Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of the narrative in the nonprofit sector. More and more, we are being told to tell our stories, and with good reason. The story is the core of an organization; it is both an organization’s raison d’être and its most significant tool. With the breadth of…
In my 7 months here at Volunteer Alberta, I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of organizations across Alberta to help them address their needs. One of my responsibilities is to support the administration of the Volunteer Police Information Check Program, designed to alleviate the cost of Police Information Checks for volunteers…
This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of taking my four-legged family member, Rocky, to the Edmonton Humane Society’s annual Pets in the Park event at Hawrelak Park. Rocky got to enjoy some doggy carnival games as well as copious amounts of attention from both humans and other dogs. Meanwhile, I had the opportunity to…
Each year, Volunteer Alberta holds our Annual General Meeting during Vitalize, Alberta’s provincial voluntary sector conference. This year, the conference was held in Calgary at the Telus Convention Centre, so the whole office made the trip down. Sam, Annand, Rosanne and Jann represented VA as session speakers and a few others were able to register…
A few weeks ago, Sam (our resident Serving Communities Internship Program expert) and I got the chance to participate in the SCiP mixer at the University of Alberta, organized by CaPS (Career and Placement Services). Designed as a speed-networking event, the event matched four representatives from nonprofit organizations with 16 prospective interns for what turned…
As I began my participation with the Leadership Edmonton program, one of the comments I took from the opening retreat was: “The source of learning is life. Leadership Edmonton provides a framework to learn from these experiences.” Well, that was a relief! Finally, someone was going to share a framework that would make sense of…
1. Volunteer! There are many ways to do this and there are many ways to find a place to volunteer in your community. Here are a few options: Visit Govolunteer.ca Visit Getinvolved.ca Contact your local Volunteer Centre Or directly contact an organization that has a mission you connect with. There are different ways to volunteer,…
As a newbie here at Volunteer Alberta, my experiences with the nonprofit sector have primarily been as frontline staff, working directly with the organization’s clientele or volunteers. Through this lens, it’s easier to see the immediate impact of your work. You can see it through assisting a child in an ABC Head Start classroom, prepping…
I am certain that, had we all been listening carefully, we would have heard a collective sigh across the country on Monday morning. With the dawning of a new day came a dispiriting realization – the Olympic Games have come and gone. Gone are the action-packed lunch breaks, the eager checking of stats, the surprisingly…
In September 2012, I decided to go back to school part-time and do the Public Relations Program at Macewan University. I will complete my program later this year and I can’t speak highly enough about the program, the instructors and the content. It was also an opportunity for me to explore the for-profit world from…