Reconnecting on Purpose: Engaging Volunteers in 2025
A new year often brings reflection, resolutions, and — especially after 2024 — a renewed hope for restoration and reimagined community action. No matter where this season finds you and your organization’s volunteer programs amid the Midwest winter, this workshop offers a chance to reconnect with purpose.
Through a blend of facilitated discussion and peer dialogue, this session will provide practical tools to bring introverts, extroverts, and ambiverts into shared, meaningful spaces. Together, we’ll explore:
- The current state of volunteerism and emerging trends shaping the sector.
- The well-being of volunteers—and why caring for those who lead volunteer programs matters more than ever.
- Real-time case studies with peer-to-peer action planning using Slido and table discussions.
Whether you’re looking for fresh ideas, new connections, or meaningful insights, this workshop is designed to inspire and equip you for the year ahead.
We hope you’ll join us as we gather, reflect, and move forward — together.
About our Speaker:
Mandy Sharp Eizinger is a learning and development facilitator, coach, and instructor in the social impact sector. She brings a career and personal journey spanning nearly two decades across volunteerism and mission-driven nonprofit organizations.
Mandy brings a people-centered and strengths-based approach to her work at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In a typical day, she is likely facilitating strategic organizational development sessions, supporting sector-wide research and evaluation, piloting team building activities with her colleagues, and learning alongside students in Grand Valley State University’s College of Education and Community Innovation, where she is an adjunct professor.
In previous roles, Mandy led regional community engagement strategy with UNICEF USA, helping to amplify the organization’s education, advocacy, and fundraising programs. She served for two years in the inaugural cohort of UNICEF USA’s Global Citizenship Fellowship and subsequently managed program recruitment, training, professional development, and evaluation of community engagement in the six years that followed.
Mandy holds a bachelor’s degree in family community services from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in public service management from DePaul University. She serves on the board of directors at Treetops Collective, a cross-cultural movement that connects with and invests in New American women leaders, together transforming our communities into places of belonging.