Analysis of a Mentoring Program for Youth that Went Online Because of COVID-19: Feedback from Mentors

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I came across this case study, Mentoring in the Time of COVID-19: An Analysis of Online Focus Groups with Mentors to Youth, by Michelle R. Kaufman, Kate Wright, Jeannette Simon, Giselle Edwards, Johannes Thrul and David L. DuBois. It was published: 28 July 2021 in the American Journal of Community Psychology. 

This study explored the experiences of mentors to youth during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Six online focus groups (OFGs) were conducted with 39 mentors. Using Facebook groups, moderators posted questions and prompts, and mentor participants responded using textual comments. Mentor help involved routinely connecting with mentees and providing academic support.

Some things that stood out to me:

  • The success of the online mentoring program came largely because these mentors and mentees were already interacting offsite, they already had a relationship, and the mentors were trained about what a meaningful mentoring relationship looked like and about the issues mentees might be facing at home (witnessing domestic violence, substance abuse, etc.). The research found that virtually connecting with mentees can be difficult for mentors without prior, organized planning. All of this is something I learned in researching online mentoring programs for the Virtual Volunteering Project.
  • Mentor concerns for their mentees varied, including mental health, school, family finances, and access to instrumental support and food. In short: mentoring requires much more than uplifting messages.
  • Just as I learned in researching online mentoring programs for the Virtual Volunteering Project and, later, The LAST Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, online mentors need specific and ongoing ideas for things to do online with their mentees. One of the most popular pages on the old VV Project web site was a list of ideas for online mentors to do with youth.
  • The digital divide is still VERY much an issue for mentees and their families. Mentees’ access to technology and privacy were the biggest challenges faced.

And then there was this, which was also not surprising: members of the focus groups used for this research said they really wanted an online community to help them learn from each other, give each other support, etc. Excerpt:

Mentor Support Groups

Across the board, participants agreed that an online support group for mentors would be incredibly helpful. Sharing ideas, discussing experiences, and connecting with other mentors about their own stress and anxiety would provide a much-needed outlet and resource during such unprecedented times. Some participants stated the OFGs felt helpful in this way:

Seeing everyone’s responses here has reminded me that we’re not alone in our work/struggles in being a mentor. (female, Illinois)

Others expressed that continuous collaboration with others could provide encouragement and strength, contributing to their own health as well as their effectiveness as mentors.

A support group where we can join together to share thoughts and experiences with one another. What if the group included mastermind sessions where, as a team, we examined our experiences to identify possible solutions and to be reminded that we are not alone? (female, Maryland)

I haven’t been shy about sharing how much I loathe thrown-together online mentoring programs during COVID: most that I’ve seen spent lots of time creating a web site that celebrates the program’s founders, but have scant information on how mentors will be trained, how success will be measured, what mentoring resources they are relying on to guide them, etc. – and nothing on safety. It’s nice to see research that backs up we (Susan Ellis and I) learned back in the 1990s, and continued to promote for decades.

cover of Virtual Volunteering book with hands raising up various Internet connected devices

If you want to dig far deeper into the factors for success in online mentoring programs, those establish meaningful relationships with mentees – not just feel-good quickly “cheer up” messaging for a few minutes ever week but are, rather, based on the proven practices of traditional, face-to-face mentoring initiatives – you will not find a more detailed guide anywhere than The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. It’s available both as a traditional print publication and as a digital book.

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

Connections & Partnerships Are Key to A Nonprofit or NGO’s Survival – & Online Tools Can Help

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Below are excerpts from THE SDG PARTNERSHIP GUIDEBOOK: A practical guide to building high-impact multi-stakeholder partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals, Darian Stibbe and Dave Prescott, The Partnering Initiative and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), 2020. And, to me, it’s the heart of why approaching public online activities as community engagement, at a way to use technology to build community and grow an organization, makes sense, though it never mentions online tools:

Most of us work in operating environments that encourage a sense of competition and separation, rather than collaboration and cooperation. We are often told that there is a scarcity of resources, and that our job is to secure for ourselves, and for our own organisations, as much of the available resources as possible, and that if others lose out in the process then that’s too bad… for the most part it is a reductive way of thinking, because it limits the scope of what can be achieved together. It makes collaborative working difficult, especially if we have been told to work in partnership as a way to help an organisation to compete with others for funding opportunities.

