Gloria Deucher, USA, has been involved in volunteer resources administration since 1991. She has an MBA in finance from New York University, and prior to 1991 she worked in private industry as a budget and financial analyst. That line of work was never satisfying, however. After 10 years, Gloria found her niche in volunteer administration, after doing an internship in the large and well-run volunteer department at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center where she had been doing volunteer work for the previous five years.
From 1991 to 1996, Gloria served as the director of Volunteer Services at Einstein Hospital in the Bronx in New York City. In 1996, she left the healthcare environment and went on to a very different volunteer setting − the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan. There she learned from a different type of volunteer. At the zoo, volunteers tended to be focused on and passionate about more global issues (in this case, wildlife conservation) versus the day-to-day support given by the friendly visitors and caregivers common among the hospital volunteers. In 1998, Gloria became the director of Volunteer Services at Thirteen/WNET, New York City’s public television station, where volunteers have nurtured its cause in various ways since its inception almost 45 years ago.
While at Einstein Hospital, Gloria served as the membership chair and as vice president of the Greater NY Association of Directors of Volunteer Service (in Health Care Agencies). After leaving healthcare, she joined AVA where she was active in the New York City area. When AVA dissolved its regional structure in 1996, Gloria became a founding member of the New York Association for Volunteer Administration which incorporated in 1998. She served as the treasurer through 2001 and is currently the first vice president.
