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Parks & Recreation COP 2025
1/15/2025 - 11/19/2025

AL!VE Parks & Recreation Community of Practice

The Parks & Recreation Lunch and Learn COP is designed to include a broad range of topics regarding urban and rural parks, botanical gardens, parks, and nature preserves. The objective of this COP is to connect volunteer engagement professionals within these organizations to share resources and best practices.

This informal venue encourages open discussions for anyone seeking or offering advice in tackling the unique challenges facing volunteer engagement professionals in the Parks & Rec field. Bring your lunch/brunch and beverage! If you're not sure if you fit with us, please join us!
 
This COP is facilitated by
Meagan Patterson, CVA, Gateway Arch Park Foundation, Senior Manager, Operations & Volunteer Engagement
Yvonne Dunphe, Five Rivers Metroparks, Volunteer Coordinator
Jenny Garver, Macon County Conservation District, Volunteer Coordinator
Callie Le'Au Courtright, CPM, CVA, City of Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department, Parks and Recreation Supervisor
 

This COP will meet  from noon-1pm Central.  
*note* When you register, you will be automatically be registered for all the future COP dates (listed below) and reminders will be sent - the COP will use the same zoom link every meeting. 
​You may opt out by emailing manager@volunteeralive.org    
 
2025: January 15, March 26, May 21, July 16, September 17, and November 19
 
*Note:  Communities of Practice are an AL!VE member benefit; however, anyone is welcome to attend their first meeting with out being a member.  After your first meeting, you must join as a member to attend subsequent meetings.  You can learn more here.
 
For more information please contact: meagan.patterson@archpark.org





Transportation COP Noon Central, 1 PM Eastern
2/12/2025 - 11/5/2025

This is the meeting for the  AL!VE Transportation Community of Practice.  This meeting is open for AL!VE members and all volunteer engagement professionals (first one is free, the subsequent will be for members only).

The call will last one hour and will focus specifically on volunteer programs with transportation as a volunteer role.

After registering, you'll be emailed a Teams Meeting Link

We look forward to connecting with you!
 *note* When you register, you will be automatically be registered for all the future COP dates (listed below) and reminders will be sent - the COP will use the same zoom link every meeting. 
​You may opt out by emailing manager@volunteeralive.org    
Calls will be held on  
All times Noon Central, 1 PM Eastern

2025 dates:  February 12, May 7, August 6, November 5





New Volunteer Information Sessions
4/16/2025

Enhance your professional development and support the profession of volunteer engagement at the same time! Join us for an AL!VE New Volunteer Information Session! This session is your opportunity to learn more about AL!VE, our mission, and how you can get involved. Whether you’re interested in sharing your skills, learning new ones, or connecting with a community of like-minded professionals, we have opportunities for you! Don’t miss this chance to join a dynamic organization that supports leaders in volunteer engagement nationwide. We can’t wait to meet you and explore how we can make an impact together!
 


Location: Zoom Meeting







AL!VE New Member Information Session
5/2/2025

AL!VE New Member Information Sessions will be held monthly at 3 PM Eastern for 30 minutes. 

In this 30 minute call, we will highlight:
  • Member benefits
  • Resources & where to find them
  • Association goals for 2025
  • Discuss what's happening in the field on a regional or national level
  • Bring your own topic - have a question you need to discuss? We're happy to connect.
All members are invited to attend!  

Can't make this meeting? Check our calendar for future dates.  They are held every month.

We look forward to seeing you online!

Your Membership Team





AL!VE May Academy: Consider, Evaluate, and Re-imagine: Co-Designing Community-Centered Volunteer Opportunities
5/13/2025 - 5/13/2025

AL!VE May Academy: Consider, Evaluate, and Re-imagine: Co-Designing Community-Centered Volunteer Opportunities
This workshop offers a reflective approach to designing volunteer opportunities that are rooted in the voices, needs, and strengths of the community. Participants will learn practical methods for engaging communities in the Co-Dreaming process including how to facilitate collaborative conversations, align volunteer roles with community goals, and ensure equity and inclusivity throughout the process. Join Breauna Dorelus of Connecting the Cause as we explore how to shift from top-down volunteer planning to shared decision-making, fostering opportunities that empower both volunteers and the community. By the end, you’ll have reflective strategies to assess and build impactful volunteer partnerships with neighbors, clients and communities.
 





New Volunteer Information Sessions
5/21/2025

Enhance your professional development and support the profession of volunteer engagement at the same time! Join us for an AL!VE New Volunteer Information Session! This session is your opportunity to learn more about AL!VE, our mission, and how you can get involved. Whether you’re interested in sharing your skills, learning new ones, or connecting with a community of like-minded professionals, we have opportunities for you! Don’t miss this chance to join a dynamic organization that supports leaders in volunteer engagement nationwide. We can’t wait to meet you and explore how we can make an impact together!
 