Rather than starting from an assumption of competition and scarcity, what happens if we start with a different assumption:

All of the ideas, people, technologies, institutions and resources that are required to achieve the SDGs are already available, and the task is how do we engage them and combine them in new and transformational ways?…

What if we approached every single one of our encounters as opportunities to create new ideas, and what if the best and most interesting ideas emerged from the most unlikely sources? What new connections might emerge then?…

There are (at least) three levels at which to engage: You can think about how it relates to you as an individual and to your professional practice; you can think about how it relates to your organisation, and how your organisation collaborates; you can also think about how it relates to existing or new partnerships that you might be involved in. Effective partnering calls for great personal leadership: brave, risk- taking people able to operate in ambiguous situations while remaining outcome-focused.

In July and August, I have been teaching MGT 553 Using Technology to Build Community and Grow Your Organization, part of the MS in Nonprofit Management for Gratz College. I started designing the course in February, and I first blogged about the course May. My mantra, over and over, to these students who work, or want to work, in the nonprofits world has been that online tools are best used when their primary purpose is to build community, not just to market, not just to build awareness about an organization, and that such a focus enhances all other functions: program engagement, community participation, fundraising, volunteer engagement, partnership development and more.  

The students, in turn, reminded me of something that I’ve long known: the biggest challenges to this happening are those thrown up by their own organizations’ systems, processes and culture – something the United Nations publication also notes. Senior management or long-term staff who fear change are the far bigger obstacles to using online communications tools than budget or lack of tech knowledge. The reluctance and fear comes from knowing only the negative stories, the worst-case scenarios. I have a fantasy about making a list of all the in-person meetings I’ve been present for and people deciding they should never meet anyone ever again.

cover of Virtual Volunteering book with hands raising up various Internet connected devices

I talk a lot about leveraging online networks to reach new volunteers and other supporters via The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, co-written with Susan J. Ellis. The book also talks about using online tools to build community among your volunteers, cultivating information-sharing and shared learning among that particular group of supporters, as well as the detailed guidance you need to use the Internet to involve and support ALL volunteers, whether most of their service to you is online or onsite. And purchasing the book is far, far cheaper than hiring me as a consultant or trainer (though you can still do that)!

Also see:

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

A Graphic Explanation of the Difference in Email, Social Media & Online Communities

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It can be difficult for people to understand the difference in email, in social media and in online communities. They are different, but they do greatly intersect: email can be used to create an online community, and social media can be used to create an online community (Facebook Groups, for instance). And they all are people sending messages to people – so what, really, is the difference? 

I realized, per an interaction with a student in my Gratz College course, just how much many people struggle with understanding the difference. So I tried to create a way to graphically represent the difference in email, social media and online communities for nonprofits, libraries, NGOs and other mission-based, cause-based initiatives. The differences in narrative form are also shown.

You can see how I did this here. Your thoughts, in the comments, are welcomed. How would you change the graphics or the explanation? What would your graphic representation look like?

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

When you have to say no to candidates for volunteering, let them know about volunteering elsewhere.

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graphic by Jayne Cravens representing volunteers

Someone posted to one of the many online communities I’m on. She’s with an organization that promotes awareness about a particular health issue and her program involves volunteers that have that particular health issue. She said the nonprofit was “relaunching its volunteer program after years of chaos and mismanagement.” She noted:

We are a global nonprofit and we have more volunteers than we have assignments for. My concern is this: in relaunching our volunteer program and disappointing people who want to be useful to our organization but there are not roles for them. Most of our volunteers are also patients who suffer from (this) syndrome and they want to feel like they are connecting to other people in their community. It’s a delicate balance between wanting to engage people who suffer from this very debilitating condition and making sure we have the right volunteers for the projects. Therefore, how do you successfully run this volunteer program with a large number of volunteers and still manage to obtain quality candidates?

I responded:

This is a more common problem than you might think. Many Habitat For Humanity programs have far, far more people that want to volunteer than they can possibly accommodate. Same for a lot of food banks, in non-COVID-19 times. It’s a big issue for most online volunteering matching services – there are far, far more people who want to volunteer online than there are roles and tasks available on services like the UN’s Online Volunteering service. I know that when I post an online opportunity to VolunteerMatch, I have to take it down in about 48 hours because I always get more than enough applicants.

Many Habitat chapters limit the number of times a person can volunteer in that chapter in a given time, in order to make sure as many people as possible get to volunteer. They say this upfront so that people understand why they don’t get to volunteer EVERY time there is a build. That means keeping track of how many times each person volunteers in a given period.

