Volunteer Profiles
Are you looking for volunteer inspiration to find what interests you? Check out our volunteer profiles of how Laurier students give back to the community.
Some of Mitch’s earlier volunteer experiences with a Legal Aid Clinic while in law school gave Mitch practical experience while being able to assist those in need. The experience also gave Mitch the insight to realize that his goal to work in litigation was not the perfect fit for him and he instead would pursue work as a solicitor.
Volunteering allowed him to recognize his capabilities for organization and co-coordinating activities that were helpful in accessing career opportunities. Mitch feels strongly that doing well for others always seems to come back and benefit you personally.
Mitch began to realize other personal benefits resulting from his volunteer work. This came to him as he began to see he wasn’t going to find a job that covered all his areas of interest. However, through volunteer work he has been able to make up for those areas that were missing in his professional work. For Mitch it has been to fulfill his passion for education and select volunteer experiences based on this passion.
Presently, Mitch is a senior associate with an international business law firm where he also has several volunteer activities on the go including volunteering as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, Co-Chair of The Learning Partnership Annual Dinner and fundraising for political parties. These volunteer experiences have provided both career and skill development opportunities. Mitch says his role as a member of the Ontario Government’s Post Secondary Education Advisory Committee for First Generation Students is one of his more interesting experiences. It gives him the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on policy and the ability to give students the opportunity they might not otherwise have had.
Volunteer work has given Mitch the chance to continuously develop skills that he can transfer to his professional work. For instance, his fundraising initiatives allowed him to improve his ability to “give a sales pitch”, and the network he has established through volunteering significantly increased his business connections.
Mitch selects his volunteer activities with the idea that it is something he will enjoy and believe in. However, he also believes the more involved you are, the bigger the impact you will have and the more personal and professional rewards. For Laurier students, Mitch would suggest that they volunteer for something for which they are passionate and that when you help people, you help your career and that is a win/win situation.
Ian GlynWilliams knows that one opportunity often leads to another. This is a lesson learned while participating in his varied volunteer work through his university and professional career. Ian’s path has included a diverse range of activities that have led to his own personal and professional development. Recognizing what the immediate benefits would be, Ian took on roles knowing he would build skills and networks. But he discovered there were additional advantages as well. Read on to learn more about Ian’s volunteer choices and the rewards he gained as a result.
While studying for his Bachelor degree in Ottawa, Ian chose to develop his skills through volunteer experiences that focused on student and electoral politics. In 2000, while Ian was pursing his graduate degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, he again became involved in electoral politics as well as the environmental movement in the Greater Toronto Area. Ian considered a few factors when selecting his activities including his own talents, the needs of an organization, skill development and his own personal experiences with an organization. It is likely that these factors led to his decision to include additional volunteer work that involved speaking to prospective students of the Laurier MBA program. While on his educational path, Ian took advantage of the benefits of volunteering, including having the opportunity to apply learned theory, using leadership skills and gaining insight to community organizations.
Ian has continued to volunteer. His more recent experiences include taking on a role as a board member of the Canadian Cancer Society while also continuing his prior volunteer activities. All of these experiences have had an impact on his career development in areas such as building leadership skills and developing his listening and people skills. Ian has found this skill development to have a positive impact on his present career role as the Chief Capital Planner of the Facilities, Emergency Management and Security Branch of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
Ian’s volunteer activities have also led to his own personal development. In particular, he noted his progress in the ability to quickly understand and respond to complex situations. However, it is the appreciation and recognition he has received while participating in the various initiatives that has led to a growth in confidence. Ian also recognizes how he contributes to the community through his volunteering. He does this by working towards change while pursuing a goal of equal opportunity and social progress as well as acting as an advocate for the environment.
Ian would advise Laurier students to participate in volunteering as there are many benefits to doing so. For Ian it has given him the "ability to leverage a web of contacts within a larger sphere of influence" and for students, Ian "would recommend a volunteer opportunity for anyone…any opportunity because one begets another."
It has been an adventuresome and culturally diverse road that Connor has travelled in his journey from undergraduate arts student to his present professional role as GIS Support Specialist with Orion Technology Inc. Connor caught the volunteer spirit early in his academic career. As a first year student in Geography and Environmental Studies at Laurier, Connor was interested in discovering a meaningful career path but was unsure of the opportunities available within his area of study.
