Topic Facilitator - Anna Guest,
Founder and Director of Rising Tide Volunteer Solutions

Introduction
Are you ready to create or expand your volunteer base to advance lifelong community goals? Do you want to ensure that volunteers have productive and rewarding experiences?

Anna Guest is our guide in a discussion of age-friendly/lifelong community volunteer management best practices. The following topics are part of our introductory session: 

• Components of Volunteer Engagement -Adapting core components of successful volunteer engagement to life-long community initiatives

• Vision & Strategy - What are you working toward together and how does it inspire people to get involved?

• Support & Teamwork - Communication & strategies to build a feeling of being in it together.

Around for the Long Haul!
During this session, we explored a variety of issues related to getting people involved in "volunteering" and keeping them engaged over time.  We discussed how our language matters in attracting people to the work we are doing and discovered tips and strategies to ensure we are leveraging peoples' passion, skills and internal motivation. We also exploredw why offering inclusive opportunities and engaging diverse perspectives is important and how we can weave this into our approach.  Finally, no volunteer event would be complete without celebration – we heard how communities are celebrating volunteers and their accomplishments in large and small ways.

Community panelists included: 

• • Sharon Kelly - Director, Berwick Public Library
    Stina Brazelton - Co-Chair, Berwick for a Lifetime

  • Deirdra Murphy - Co-Chair, Age-Friendly Communities of the Lower Kennebec
    Karin Sadtler - Member, Age-Friendly COmmuniteis of the Lower Kennebec

Resources for engaging all walks of life:

**Not all of these are tailored to Age Friendly Community audiences, but there's great information here!

• US Census Data - links to your community data are included in your community profile. 

• TSLCA Webinar: Lifting the Voices of LGBT Older Adults

• TSLCA Webinar: Lifting the Voices of BIPOC Older Adults 

• Harvard Implicit Bias Tests: The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures attitudes and beliefs that people may be unwilling or unable to report. The IAT may be especially interesting if it shows that you have an implicit attitude that you did not know about.  Offers a variety of tests for: race, gender, age, disability, religion, sexuality and more.  

• Article: How to Build a Community that Celebrates Diversity and Inclusion

• National Civic League Webinars

  • Promising Practices Webinar: The ABCs of Inclusive and Equitable Engagement 

During this webinar we will discuss the myriad of considerations–convener, time, location, language, etc.–that need to be addressed to ensure engagement efforts are inclusive and equitable. Registrants will also learn about strategies and best practices for equitable and inclusive engagement, with a few examples from communities successfully doing this work. 

• • Promising Practices Webinar: Moving Beyond Welcoming to Community Belonging 

The National Civic League was joined by the Belonging Initiative and The City of Grand Rapids to discuss the differences between welcoming and belonging and present two new tools to help communities include people fully. 

• • Promising Practices Webinar: Bridging Differences to Thrive Together 

Attendees explored how we can use dialogue to bridge divides & build civic muscle. 

Sustaining the Energy as a Community Leader
This session set us up for success as a leader, and fellow volunteer, within our Age-Friendly initiative.  We discussed the value of personal relationships in creating a sustainable team, how to set boundaries around our roles and what you're willing to take on, and explored strategies for leveraging the energy of our community and volunteers to build momentum.  Finally, we looked at storytelling as a critical tool for communicating your vision, building a sense of belonging, and sharing community impact. 

Additional Resources:

• Links to Advice from Candy Eaton, Age-Friendly Sullivan, and Jean Saunders, Age-Friendly Saco, about working with volunteers

  • Nurturing Personal Relationships

  • Following the Energy in the Room, Shared Leadership & Flexibility

  • Storytelling

• Rising Tide Volunteer Solutions 

  • Quarterly Newsletter, to subscribe: email Anna, anna@risingtidevolunteersolutions.com

  • Rising Tide Volunteer Solutions Programming, Free mini webinars and other upcoming events. 

• A Guide to Setting Better Boundaries Harvard Business Review (https://hbr.org/2022/04/a-guide-to-setting-better-boundaries)

• Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

  • Sneak Preview, Ted Talk by Emily and Amelia

  • Author's website with resources about burnout, https://www.burnoutbook.net/