Opening Speaker
 Susan Ellis
Susan J. Ellis is President of Energize, Inc., a training, consulting and publishing firm that specializes in volunteerism. She founded the Philadelphia-based company in 1977 and since that time has assisted clients throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australasia and Israel to create or strengthen their volunteer corps.
She is author/co-author of 12 books, including From the Top Down: The Executive Role in Volunteer Program Success and The Volunteer Recruitment (and Membership Development) Book, several of which have been translated into Japanese, Taiwanese, French and Italian. From 1981 to 1987 she was Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Volunteer Administration. She has written more than 120 articles on volunteer management for dozens of publications and writes the national bi-monthly column, "On Volunteers," for The NonProfit Times.
Susan is committed to exploring the potential of cyberspace for the volunteer field. The Energize Web site (www.energizeinc.com) has won international recognition as a premier resource for volunteer program leaders and includes an online bookstore selling over 80 titles in electronic form. She co-authored The Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, which is available for free download on the Energize Web site. In 2000, she and Steve McCurley launched the field's first online journal, e-Volunteerism: The Electronic Journal of the Volunteer Community, for which she serves as editor. And in 2005, Susan and Betty Stallings introduced the Everyone Read program, providing electronic staff development in volunteer management for national organizations.
She was the recipient of the Association for Volunteer Administration's 1989 Harriet Naylor Distinguished Member Service Award. The BetterWorldHeroes Web site has included her on their calendar of "heroes" for December 5 (International Volunteer Day). Susan is an active volunteer in a variety of volunteerism associations and several Philadelphia-based community groups.
This symposium will examine the issues that emerge with this shift in focus, such as
power dynamics between outside volunteers and local residents; integrating volunteer
and community organizing activities; and ensuring that community service efforts
are truly owned by those most impacted. Symposium participants will hear from
practitioners who have effectively worked with volunteers in ways that build resident,
organizational, and community capacity. Breakout sessions will share tools for working
with various types of volunteers using this framework, including adult and youth
residents, student interns, VISTA and AmeriCorps members, retirees, the unemployed,
corporate teams, and "get out of jail free" court-mandated volunteers. There will be
opportunities for volunteers, community organizers, nonprofit and corporate leaders to
consider the roles each can play in this new approach.
The Volunteerism + Community Development Symposium will deliver inspiration, a
conceptual framework, and practical tools to engage volunteers in powerful new ways.
Symposium Objectives:
- Understand the current dynamics of volunteerism and community service
- Share new ideas and best practices for use of volunteers by community development organizations
- Explore in depth what it means to use volunteerism/ community service to build local capacity and self-determination in low income communities
Register now for this inspiring, important event —
space is limited!
Symposium cost: $235 (includes materials, plenary session, workshops, keynote luncheon and networking reception)
Check out the Phoenix Training Institute and the NeighborWorks Training Institute site!
Click here for the complete list of courses
being offered at the Phoenix Training Institute. |
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