Another option is to let volunteers know about other places they can volunteer while they are waiting for an opportunity with your nonprofit. Those that are good at keyboarding might like to participate in the many historical transcription projects available through the Smithsonian or the Library of Congress. I have a list of all these (and MANY more) here:
http://www.coyotebroad.com/stuff/findvv.shtml

Here is a list of online volunteering opportunities – could you create some of these roles or activities at your program, to expand the number of opportunities for volunteers?

Many programs that struggle to recruit volunteers are astounded that there are programs that have “too many” volunteers, that have to turn away people that want to volunteer because they already have more than enough and that don’t have enough roles and tasks for volunteers. The reality is that volunteer recruitment is relatively easy; it’s much harder to respond to volunteer applicants quickly, onboard new volunteers quickly and provide new volunteers the support they need, and THOSE are the reasons most programs that don’t have enough volunteers don’t have enough volunteers.

If you don’t have enough assignments for all the people that want to volunteer with your program, consider having a list ready of places to refer them to, and make it clear, when referring them elsewhere, if you are telling them that they shouldn’t expect to get to volunteer with your program any time soon, or ever, or if you are giving them options they can do but that, someday, you will use their information on file to contact them about immediate openings.

For people that want to volunteer onsite that I cannot accommodate at whatever organization I’m working at (they lack the skills I need, there are no openings, etc.), I refer them to:

You could do the same: compile a list of these programs or similar programs in your own community and be ready to refer any volunteers you turn away to these resources, so that people can get into volunteering as immediately as possible. It promotes your nonprofit as one that cares about the larger community, not only its stated mission, and one that cares about volunteerism, in general, overall, and not just for its own organization. It leaves the person with a positive view of your organization, even if they cannot be a part of it right now. Compiling this list of places to refer volunteer candidates you cannot accommodate is a great task for a volunteer, by the way…

If you are a program that is in need of volunteers, consider contacting your local Habitat for Humanity or large, well-known food-giving program that you think might have more than enough volunteers and asking them if they would consider referring the volunteers to you that they have to turn away. This is especially true if you can accommodate or need a group of volunteers; group volunteering gigs are some of the mostly highly-sought after by potential volunteers.

Do you do this already at your organization? Or is there something that prevents you from doing so? Comment below:

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

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Volunteer Bill of Rights – a commitment by a host organization to volunteers

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graphic by Jayne Cravens representing volunteers

I ask this on the volunteer subreddit and got just one response… maybe I will have better luck on my own blog.

In 2010, Robert Egger, the founder of the nonprofit DC Central Kitchen, proposed a national Volunteer Bill of Rights. In an interview, he said, “If a program can’t tell a volunteer what they accomplished, allow them to talk to any staff member, provide financial data or allow a volunteer to rate their experience or provide feedback—then volunteers should feel free to call them out.”

His Volunteer Bill of Rights, which he implemented at DC Central Kitchen, included the following:

  • The right to work in a safe environment.
  • The right to be treated with respect by all staff members.
  • The right to be engaged in meaningful work and be actively included regardless of any physical limitation.
  • The right to be told what impact your work has had on the community.
  • The right to ask any staff member about the organization’s work.
  • The right to provide feedback about your experience.
  • The right to receive financial information or an annual report.

In 2019, the Association for Women in Communications created its own Volunteer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. In their document, they said that it is a Volunteer’s Right to:

  1. To be assigned a task that is worthwhile and challenging.
  2. To receive the orientation, training and supervision needed to do the job.
  3. To feel that your efforts have real purpose and contribute to the organization’s mission.
  4. To receive useful feedback and evaluation on the volunteer work that you perform.
  5. To be treated with respect and as an equal partner within the agency.
  6. To be trusted with confidential information necessary to carry out your assignment.
  7. To be kept informed about relevant matters within the organization.
  8. To expect that your time will not be wasted because of poor planning or poor coordination by the organization.
  9. To ask any questions that will clarify a task or assignment.
  10. To give the organization input or advice on how to better accommodate the needs of present and future volunteers.