In the summer of his first year, Connor approached Parks Canada and offered to volunteer in whatever capacity they could use his skills. It was during his summer mapping trails for the parks that Connor discovered his aptitude for using computer technology and geographic information systems (GIS). By interacting with professionals in the field of environmental sciences, Connor was able to more clearly determine his long-term career goals and choose a graduate program of study that would closely match his unique strengths, skills and values.
After completing his Master of Spatial Analysis Degree Program (MSA) from the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, Connor stumbled upon a very different type of volunteer experience. While researching international work opportunities, Connor found himself drawn to the Atlantic Rainforest and Conservation Centre in Iracambi, Brazil. Since Connor was more interested in matching his specific area of interest to the job than he was to seeking exclusively paid employment opportunities, he decided to further expand his career knowledge in the fields of GIS and global positioning systems (GPS).
In Iracambi, Connor was privileged to work with volunteers and researchers from all over the world in the area of rainforest conservation. Connor was given a management role whereby he was responsible for supervising other volunteers as well as overseeing an entire project. It was in this leadership position that Connor gained valuable professional skills in the area of co-ordination, planning, fund-raising and motivating others. As one of few highly-trained graduates offering their services to Iracambi, Connor’s expertise was enthusiastically received, and he was able to use his knowledge to generate much needed funding for the organization. In addition, Connor considers the personal value of his volunteering “priceless”, as he learned a tremendous amount about his personal likes and dislikes as well as the intricate workings of international non-profit organizations.
Reflecting on the impact of his diverse volunteer experiences, Connor offers the following advice to students and alumni: “If you are unsure of your career path, volunteering provides a great opportunity to test the job first and also to make a real difference by helping others. By volunteering, you gain priceless experience and contribute to your own career development. Find a place where you can contribute your skills and ideas to your community; the world may benefit from your efforts”. Indeed, Connor found his passion for Internet mapping and project management as a direct result of his undergraduate and post-graduate volunteer exposure; experiences which led him directly to his ideal job fit as GIS Support Specialist with Orion Technology Inc.
As a socially conscious anthropology and global studies student, Sara Maki endeavoured to establish some clarity regarding her career path early on in her studies by seeking out volunteer experiences to help her realize her strengths and interests, while simultaneously making a contribution to the world around her. Sara’s volunteer experiences during university began as a participant with the Laurier University Charity Kouncil (LUCK) assisting with co-ordinating and promoting fundraisers to benefit local community organizations. Being interested in youth programming, Sara also committed many weekends and evenings to KidsLink where she rose to the challenge of assisting with programs designed for social, emotional or behaviourally challenged youth.
With a passion for communicating ideas to the public, Sara sought out a role where she could participate in planning events, which eventually lead her to assisting with the design and implementation of a Personal Development Conference at Laurier. Given Sara’s passion for international issues, she conducted some research on local organizations that performed global aid and development work which led her in 2003 to knocking on the door of an NGO called World Accord and simply asking “how can I help?” Sara’s volunteer role with World Accord included contributing research and articles to their website. Eventually, her dedication and commitment to World Accord as a volunteer afforded her the opportunity to travel to Sri Lanka in 2005 to be profiled in a Canadian National documentary film about small loan schemes and their impact on Sri Lankan women and the local economy (documentary available in the Career Resource Centre at Laurier). Since Sara’s graduation in 2002, she has continued to uphold a steady roster of volunteering as a Researcher with Mujeres en Accion, a women’s social service agency in Guatemala, a Host with the KW YMCA Newcomer Program, and she also hosted an Irish student for two months through an exchange program offered at Lutherwood CODA.
Sara allowed her personal interests to dictate the types of volunteering she performed; however, she also strategically guided her decisions by a desire to find ways to utilize her already existing skill set while also developing new skills.
Sara’s involvement with an international development organization had a significant impact on her career development as it affirmed her desire to work with an organization dedicated to humanitarian aid. Volunteering also allowed Sara to recognize that she did not enjoy dealing with lack of funding and resources to complete projects and needed clearly defined structures and expectations while working. Therefore, Sara found herself gravitating toward roles where she was able to facilitate and teach others and communicate ideas to the public. Four years following her initial introduction to World Accord as a volunteer, Sara began working for them in a part-time capacity before transitioning to her current role as a Senior Grant Writer with Right to Play, a Toronto-based organization that utilizes sport and play programs as a means to improve the lives of youth affected by poverty, war or disease.
