on my knowledge and empower others to improve their own writing.
In addition, as an outside consultant, I can only know so much about any given organization. Insiders have a much better sense of day-to-day issues and how the organization addresses them. While my clients often appreciate my third-party perspective, I need their in-depth knowledge to create documents that work.
All of this has led me to share my insights and techniques in a way that builds the internal capacity of people like my clients and students. In addition, I want to help many more than I could ever hope to meet individually.
So while I continue to craft messages and tidy up language for my clients, my not-so hidden agenda is always to build their own writing abilities and confidence.
That’s what inspired me to write my first book,
.
Over the years, from various positions in the field, people have told me of their need for some advice on their everyday writing tasks. They also have sought solid insight into the core leadership skill of writing to encourage public engagement.
Sound familiar?
Virtually everyone working in the public interest has to do some writing at some point. The better you can do that, the deeper and broader your impact will be. Your organization may produce great work or come up with outstanding ideas, but if you present your achievements or thoughts poorly they will not get very far.
I know that people like you can benefit from a go-to resource that encapsulates the most essential and relevant pointers about writing to make a difference. If that guide could also show how writing can be fun and easy to improve, all the better.
I believe
is that guide.
I would love to meet you, and share some of my insights, at the 2012 National Conference on Volunteering and Service. My Books & Brew session starts at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, June 19. Register
Dalya Massachi, founder of Writing for Community Success, specializes in helping organizations across the country use writing to make a difference in their communities. She is a speaker, trainer, writing coach and consultant and loves living in Oakland, Calif.
The Opportunity Index: Using Data to Tackle Community Problems
How do we know if we are creating opportunity in America? A stock market rally? Reduction in the unemployment rate? Those tell us something important about today, but little about the quality of jobs or sustainability of business gains. We feel good if high school or college graduation rates go up, but what does that tell us about the economy these graduates enter? And how do we factor in safety and the ability to solve problems with our neighbors?
Wouldn’t it be great if we had a way of looking at opportunity in a community?
In partnership with
developed the Opportunity Index in 2011 to do just that. The Opportunity Index is a comprehensive approach to measuring access to opportunity in America by including non-economic as well as economic indicators. These indicators tell us about where we stand today, and our ability to prepare for success tomorrow. The result is a tool that helps people identify concrete solutions to complex problems.
When a young person grows up in a community with less access to doctors, early education or decent schools, the ladder of mobility is missing important rungs. Or if you have been laid off, trying to find a job in a community with double-digit unemployment, few banks to help you start your own business and limited internet access, the chances for economic security are fewer. The Index measures all of those, and is a tool that our 250+ coalition members (including
) and 100 grassroots leaders have been using to better understand and strengthen their communities.
There are stark differences between states and communities in America. For example, in Nevada only half of freshmen graduate in four years, opposed to 90 percent in Wisconsin and Vermont.
Most people associate opportunity with jobs and wages, but neither the unemployment rate nor median household income are among the indicators that correlate most strongly with the overall Index. The indicator with the strongest correlation with the final Opportunity Score is the percentage of teenagers not in school and not working. Those with a high percentage of disengaged youth had lower scores. This has helped our campaign decide to focus on making sure that young adults can get a foothold into the labor market or post-secondary education.
I am excited about coming to the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Chicago next week to participate in the Economic Opportunity Track with
and talking about how we translate the Index into action that volunteers around the country can take. When we know what the goal is, and how volunteers can contribute to reaching it, engagement can be even deeper.
To check out our findings, and see how your community fares, visit
and join me next week at Session #3095 on Tuesday from 2:30 – 4 p.m.
Elizabeth volunteers with iMentor and the International Commission for Dalit Rights. Elizabeth is also the co-author of Shaping Vibrant Cities, a guidebook on effective community planning and political engagement for neighborhood organizations. She will present at The Opportunity Index: Using Data to Tackle Community Problems in Chicago.
Get Green at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service
Environmental issues are a daily reality for most of us, from poor air quality to rising temperatures. It’s important for us to address these issues in order to find a solution. This year’s
focuses on many topics in the service sector including environmental sustainability.
The
Environmental Sustainability
track will be divided into eight sessions. Check out all the sessions below.
Engaging Volunteers in Citizen-Science Activities
Monday, June 18, 2012
Time: 1 – 2:30 p.m.
Session ID: 2626
Volunteering in the community is great, but engaging your volunteers in citizen-science activities is also great for the environment. Volunteers can help scientists collect data on weather, wildlife and seasonal changes.
Speaker(s):
Engaging Youth in Meaningful Environmental Action: The Water Planet Challenge and Girl Scout Forever Green
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Time: 8:30 – 10 a.m.
Session ID: 3013
Engaging youth in everyday solutions to environmental issues offers opportunities to go
green and blue. Discover a replicable service-learning process that is easy-to-use with diverse groups. Be inspired by youth-led initiatives right for your community.
Speaker(s):
Public lands provide rich service experiences for young people and promote diverse career opportunities in natural and cultural resources. Learn how service can lead to careers to protect, preserve and sustain our nation’s natural treasures.
Speaker(s):
From Cubicles to Fields of Green: Successful Strategies for Involving Corporate America in Environmental Volunteerism
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Time: 2:30 – 4 p.m.
Session ID: 2590
This panel discussion aims to share best practices in forging successful corporate and nonprofit partnerships, both at the national level and in local communities.