And they said it is a Volunteer’s Responsibility to

  1. Not to take on more responsibility than you can handle.
  2. Meet time commitments or to provide notice so alternative arrangements can be made.
  3. Perform the tasks assigned to you to the best of your ability.
  4. Provide input on ways your task might be better performed.
  5. Follow organization policies and procedures.
  6. Respect those confidences entrusted to you.
  7. Be open-minded and respectful towards opinions shared with you.
  8. Notify the organization in advance of absences or schedule changes that may affect them.
  9. Accept reasonable tasks without complaints.
  10. Communicate and work with others in the organization if the task calls for it.

I would add that I believe a volunteer has a right to:

  • Ask for a description of a role or task in writing, detailing time commitments, responsibilities, impact of the service to the organization, etc.
  • Ask why a role, or certain roles, are reserved by the organization for volunteers (as opposed to paying people for their time and expertise), and get an answer that is not “because we can’t afford to pay people.”
  • Expect a role to be fun and/or personally fulfilling and/or professionally helpful.
  • Complain and be treated with respect if complaining when an organization has not fulfilled its responsibilities to the volunteer, in terms of providing a safe environment, being treated with respect, addressing harmful and or toxic behavior, provided with appropriate preparation and support for a role or task, information-sharing by staff, what a role is versus how it was described initially to the volunteer, etc.
  • Say no and withdraw from a role without penalties to future volunteering or program participation if a role the volunteer has successfully undertaken changes substantially later in terms of the amount of time required, the responsibilities, the training required, etc.
  • Not face any financial burdens to volunteering in their own communities (where they live geographically) or online, in terms of having to pay a prohibitive fee to the organization in order to volunteer.

What would you add? Or reword? Or do you even think such a Bill of Rights is necessary? And when I say necessary, I mean that nonprofits sign on to it, post it, and voluntarily adhere to it (or try to) – not a legal document, just a promised MO. Please add your ideas in the comments section below.

And what might prevent you, as a volunteer-hosting organization, from implementing such a Bill of Rights for your volunteers? Please comment below!

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

Why aren’t you reaching out to young people via Reddit?

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It’s been a mantra for at least two decades now, probably more, among those who promote volunteer engagement: we must do a better job engaging young people!

And, yet, managers of volunteers, as well as consultants who try to help them, seem to avoid spaces, online or onsite, where they could cultivate these younger volunteers.

Reddit is a good example. As of July 2019, Reddit ranked as the No. 5 most visited web site in the USA and No. 13 in the world. Users tend to be significantly younger than other online communities like Facebook, with less than 1% of Reddit users being 65 or over. Statistics suggest that 74% of Reddit users are male. Most of the niche online communities I’m a part of are overwhelmingly female; that’s why I use Reddit, to provide some gender balance in my online life regarding nonprofits, community development, volunteerism, etc. It also helps me understand what people outside of the nonprofit, volunteerism and humanitarian worlds are saying about nonprofits, volunteering and humanitarian issues.

The community on Reddit for discussions about volunteerism has reached 10,000 members. I did a poll last month, trying to get an idea of member ages. Just 262 responded, not even a 3% return. But I do think it’s a representative sampling, and it clearly shows that almost 60% of the members are 18 to 28, and 36% are either 30 to 49 or under 18.

I regularly ask colleagues to answer a question or offer advice on the community on Reddit for discussions about volunteerism. I regularly ask organizations like VolunteerMatch and the Points of Light Foundation, via Twitter, to post their announcements there. They never do. Here is an audience of young people asking questions about how to volunteer, how to do specific types of volunteering, how to make their volunteering more sustainable or effective, and I can’t get the people claiming to want to reach young people to, well, reach them.

Also see:

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.

Theater as a Tool for Community Development

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For my Master’s Degree in Development Management at Open University, (the degree is, as of 2021, called Global Development) my last course was TU874 The Development Management Project, completed in October 2005. This final course involved my researching a development-related topic of my choice, and producing a 10,000 word paper as a result of this research. My research project was an investigation of what elements need to be in place before an organization produces a live, in-person performance, or series of performances, as a development tool, excluding performer training and theater techniques. The goal was to identify the systems and atmosphere that need to be cultivated in order to ensure the success of a TfD initiative and to tie these to the concepts taught in OU Development Management courses.

There are numerous organizations using theater techniques as part of their development activities, and there are also numerous initiatives, publications, web sites and individuals that promote and chronicle successes regarding live, in-person performance as an effective tool for development. Even in our current age saturated with multi-media and podcasts, live, in-person performance/TfD is a popular and effective tool for education, outreach and capacity-building regarding a variety of development issues, such as HIV/AIDS prevention, domestic violence, evolving gender roles, or good sanitation practices.