Location: Zoom Meeting







AL!VE June Academy: Best Byes: Mastering Exit Interviews for Volunteers
6/24/2025

June AL!VE Academy: Best Byes: Mastering Exit Interviews for Volunteers with Adrienne Potter Yoe, CVA - Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 @ 1:00 PM - 60 minutes

Exit interviews can be a goldmine of insights for those at the helm of volunteer programs. In this hour-long session, you'll discover the essential tools to craft and conduct equitable exit interviews, unlocking key feedback to drive meaningful improvements.

About Our Presenter
Adrienne Potter Yoe, CVA is a volunteer engagement professional currently with The Phoenix. With a commitment to making volunteer programs more equitable, Adrienne stepped into a leadership role as the Toolkit Workgroup Lead for the ADEVI project in 2024, guiding a talented team of professionals to develop equity tools for managing volunteer performance management. A 2023 graduate of AL!VE's Presenter's Bootcamp, Adrienne has shared her expertise with the CVA Study Group, co-founded AL!VE's Animal Welfare COP, and served as a presenter for numerous AL!VE events. Holding a Master’s in Non-Profit Management from Notre Dame of Maryland University and a CVA certification earned in 2021, she is dedicated to elevating the volunteer experience. Based in the Baltimore area, Adrienne enjoys time with her family and is constantly inspired by her work to create meaningful change.

AL!VE Academies are a paid member benefit.
Not a member yet?
 Register here!
Location: Zoom Webinar





July AL!VE Academy: A Person-and-Situation Approach to Skills-Based Volunteering: Lessons From the Psychology of Volunteerism with Joshua Braverman Ph.D.
7/15/2025 - 7/15/2025

July AL!VE Academy: A Person-and-Situation Approach to Skills-Based Volunteering: Lessons From the Psychology of Volunteerism with Joshua Braverman Ph.D. - Tuesday, July 15th, 2025 @ 12:30 PM - 90 minutes

Many people are familiar with the “typical” forms of volunteerism where people receive training or orientation after signing up for the volunteer opportunity. The present dissertation focused on Skills-Based-Volunteerism, where volunteers use their pre-existing skills or talents to volunteer. As Skills-Based Volunteers may have a larger impact within their organization(s), it is important to understand how different they are from Non-Skills-Based Volunteers. Using the Current Population Survey (United States Census Bureau, 2017), Study One examined the characteristics of Skills-Based Volunteers, and the ways that they differ from Non-Skills Based Volunteers. Study One found that Skills-Based Volunteers reported more frequent volunteering (and doing so for more hours) and were more involved with a diverse subset of other prosocial behaviors (e.g., voting, attending community meetings, and working with one’s neighbors to improve their community) than were Non-Skills-Based Volunteers. In Studies Two and Three, I collected original data to understand whether considering the Skills-Oriented nature of volunteerism may lead to divergence from the findings from the existing psychology of volunteering, specifically whether the psychological characteristics known to predict volunteerism extend to Skills-Based Volunteerism. In Study Two, I found that for the most part, the psychological constructs known to predict volunteerism (e.g., personality, motivations, and social norms) tended to function similarly for Skills-Based and Non-Skills-Based Volunteering. In a follow-up survey, Study Three extended this result by finding that the psychological constructs also predict future volunteerism similarly for Skills-Based and Non-Skills-Based Volunteering (three to six months later).  Overall, this program of research made it clear that the existing psychology of volunteering does extend to Skills-Based-Volunteering. Volunteer managers can use the present research as evidence to apply existing volunteer management practices to Skills-Based Volunteering. However, future research should continue to investigate whether there are novel psychological characteristics relevant to Skills-Based Volunteering, especially surrounding one’s education, profession, and/or workplace.

 





TEST AL!VE Academy
12/3/2025 - 12/3/2025

This is a test AL!VE Academy





Rural Programs COP (managing programs in Rural or Frontier Communities)
12/16/2025

This virtual Community of Practice supports volunteer engagement professionals managing programs in and across rural communities. These monthly peer-to-peer sessions address some of the challenges that come with operating in geographic areas with lower population numbers and that are located outside of more suburban and urban areas. Members use these sessions to troubleshoot issues, to give and receive support, and to share strategies, best practices, and resources for effective volunteer program management.

2025 Meetings will be held (All times 2 PM Eastern):
January 21, February 18, March 18,
April 15, May 20, June 17,
July 15, August 19, September 16,
October 21, November 18, December 16

To register for these dates, see the  link below.

COP's are an exclusive AL!VE member benefit.  Anyone is welcome to attend the first COP meeting, but after the first meeting we ask you become a member.  Learn more here.