Speaker(s):
Green Dollars and Sense: Community Gardening on Vacant Land
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Time: 8:30 – 10 a.m.
Session ID: 3122
What can be done in historically vibrant communities burdened with neglect? Come learn about a framework implemented in Philadelphia where community gardens incubate green ventures on vacant land.
Speaker(s):
Sustainability through Grassroots Employee Engagement and Operational Efficiencies
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Time: 8:30 – 10 a.m.
Session ID: 2698
Learn about a best-in-class strategy driven from the bottom up and supported from the top down and how a company can capture innovations and recognition systems to scale across the enterprise. Develop metrics for a long-term employee driven program.
Speaker(s):
Change That Sustains: Creating Effective Environmental Programs and Partnerships
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Time: 8:30 – 10 a.m.
Session ID: 2945
Come discuss creating effective environmental projects and partnerships by showcasing environmental engagement in the areas of K-12 sustainability education, green business development and employee engagement for a sustainable business.
Speaker(s):
Come learn about how you and your organization can benefit from public lands stewardship and involvement in conservation through volunteerism and service-learning programs. Meet with representatives from the Forest and Park Services.
Speaker(s):
As a volunteer coordinator, I am consistently impressed by the passion and devotion of some of my volunteers. More than anything, it is their empathy that touches me. American professionals attend our workshops to help skilled immigrants from around the world write a resume or practice interviewing so that they can contribute their talent and skills to our economy. They seek a volunteer opportunity where they can make a difference and also learn something new themselves. When a refugee who has fled his homeland first meets a volunteer who treats him as a professional equal, you can see the hope return. Finally someone sees him for who he really is: a doctor, an engineer or a teacher looking to regain their career.
At each workshop, the volunteer in turn gets to take a journey to another country, learning about what the workplace culture is like there through the eyes of the job seeker they work with. They learn about the differences – for example, one simply does not make eye contact in Nigeria, where it’s considered intrusive – but they also learn about the similarities. I asked one of my volunteers, Jane, to tell me about her experience and she said:
“I had just seen the Iranian film “A Separation” when I worked with Ehsan, an immigrant from Iran. Film is a passion of mine so of course I took the opportunity to discuss the film. We had the most interesting discussion about life in Iran, its culture, the role of religion in everyday life, the legal system, divorce and other themes the film touched on. We laughed about the similarities and probed each other on the differences. “
I think that many seek out volunteering opportunities as a way to grow personally, as the experience fosters introspection, whether it makes us more grateful for what we have, or challenges our assumptions. In many ways, it’s like traveling, as it expands your horizons each time, as Michael, a volunteer, expresses here:
“Once a week I get to take a brief international trip, no passport required. Volunteering with Upwardly Global, I’ve had the chance to meet new immigrants from many different parts of the world and help them prepare for American interviews, and as a bonus, I’m invited briefly into their world. Like traveling, it’s not what you expect to see that stands out, it’s the little things you were not expecting that leave a lasting impression. I enjoy the interplay between the familiar and the novel, the universal humanity in all cultures, and differences in manners and customs.”
We think of our volunteers as America’s welcoming committee. They are friends and professional colleagues who provide hope, encouragement and kindness when an immigrant is feeling lost in an unfamiliar world.
Join Jane and Michael and learn about other cultures as you help someone rebuild their professional career by volunteering with Upwardly Global. Click
Aditi Srinivasan is the Volunteer Coordinator at Upwardly Global, a nonprofit organization that moves high-skilled immigrants from un- or underemployment back into their professional careers in the U.S. workforce. Aditi will be co-presenting a session on Volunteerism and Economic Development at the Points of Light National Conference on Volunteering and Service.
A Billion + Change, a growing national campaign to mobilize billions of dollars of pro bono and skills-based volunteer (SBV) services from corporate America, is bringing into sharp relief the valuable role SBV programs play in building the capacity of nonprofit organizations to meet community needs at home and around the world. In less than a year, nearly 200 companies have pledged an estimated $1.8 billion worth of time and talent to nonprofits, keeping the campaign on track to inspire 500 companies to create or expand a SBV program in their workplace by 2013.
Campaign pledge companies like Capital One, HP, Deloitte and IBM shared the inspiration driving their SBV programs, and how they are achieving high-impact, transformative change through service at a special Pre-conference session, “Leading Service and Inspiring Change.”
“At HP, we ask ourselves how we can harness all the skills of our company to give back to our communities. For example, HP worked with nonprofits and ministries of health on a pro bono basis to develop a system to verify counterfeit drugs abroad and help save 700,000 lives lost every year due to counterfeit drugs. The concept of shared value to give back to both your company and your communities is very important,” said Caroline Barlerin, director, Communications and Global Community Involvement for HP.
PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, GlaxoSmithKline and the Advisory Board Company also discussed how their programs are addressing critical issues such as global health and education, water resource management and improving STEM education through skills-based service.
Today, Pranav Kothari, managing director of Mission Measurement, will lead a dynamic conversation about innovations in business and philanthropy and how corporate innovation can spark broader social change in “Beyond Business as Usual: Leading Innovation and Driving Social Change.”
These sessions are the latest in a national tour of A Billion + Change events that will culminate in a White House Forum on June 27, at which the campaign will start to imagine the phenomenal possibilities of collective action, with 500 companies working in partnership with nonprofit professionals to change communities for the better.
To learn more about A Billion + Change and to take the pledge for free, visit: www.abillionpluschange.org.