However, at least as of 2005, there was little information on what has to be in place before these techniques are used, excluding performer training, to better ensure that these techniques will be well-received by an audience/participants, and to better ensure that the desired outcomes will be generated. I saw a need for more information on how to cultivate support for and trust in such an initiative among staff at the lead agency, among partner organizations, and among those for whom the theater-for-development techniques will be used.

This project included a review of key literature on TfD, and semi-structured interviews with 12 TfD practitioners.

You can read online:

I know this is old research, but I still think it’s relevant, and I like to make sure people know it’s available.

Those of you who know me were all expecting me to do something regarding either volunteerism, specifically online volunteering or the vital role volunteers play in community technology initiatives, or mission-based organizations and technology, as that’s been the focus of my professional work for decades. Well… surprise!

Live, in-person theater has always been a love of mine: I was always involved in theater in some way during junior high, high school and then my undergrad at university, and for five years, I worked in public relations and marketing at various professional theaters, including the Tony-Award winning Hartford Stage and the internationally-acclaimed Williamstown Theater Festival. The power of theater to reach people fascinates me. There is nothing like it, no experience that matches it. Writing my Master’s Degree final project on a theater-related topic was my opportunity to get back in touch with something that started me off professionally, and something I believe in personally.

Also see my related blogs:

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site or my YouTube videos and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Global Award for Volunteer Leadership – nominations due Sept. 30

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In honor of the lifetime contribution to the global volunteer sector, International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) has instituted the Kenn Allen Global Award to recognize an individual whose volunteer leadership has had a transformative effect on their community, country or region. The Award will provide a one-time stipend of $1,000 to be used for professional development by the volunteer. The Award will be made annually, on November 1st. Nominations for this year’s award must be made by 17:00 ET on September 30.

To be eligible for consideration for the Kenn Allen Award, the nominee shall:

  • Be a current volunteer.
  • Have provided significant enthusiasm, assistance and specific expertise to an organization or cause as a volunteer.
  • Have shown initiative and leadership in his or her efforts.
  • Have exemplified his or her dependability.
  • Have received no remuneration for services directly associated with his or her volunteer duties.

More information and nomination form here.

“mandated telecommuting” has lessons for “mandated virtual volunteering”

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In the early days of the Virtual Volunteering Project back in the 1990s, I used telecommuting manuals, combined with guidelines and best practices for working with traditional, onsite volunteers, to develop the initial materials to advise organizations on how to create roles and tasks for online, remote volunteers.

I’m reminded of that as I read Deriving Long-Term Strategic Advantage from Mandated Telecommuting, a December 17, 2020 article from the American Management Association.

Here’s an excerpt:

Rapid changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic gave leaders little time to make strategic decisions in preparation for the anticipated recession, while forced telecommuting added significant challenges and pressures. Executives were forced to reboot established policies and practices even as they fought to keep businesses afloat…

…there are opportunities for companies to emerge from this crisis stronger and more agile, especially among those that can quickly adapt to the realities of remote work. The most successful leaders in this new era will prove able to fully embrace the new normal, strategically reorient their management practices, and drive efficiency through more purposeful meetings, while ensuring that any fears about the future of work don’t hinder potential and progress…

Even as leaders anticipate the business environment “returning to normal,” they need to accept that the new world will likely look very different from the one before. Significantly, remote work will be much more accepted, even preferred, as organizations and leaders begin to acclimate…

Adjusting to this new reality is less about making telecommuting work during self-quarantine, and more about determining how it will best function even after the pandemic is behind us. This will require that leaders understand the development of telecommuting-focused policies and practices as more than just temporary measures. Such thinking will help them adapt in ways beyond learning how to conduct videoconferences, as just one example. They’ll benefit from considering the much larger picture, including how to engage employees, ensure productivity, build and sustain culture, and maintain focus, all while people continue to work from home.

End excerpt.

