Leadership

Susan J. Ellis was more than a passionate advocate for the change that great volunteering could make, and more than a passionate voice for the influence that Volunteer Engagement professionals could make while forging that change.

She ‘walked the walk’ and ‘talked the talk.’ She invested time, money, and her expertise into the development of resources that have become the benchmark of volunteerism the world over.

But more than that, she was a generous soul with a heart that was driven to not only help build volunteerism in her home country – but the world over. Whenever the name ‘Susan J. Ellis’ is brought up at a volunteerism conference or a DOVIA meeting, stories are inevitably shared by volunteer leaders about the knowledge they learned from one of her publications, or the encouragement they personally received while meeting her at the Energize booth during a conference or over a quick chat at the conclusion of a workshop.

To celebrate Ellis’ life, her long-time colleague, friend, and fellow writer Andy Fryar, who serves as manuscript developer for e-Volunteerism, approached key volunteerism leaders from around the world and asked them to share their personal insights about the difference she made to volunteerism in their country – and to them personally. This unique e-Volunteerism feature presents stories and reflections from 10 volunteerism leaders on the influential lift of Susan J. Ellis and her life’s work.

In its final appearance, Along the Web presents "Impact Susan," a collection of articles about Susan J. Ellis and her lasting impact on the volunteer management profession that appeared around the country following her death in February 2019. Descriptions and links to these publications, online exchanges, and group chats are provided here as Along the Web, which Ellis created, bids farewell.  

This special issue devoted to e-Volunteerism’s Co-Founder Susan J. Ellis begins with a feature by Rob Jackson, the Journal’s new Editor-in-Chief. In this article, Jackson reflects on the legacy of Ellis and her life’s work, including how and why she started the profession’s first online journal 20 years ago. He also shares reflections on Ellis’ work that has emerged in the last 17 months since her passing. And he looks ahead to the future of e-Volunteerism by sharing, he writes, some “exciting news and plans about the future for the Journal.”

In this powerful first-person story, volunteer manager Megan Cassar reveals her traumatic experience with postnatal anxiety and depression following the birth of her first child, an illness that went undiagnosed for 18 months. Her struggle to successfully recover led Cassar to not only work as a volunteer to help break down the stigma of postnatal depression but to also rethink her role as a leader of volunteers who confront mental illness in the workplace. Cassar’s poignant insights into why and how volunteer managers can support those who are suffering will help all volunteer leaders set an example in the workplace.

“As leaders of volunteers, we have a duty of care to a diverse range of people,” Cassar writes. “We may not directly manage every volunteer in our organisation but, as the leader of those volunteers, we have a responsibility for them. We are their advocates. We want to ensure that our volunteers feel supported to be open and honest about their volunteer experience as well as any other experiences outside of the workplace.”

“After 12 years at the helm of a leading faith-based volunteering charity, I have decided to retire.” So writes Leonie Lewis, MBE, who has been Director of the Jewish Volunteering Network (JVN) since its inception in the UK in 2007. Having recently chosen to retire from her role, she reflects in this personal e-Volunteerism essay on the changing trends she has seen in volunteering over the last decade and on how the community can adapt to maximize the impact that volunteers make.

 “I leave with many questions that still need to be asked and many that I’ve hopefully answered through my time with the organization.  Do I leave the charity in a good place? Have I made a difference? And what is my legacy?” In this poignant reflection, Lewis tries to answer her own questions. In the process, she reveals some changes, challenges, and insights into volunteering that will no doubt resonate with the entire profession.

In this Voices, co-editor Tracey O’Neill reviews a new book called The Disruptive Volunteer Manager by well-known volunteer manager Meridian Swift. As O’Neill explains, the new book lays out six steps to increase awareness of volunteers and to try and elevate volunteerism by disrupting the volunteer management norm in a forward-moving way. Swift, who has more than two decades of volunteer management experience, calls it a “step by step journey to setting a new normal, one in which leaders of volunteers unleash the potential that awaits.”  And O’Neill provides an assessment of Swift’s new book that promises to “reframe, redefine, reshape, and re-imagine” volunteer management.