Mary Owens has been a member of NCAVA for five years - ever since a friend invited her to join when she was new to the volunteer administration profession. She is now the Resource Development Manager at The City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, where she oversees the Volunteer Services Program. This program is comprised of two divisions - Volunteer Services, which oversees volunteers across the entire Parks and Recreation Department, and the Invasive Species Program, which specifically utilizes volunteers to help remove invasive plant species and handles restoration plantings as well. Mary also serves as NCAVA’s Executive Board as Vice President of Communications, leading the board’s communications committee in all things marketing, design, and content creation.
Mary recently provided us with more information about her NCAVA story, which we are excited to share with you all:
Q: What inspired you to begin working with volunteers?
A: Oddly enough, volunteers have been a part of my job since my first mini internship in college working for Florida State Parks. I have since worked with them while working for US Fish and Wildlife Service, AmeriCorps NCCC, and now my job with the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department. I just sort of fell in love with how passionate volunteers were during my time with USFWS and then got the chance to see that on a larger scale when responding to Hurricane Sandy while working for FEMA.
Q: What is an exciting project that you are currently working on?
A: Well, the response to the CCNC Youth Conservation Corp was so well received that once the new year comes around, I will be working to start that process all over again. Until then, my team will be focused on fall park maintenance projects and all of the holiday and fall special events coming up.
Q: What would you say is your biggest accomplishment in your career thus far?
A: Honestly, I would say my biggest accomplishment so far was getting promoted to manager right before the pandemic hit and being able to survive through that. I still have so much to learn, but talk about being thrown into the fire! Luckily, I have a great team that is helping me navigate this new opportunity. Together, we were able to create a summer 2021 Youth Conservation Corp partnership that has received recognition from not only my leadership team, but the mayor and our Parks, Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board. I'll be presenting this to the council later this year. Also, our team was able to create a reopening plan and safely keep over 6,000 volunteers active this past fiscal year even though some of our larger special event type opportunities were cancelled.
Q: What advice would you give to other volunteer managers, especially those beginning their career?
A: Find a mentor, join the board at an entry level position, and be as active as possible. Joining the board as Social Media Chair opened me up to meeting other board members from across the state and gave me some leadership experience to count towards certification. My participation on the board for NCAVA and with my local affiliate and my certification is what put me ahead of other candidates for the manager promotion. Lastly, I'll never forget how cool it was to have NCAVA and WAVA members support me and show up to my first large scale recognition event that I planned.
To keep up-to-date with Mary’s latest projects and volunteer opportunities with The City of Raleigh Parks, please visit https://raleighnc.gov/parks-volunteer. For more information about the CCNC Youth Conservation Corp, please visit https://dixpark.org/article/dix-park-youth-conservation-corps .