Thursday, February 12, 2009

Fall in Love with a Non Profit

Last night I attended an volunteer recruitment and networking event hosted by WomenOnCall.org. This organization hosts a web portal that seeks to mobilize women who have been successful in business and other careers as volunteers in non-profit organizations throughout the Chicago region.

The guest speaker was Sheli Z. Rosenberg, who has been hugely successful in her business career. I searched Google to find a link to go with this, and one shows the network of people and organizations connected to Ms. Rosenberg.

During her remarks Ms. Rosenberg talked of how successful women have an "obligation to give back." She emphasized the core values of WomenOnCall when she said "Non profit organizations don't have access to the type of skills that highly successful professional women have to offer" and that "volunteers can make short, small commitments, that have a big impact."

She referred to a book written by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright has written in which she said ""There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't help other women."

She concluded by saying "If we don't make life better now, our kids and grandkids will have the same mountains to climb."

This is exactly what I've been saying for years and it is great to hear people with a much more influential network than mine give the same message. Now my hope is that such leaders will take an active role in the forum created by WomenOnCall, and where ever they have such opportunities, to not only call on people to give their time and talent, but to also give their dollars.

This will lead volunteers and donors to volunteer-based charities serving all social sector issues, but will also lead them to the Tutor/Mentor Connection, where they will use our maps and program locator to search out leadership and volunteer opportunities in all parts of the Chicago region, and with the T/MC itself.

1 comment:

Char Paul said...

another great article with useful resources and ideas of how one as a tutor can contribute to the local community.

i am in transition for vol work; recently i have been disappointed in the processes with two NFP groups i have vol'd for.

lack of organisation, unrealistic expectations of others (e.g., to be present at an event at 3am or to take part in religious services because they lacked members); and lack of consideration~ i arrived to an early morning event with an invited local business operator and NO ONE was there (also no follow-up phone call to either of us to apologise!).

i will be approaching the local primary school to vol to take Reading Groups.