Meet Our Members: Mary Owens

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

2021 Statewide Conference and NCAVA Annual Meeting Update

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic still in effect, the Executive Board has made the hard decision not to meet in person this year. Instead, we are looking at moving the conference online! This will allow us to safely meet, but it also opens up the conference to a wider network of Volunteer Administrators for us to share ideas with. In addition, it will give us the ability to offer these educational opportunities at a discount in a year when so many of our budgets have been cut or are uncertain.

Letter from the President Regarding the NCAVA Board Retreat

It is my sincere honor to begin to serve all of you as president, however, I wish it could be during more stable times. This pandemic has affected every country in the world, and every aspect of our lives. After making the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 conference, I wanted to reach out to you to let you know we also have decided to cancel the in-person board retreat.

An Interview with Our Immediate Past President and VP of Membership

I have previously interviewed our current President, and our President-Elect, but what is the Immediate Past President position all about? I sat down with Mandy Valiquette, who is our current Immediate Past President as well as our VP of Membership, to find out what she does in those roles and a little bit more about her.

A Quick Reflection on the Benefits of Seeking Mentorship & Social Media; Gathering Professional Advice from Across the Country

This article is about a personal reflection on mentorship that turned into a social media post asking for advice from across the country. Be sure to scroll to the bottom to see a slideshow with the advice that was submitted to our facebook post from a diverse range of administrators of volunteers. Be prepared to get inspired, and if you feel like sharing any additional advice, be sure to leave a comment on the post.

A CEO's Perspective on Professional Development and Volunteer Administration

NCAVA's Jack Henry sat down with the CEO of his organization to get his perspective on the value of both professional development and having trained administrators of volunteers. We hope this will inspire you to talk with your leadership on the importance of professional development.

Welcome to the NCAVA Times

Welcome to the NCAVA Times. Do you work with volunteers? Then this is the place for you! The NCAVA Times is a brand new initiative under the North Carolina Association of Volunteer Administration’s marketing and communications plan. The goal is to bring original content to our members that also adds value to the profession.

During the NCAVA Board Retreat, it was determined that the Communications Committee needed to build on last year's marketing and communications plan. The goal is to build value/ legitimacy for the NCAVA brand. One solution is the creation of original educational content. The NCAVA Times is meant to be a place for our board and our members to publish articles related to the volunteer management profession, and to share their collective knowledge and experiences. The opportunity to be published is a new professional development benefit for members (more information to come).

In addition to educational articles, the goal is to eventually add content such as board member Q&As, member spotlights, guest writers, and affiliate organization information. Don't forget to check out all of the ways to stay connected with NCAVA:

More information about submitting content will be sent out to members soon. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to our VP of Communications, Mary Owens, at ncavacommunicationsteam@gmail.com. Stay tuned for more articles to come!