This year's International Volunteer Managers Day theme is "Be the Voice". As EWB Volunteer Outreach Lead, Anna Cain wants to voice a big thanks to all the volunteer managers who are enabling EWB to connect, educate and empower people through humanitarian engineering!
"As a member-based organisation, all members are empowered to contribute to EWB's vision that everyone has access to the engineering knowledge and resources required to lead a life of opportunity, free from poverty. This is one of the most exciting things about EWB and is something that makes EWB unique. Volunteer managers are at the core of this, transforming good intentions into meaningful impact.
Volunteer managers contribute at many levels within our organisation; from staff, region and university chapter executives to program leads. International Volunteer Managers Day (IVMD) is an opportunity to celebrate the enabling power of this support for EWB's humanitarian engineering movement and I want to share a few of the many examples of how these volunteer managers are helping to achieve EWB's 2020 Aims:
Aim 1: Solutions for Social Change – We will enable appropriate solutions to alleviate poverty and accelerate inclusive, sustainable development through engineering and technology.
EWB's International Program manages 13 International Field Professionals who volunteer full time strengthening engineering organisations and industry groups in Cambodia, East Timor and Vanuatu and supporting community-driven technial solutions.
Aim 2: Redefining Engineering – We will redefine engineering as a community centered profession that provides leadership in the creation of a more sustainable and inclusive world.
EWB's School Outreach Coordinators manage volunteers to deliver engineering workshops to primary and high school students, demonstrating that engineering is a profession with opportunity to have a positives social impact and the role on engineering in addressing global challenges. There are over 20 School Outreach teams across Australia delivering workshops to thousands of school students each year.
Aim 3: A Global Movement – We will inspire and mobilise a global community in engineering for social change.
EWB's region and university chapter presidents and leaders bring together passionate engineering students and professionals within the Australian engineering industry. Through training, knowledge hubs, community partnerships, corporate engagement and thought leadership, they play a role in shaping a more humanitarian and human-centred engineering sector in Australia."
By Anna Cain, EWB Australia Volunteer Outreach Lead.