The diverse volunteer experiences Sara participated in both at a local level (such as her role working to improve quality of student serves at Laurier) as well as internally (such as her post- tsunami relief work) enabled her to acquire many new employable skills. Sara rarely recalls an employment interview where recruiters asked her about her ability to adapt. Given her rich involvement both on campus and abroad, Sara was able to very tangibly outline her global volunteering experiences where she had to conduct research and effectively deliver programming in a culturally sensitive manner, all the while adjusting to a dramatically new surrounding. What could be a better testament to flexibility and adaptability than that?
While assisting with the co-ordination of the Student Professional Development and Training workshop, Sara learned first hand the level of detail that goes into effectively implementing an event. Further, Sara developed her writing skills, editing, precision and articulation of thoughts and ideas while contributing to World Accord’s website and newsletters and she honed people management skills while orchestrating 30 first-year students as a WLU orientation icebreaker.
Although Sara jokes that she probably received more benefit from her volunteer endeavours then did the organizations she assisted, it is very evident that the organizations she volunteered with have experienced a reciprocal advantage from Sara’s motivation, skills and dedication as a volunteer with their projects.
The greatest personal enhancements from volunteering for Sara came in the form of first-hand experiences that taught her how to become more self-reliant, resourceful and independent and realize her love of motivating, coaching and mentoring others.
Throughout Ben Seewald’s tenure at Laurier (1997 – 2003), he obtained diverse volunteer experiences while balancing his studies in communications and English. For three consecutive years, Ben participated as an Orientation Week Icebreaker helping to onboard new students to their university environment. In his final year, he served as a Head Ice managing and leading dynamic groups of students, co-ordinating events, designing student-engagement activities and supporting the Shinerama fundraising initiative. Ben’s university volunteering did not stop once classes began. He also committed one day per week assisting developmentally challenged high school students through the Student Development Program and served three years as a Member and one year as President with the Laurier Student Alumni Association (LSA) where he liaised with a team to design and implement a variety events to help forge relationships between current Laurier students and alumni.
Currently, Ben is the Special Events Manager with the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada (since 2003) and he continues to allocate his personal time to volunteering as both a board member with the London & Region Fundraising Executive and as an Alumni Advisor to the London Central Student Cabinet where he offers students guidance and advice on event planning logistics and operations.
The diverse volunteer roles Ben participated in had a huge impact on his career development. More specifically, volunteering solidified for him a realization that he loved working primarily with young adults (especially university/college students) and needed to secure a job that would allow him to entertain and engage this demographic in some way. In addition, it became apparent to Ben through his volunteering that he desired a work environment that would be congruent with his own morals, ethics and commitment to a humanitarian or philanthropic effort. He acknowledges that these moments of “career clarity” could not have been achieved exclusively by sitting in a lecture hall.
Although Ben’s volunteer initiatives allowed him to cultivate new connections, it was the skills he sharpened through volunteering that helped him land his current role with the Brain Tumour Foundation as he was able to leverage his volunteer experiences both on his résumé and in an interview context. More specifically, Ben’s various volunteer roles lent him first-hand exposure to logistics, planning and volunteer management and helped him to hone time-management, professionalism, diplomacy, public speaking and computer skills. Therefore, when Ben entered the job search process following graduation, he had a number of experiences and skills to practically and tangibly apply to the jobs he was pursuing. For instance, when he was asked in an interview: “tell me about a time you had to work in a team” - instead of relying on examples from his summer jobs as a busboy, host or general labourer, he could more impressively respond to employer questions with examples of his leadership roles with the LSA and highlight his ability to manage volunteer commitments amidst a rigorous schedule of studying.
Ben was recently honoured with the Rising Star Award and was named the Laurier Student Alumni of the Year in 2003 for his duties as president of the LSA. However, Ben claims that the greatest personal rewards he has received from volunteering stem from having the opportunity to grow more confident in his skills and meeting many great people who offered wisdom and advice. Despite the innumerable personal benefits obtained from volunteering, Ben believes that your motives for volunteering should come from a place of wanting to improve the world around you and contribute to your community. As President of the LSA, Ben had the opportunity to help students get more out of their university experience. As an assistant with the Student Development Program, he was able to assist challenged high school students develop important life-skills. As a Head Icebreaker, Ben experienced the first-hand excitement that goes along with breaking an existing record for the most funds raised for Cystic Fibrosis research.
