Welcome to another “face of ACS”, an interview series starring ACS Volunteers and their journey in serving the non-profit community.
Lauren is a veteran volunteer and champion of ACS who has been integral to the launch of two of our core programs – JC ENGAGE Digital Exploration and IGNITE seminar series. She also led the ACS team in 2018-19. Lauren has been instrumental to many of our successes over the years, and we are extremely grateful to have her as a partner.
What 3 words would your friends use to describe you?
Enthusiastic, Insightful, Cheerful
Please share with us your volunteering journey so far and your motivation for volunteering with ACS.
I really value all the smart, generous people I’ve met while volunteering at ACS, especially when designing curricula as part of any program curriculum team.
The experience I will remember most as a volunteer with ACS is the launch of JC ENGAGE, which is now a core program at ACS. This program was launched in 2018 and I remember being shocked when I was told what what we planned to deliver, a two-day program teaching the fundamentals of crowdfunding and storytelling where participants would apply that knowledge by pitching key ideas to judges to win videography services. I did not know how we were going to deliver so much in a short period while maintaining quality. But working with others, including subject matter experts, we were able to deliver a great program. It was really exciting to see it all come to fruition after months of preparation and discussion. I realized then that this was a strength of ACS – that they always think “BIG” and collaborate with knowledgeable people to make their ideas a reality.
From your volunteering experience with ACS so far, what would be your 3 top tips to those who have just joined the ACS Volunteer Community?
My advice to new volunteers is to take advantage of ACS’ extensive network of NGOs and to meet as many of the amazing NGO leaders as possible. There is so much to learn from local NGOs about this city, its diverse population that they serve and also about yourself.
Thank you Lauren!
