Join/Renew
People often ask why I volunteer. The short answer: because I always have. The longer answer is a little more personal.
Volunteerism didn’t start for me as a line item on a résumé or a checkbox for professional involvement. It started as proximity—being close to people, students, and communities who needed opportunity, advocacy, and someone willing to walk alongside them. Over time, volunteering became less about “giving back” and more about staying grounded in why I do this work at all.
In my professional life, I lead early talent programs—helping students and emerging professionals navigate the transition from campus to career. In my volunteer life, I support organizations like CareerSpring, Braven, and Genesys Works, all of which sit squarely at that same intersection: potential, access, and upward mobility.
These organizations don’t focus on polishing résumés in isolation—they focus on changing trajectories.
CareerSpring works with first‑generation and low‑income college students who are talented, driven, and often navigating professional spaces without the informal networks many of us take for granted. Braven partners with colleges and universities to help students—many of whom are first-generation college students and from low-income backgrounds—build the skills, networks, confidence, and experience needed to land strong first jobs. Genesys Works connects high school students to paid, meaningful work experience and professional mentoring long before graduation.
What draws me to these organizations is their long‑view approach. They understand that early talent development isn’t a single moment—it’s a series of well‑timed supports, relationships, and belief.
Volunteerism in these spaces has shaped how I think about “career readiness.” It’s easy to define readiness in terms of skills or competencies. It’s harder—and more important—to recognize the role of confidence, exposure, and belonging. Many students don’t lack ability; they lack access to people who can say, “You belong here. Let me show you how this works.”
That’s where volunteers come in.
Whether it’s mentoring, mock interviewing, hosting site visits, or simply answering honest questions about early career missteps, volunteers act as translators of the workplace. We help demystify unspoken rules. We normalize uncertainty. We offer perspective that no syllabus can provide.
Serving alongside these organizations has also influenced how I show up as a leader. It reminds me to design early talent programs that are inclusive by default—not by exception. It challenges me to ask better questions about who has access to opportunity, who gets sponsorship early, and where systems unintentionally create barriers.
For students and early professionals, I often say this: Volunteer work doesn’t need to mirror your job to be valuable. Some of the most formative experiences come from supporting others on a similar path—especially when you’re only a few steps ahead yourself.
For employers and educators, volunteerism is more than community engagement. It’s workforce development. It’s leadership development. It’s a tangible way to invest in the future talent pipeline while helping students build the confidence to step into it.
I volunteer because it keeps me connected to the human side of work, because it reinforces that talent is everywhere—opportunity is not, and because early investment changes lives.
Volunteerism reminds me why early talent work matters. And why, when done well, it has the power to change not just careers—but futures.