Ralph Waldo Emerson defined success as “knowing that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived”. This quote highlights Ben’s own belief that there is no greater advantage or benefit than being connected to your community and seeing first hand how even two hours of volunteering per week can make a huge difference in both your own and someone else’s life.
Mary Thomson knows how to use volunteer experiences in every way possible. Whether it is for career or personal development, she recognizes these experiences as being worthwhile tools. Through Mary’s educational path and her career as a Mental Health Social Worker, she has found her volunteer experiences to be effective in various aspects of her life. Read on to see how Mary was able to gain from her volunteering.
As a university student, Mary’s volunteer experiences included working with an art group that taught a class of elementary-aged children with learning disabilities. This was an appropriate choice for Mary as it combined her studies in Fine Art as well as her keen interest in Art Therapy. It also gave Mary a first-hand opportunity to really solidify whether she wanted to pursue a career in Art Therapy or as an Art Teacher. The experience of teaching this class allowed Mary to recognize what career areas she was drawn to inevitably leading her to the informed and confident decision to enrol in the MSW program at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Mary has also participated in a number of community orchestras that have served as an excellent creative outlet. This involvement also enabled Mary to develop skills by improving her teamwork and problem-solving abilities. While working with the art group she discovered the importance of planning and programming activities based on the need of the individual. She also developed an awareness of her strong interpersonal and communication skills through positive feedback regarding her teaching skills.
Since finishing her education, Mary has participated in additional volunteer activities. These include participating in the “Talking Books” program at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind as a narrator and monitor as well as providing educational workshops at her church. These experiences have played a part in Mary’s career development by improving her technical and people management skills. In addition, Mary recognizes that having these volunteer experiences on her résumé demonstrates “interest, initiative and a creative and holistic perspective on life – good for social work.”
Mary’s volunteer roles have the combined theme of helping people through developing others’ skills, presenting new ideas or the sharing of music. Personally, Mary identifies an increase in confidence, exposure to tasks that are diverse from her employment and developing transferable skills as just a few of the personal development advantages she has gained.
Mary can tell Laurier students from personal experience that when examining particular career paths, volunteering can be an excellent way to increase your knowledge and awareness of careers. As well, it can be an ideal way to learn and help you grow as a person.
While in the MBA program at Wilfrid Laurier University, Kim Wolny began to recognize the benefit of volunteering when she took on the role of Chair with the Priority and Planning Committee of the Ontario Physiotherapy Association. As Kim’s career developed, so did her connections with the Ontario Physiotherapy Association. She has taken advantage of the benefits of volunteering by taking on various positions and being involved with a number of committees. For Kim, her volunteer work contributes to the goal of building a legacy, both personally but also professionally. To understand the steps Kim has taken to further this process, we invite you to read more about her volunteer experiences.
Kim originally selected her volunteer experiences based on the idea that they would allow her to build networks by meeting other physiotherapists and develop skills in areas she had not yet honed through her education. What started as the position of secretary with the Ontario Physiotherapy Association, gradually moved to a board of director role, ultimately leading Kim to take on the presidency. In addition, Kim decided she also wanted to volunteer in a community-based organization where she contributes her talents to a children’s reading program at her local library.
The positions within the Ontario Physiotherapy Association that Kim has taken on have contributed to her career and skill development. Kim recognized that her position as a staff physiotherapist would not necessarily afford her the opportunity to develop leadership skills to the extent that she would like. However, volunteering on the boards has allowed Kim to develop her leadership skills as well as network with others who are presently in leadership roles within their professions. Developing these skills and building these networks can only help Kim in her own goal to pursue a senior level role within a hospital setting. Kim has experienced great gains from her volunteer choices since they are well aligned with her career. However, she also acknowledges that her volunteer work within the reading program helps keep her “grounded to what is really important and that working with kids is always a good reminder to not take life too seriously.”
Working with children has also helped Kim in her commitment to making a difference in her community. Kim views all of her volunteer experiences as ways to do this and the inevitable byproduct is personal development and satisfaction. Kim wants to use her own growth by having an impact on her profession through the introduction of new ideas and thinking and on children by creating a love of reading.
For the Wilfrid Laurier University students, Kim would advise to remember that all volunteering helps. Starting small is ok, take the opportunity to build your confidence and define your skills and you can work your way up to larger commitments. Kim promises, “You won’t regret it!”