Give to receive

Volunteering, to me, is rewarding, inspiring and fun. Thanks to my company I am able to volunteer 56 hours a year, a goal I personally set to achieve.

Through my volunteering I have experienced benefits that transcend just my individual fulfillment; benefits that not only make me a better person but a better leader. The three main benefits I have experienced through volunteering are community, personal wellbeing and professional growth.

Let me take you back to when I was 10 years old. My mother was very strict when it came to our diet, especially with sugar, we rarely had desserts or treats in the house. So my loophole? Sugary cereals. Every week when my mom went grocery shopping I’d go with her, it was always a highlight and I’d look forward to the multiple boxes of cereal I’d pick out. I don’t recall how many times I went to the grocery store with my mom but I remember this one time when my mom didn’t have enough money for the amount of groceries we had selected. She had to quickly assess what we could do without and unfortunately my cereal was included in that. I was 10, I cared about my cereal.

Recently I recalled this memory, and I remembered other things besides the loss of my cereal. I remember the disdain the cashier showed towards my mom as she uttered rude, derogatory comments that my mom didn’t understand and honestly wouldn’t care because she was a working mom of four daughters and trying to figure out her groceries for the week, but I understood her. It was one of many events that informed much of my childhood and life being raised by immigrant parents.

I had the opportunity to speak on a panel for Latinas Leading Tomorrow, an organization that supports high achieving, first generation, college bound Latinas through mentorship. One of the questions was to talk about how our past experiences inform us as professionals. I wasn’t planning on telling this story, I had a number of examples I’ve referenced on other similar panels but in the moment I decided to share this very personal, and shameful, story. I shared the story because maybe some of the girls would see themselves in my story but I knew all of them would see themselves in my role, my position. It would be possible. When I shared this story I saw the nods of recognition; community, I instantly felt a sense of relief, I had spoken this shame and it lost its power; personal wellbeing and by being vulnerable, especially as a leader, I created space for others to be vulnerable; professional growth.

When I first started in my current role I was leading a team that didn’t know me, volunteering was a great way to hold a team building event and give us a chance to get to know each other outside the office. One of the first team volunteer events we had was Habitat for Humanity, working on a home in Herndon, VA. Not only did it include members from my team, but other employees. Community is about the people we serve but also the community we create by volunteering together, building new and nurturing existing relationships. Through Junior Achievement, supporting the garden at Herndon Elementary School, Honor Flights, Generosity Feeds, I’ve been able to volunteer in many ways right here in MY town of Herndon. After that first team volunteer event we began to have them quarterly. Over time my team started coming forward with suggestions and ideas. One Solution Engineer in particular had a lot of great ideas but I could see she was hesitant, she didn’t want to overstep. This was a great opportunity for me to empower my team to own these efforts and that’s when we formed Culture Champions, an initiative led by Solution Engineers to coordinate both in-person and virtual volunteer events each quarter and amplify other events and volunteer opportunities, allowing us to scale the work and efforts being done across the organization.

Research shows that volunteering releases dopamine, it makes us feel good, in addition people who volunteer have lower rates of heart disease, weigh less and have lower overall healthcare costs.

For me personally, being with people fills my cup. I love engaging with others, learning from and learning about others. This world is big and people in it are varied but the more I see and the more people I meet I find there are some simple human truths. Women Giving Back is an organization that supports women and children who are in crisis and provides quality clothing at no cost. My company has hosted a number of volunteer events at Women Giving Back both sorting and organizing donations and also volunteering in the storefront to assist their clients as they “shop”. Regardless of the challenges that might be facing these women, when they are in the store they are happy and excited to shop for clothing, perhaps for their next interview. And when I volunteered to help them it was like hanging out with any girlfriend; "What color looks good", "Can I pull this off?" "Do you think this will fit?" Sometimes you just need your girlfriend to say “Yes, get it!” The simplicity in that human connection is just so powerful. It might be something different for you, knowing what fuels you is important not only to find volunteer opportunities that might be best for you but to understand your own personal wellness.

Working for many years in corporate America I have amassed many professional skills like public speaking, networking, program management, and technical skills. I’ve had the opportunity to both coordinate and participate in volunteer events that focus on professional skill development from grade school to college to highly skilled immigrants and refugees through organizations like Futures and Options, iDTech and Upwardly Global. The skills we’ve taken our careers to build can so easily be shared with others from mock interviews, resume reviews, crafting the perfect pitch to embracing your unique strengths. Board service or pro bono work is another way to apply your skills practically. What has been most incredible in volunteering my professional skills is my OWN professional growth I experience at the same time.

When I shared my story with Latinas Leading Tomorrow, and writing it here today, I was surprisingly vulnerable but through vulnerability comes connection. If I, as a leader, can be authentic then that gives space for others to be so and when we show up as ourselves we do our best work.

Being raised by immigrant parents has informed who I am today. The stories, and the lessons within, I share with my children with pride. Yet it was a source of shame for many years. Through volunteering I was able to dismantle that system of shame and by speaking it created community with others with shared experiences. I am able to show up, personally and professionally, with authenticity and gratitude which has made me a better leader and a better person.