Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism
Imagine Service
Thank you for attending the 2011 Blaine House Conference on Service and Volunteerism!
University of Maine, Orono
Keynote Speaker: Tammi DeVille
Author, Changing the World on a Tuesday Night
In her volunteering life Tammi has delivered food to the homeless, hired employees for non-profits, organized events and marketing projects, been a mentor and court appointed special advocate, facilitated a writer's group, helped students from Cyprus learn about leadership, created a game night fundraiser, helped facilitate intense diversity training in junior high schools, and passed out water and protein bars to runners.
She noticed that everyone who heard about her volunteering adventures had the same basic set
of reactions “It's so great that you do that.”, “I should be doing something like that.” or “I would love to do some volunteering.” The problem, she concluded, was not that people didn't want to help. It was that they just didn't quite see howthey could. They would also say, “My life is just too busy right now.” and /or “I don't know where to find opportunities I'd be interested in.”
And being a 'get things done' kind of person, she set out to do something about it. A book, profiling some actual busy people who do amazing things to change the world. Tammi spent 2 ½ years hunting down interesting volunteers with interesting projects.
She found 32 different photographers who saw the chance to make adifference too and got the pictures. Today, she's the author of a book, really the manager of a project and a voice for volunteering. But mostly, she's someone who knows what a difference a few hours can make in the worldand in your own life.
Tammi lives in Denver Colorado, where she is always dreaming of ways to make an even bigger difference in her community and the world.
Keynote Speaker: Kaira Esgate, Executive Director of Reimagining Service
Reimagining Service is a national multi-sector coalition dedicated to converting good intentions into greater impact through increased volunteer management capacity nationwide. Kaira has nearly 15 years experience working in the government and nonprofit sectors.
Prior to her current position, Kaira served was a staff member for more than a decade at CaliforniaVolunteers – the state service commission. During her tenure with CaliforniaVolunteers, Kaira served in a variety of roles, including overseeing the agency’s program development and grantmaking activities, leading planning efforts with the service and volunteering field, developing/launching the CaliforniaVolunteers brand and award winning CaliforniaVolunteers.org website, and most recently as Chief of Staff.
In her role as Chief of Staff, Kaira coordinated the agency's work with the Governor and First Lady's offices, provided strategic counsel to the nation’s first Cabinet-level Secretary of Service and Volunteering, managed the activities of the 25-member CaliforniaVolunteers Commission, and led the agency work on national service policy and appropriations. Kaira is an honors graduate of the University of Oregon and serves as a board member of the Association of State Service Commissions (ASC).
About the Conference
For the past 25 years, Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism has provided learning and networking opportunities for Maine’s volunteer administrators and program managers. It is the only professional development conference tailored exclusively to the needs and challenges of leaders in the state’s volunteer sector.
The 2011 Conference is brought to you by
In partnership with the following sponsors
- Time Warner Cable
- The Corporation for National and Community Service
- Youth Service America
- generationOn
- AL!VE
- Reimagining Service
Many thanks to the 2011 Conference Planning Team:
Drew Matlins, Brenda Peluso, Meredith Eaton, Jenny Cowie, Devon Niedner, Barbara Wentworth, Patrick Williams, Eileen Buzzello, Ryan Collins, Katherine Klein, Shaylee White, Lisa Morin, and Sara Yasner.