This could so easily be rewritten for the nonprofit world:

Rapid changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic gave leaders at nonprofits, public sector agencies and other mission-based programs little time to make strategic decisions in preparation for the anticipated recession, while forced telecommuting for staff, virtual volunteering for volunteers and remote engagement with clients and the community added significant challenges and pressures. Executives were forced to reboot established policies and practices even as they fought to keep their programs afloat…

…there are opportunities for nonprofits, public sector agencies and other mission-based programs to emerge from this crisis stronger and more agile, especially among those that can quickly adapt to the realities of remote work and remote engagement. The most successful leaders in this new era will prove able to fully embrace the new normal, strategically reorient their management and engagement practices, and drive efficiency, while ensuring that any fears about the future of work don’t hinder potential and progress…

Even as leaders anticipate the work and program delivery environment “returning to normal,” they need to accept that the new world will likely look very different from the one before. Significantly, remote work and remote engagement will be much more accepted, even preferred, as organizations and leaders begin to acclimate…

Adjusting to this new reality is less about making telecommuting, online engagement and virtual volunteering work during self-quarantine, and more about determining how these will best function even after the pandemic is behind us. This will require that leaders understand the development of telecommuting-focused, virtual volunteering-focused and remote engagement-focused policies and practices as more than just temporary measures. Such thinking will help them adapt in ways beyond learning how to conduct videoconferences, as just one example. They’ll benefit from considering the much larger picture, including how to engage employees, volunteers and clients/the community, ensure productivity, build and sustain culture, and maintain focus, all while some people continue to work from home and online/remote engagement continues with clients and the community.

It’s a terrific article – just remember how to translate it for the mission-based world. Virtual volunteering will continue at all the thousands of organizations where it did before the pandemic – let’s hope organizations new to the concept, who embraced the concept so late, will realize virtual volunteering has made them stronger, more agile, and better prepared for new generations of volunteers.

cover of Virtual Volunteering book with hands raising up various Internet connected devices

If you want to deeply integrate virtual volunteering into your program and expand your engagement of online volunteers, such as in an online mentoring program or other scheme where online volunteers will interact with clients, you will not find a more detailed guide anywhere than The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook. Purchasing and readin the book is far, far cheaper than hiring me as a consultant or trainer regarding virtual volunteering – though you can still do that!

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site or my YouTube videos and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help. 

Encouraging the Moldovan IT sector to prioritize online accessibility

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screen capture of the webinar with Jayne Cravens and the event host interacting on the screen

I spent 15 minutes early one morning last week talking to IT professionals in Moldova about how accessibility online makes the world a better place for everyone. The opportunity came about thanks to a colleague I worked with at the United Nations who now works for the Swedish Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Moldova. It was part of an initiative her government, and USAID, supported in Moldova regarding Diversitate, Echitate și Incluziune în comunitatea IT (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the IT community), an initiative of Tekwill, organized by Startup Moldova and in partnership with Izarra, TechWomen Moldova and the Moldovan Association of Information and Communications Technology Companies.

Evenimentul reunește antreprenori locali pentru a încuraja și abilita participanții să-și împărtășească ideile fără limite sau frica de a fi judecați dar și să manifeste mai multă atenție privind respectarea normelor și etichetei culturale din regiune – credințe, convingeri, ținută sau obiceiuri.

The event brings together local entrepreneurs to encourage and empower participants to share their ideas without limits or fear of being judged but also to pay more attention to respecting the rules and cultural etiquette of the region – beliefs, beliefs, dress or customs.

Located in the heart of the Technical University of Moldova (UTM), “Tekwill is a 4,000m² hub that has everything one would ever need for ongoing growth, from co-working spaces, tech labs (IoT, 3D printing) and community events.”

Tekwill is built on the belief that to be competitive economically in the years to come, Moldovan startups and innovators must begin adopting and creating industry-disrupting technology today. Therefore, this message was coded into our name; “Tek” – for technology and “will” – for our future. The organization regularly gathers local and international tech leaders to empower the development of Moldova’s startup ecosystem by facilitating results-oriented innovation and collaboration.

You can view my portion of the event, in English, on YouTube at around the 26:05 mark or via this Facebook page, at about the 26:10 mark. Introduction in Romanian.

I’m very partial to Moldova, having met some wonderful young Moldavians in 2019 hosted by World Oregon (I did a workshop on countering misinformation online). I have always found a very electrifying entrepreneurial, optimistic spirit among young Eastern Europeans, particularly from Moldova, Ukraine and Poland – people ready to innovate, to include, to explore and to create. I so long for the days when we can travel again so we call meet up face-to-face again!

One of the many things I’m proud of in The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, is that it features an entire chapter on accessibility and diversity. I’ve been advocating for accessibility online since 1994 – and I’m going to keep doing it!

Also see:

If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site or my YouTube videos and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.