Powered by Volunteers
A number of our programs this year were led and driven by volunteers, many of whom adapted to remote support or took on new responsibilities to meet increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each VT volunteer team has brought
Thank You!
159 volunteers gave
4,651 hours in
2020-2021
skills and time that directly contributed to mobilizing thousands of volunteers. We've said it before, but we can't say it enough, your contributions are essential—thank you!
— Joannne McKiernan, Executive Director
Before the pandemic, ten dedicated Volunteer Advisors provided one-on-one support to members of the public during in-office shifts. As volunteerism experts, they share information on navigating VolunteerToronto.ca, volunteer postings, and application processes.
At the start of the pandemic, it took only one week for the entire Advisor team to adapt to provide remote services. And for months, appointments were booked well in advance due to a surge of people looking to volunteer.
Over the next 12-months, our Remote Volunteer Advisors held one-on-one touch points with 4,593 volunteer seekers. Thank you to the full team for supporting the public on the frontlines of our COVID-19 response.
To help with this influx the charity, which connects 400,000 volunteers with about 1,000 organizations each year, has also set up a team of remote volunteer advisors who will be available by email or phone to answer questions and provide assistance starting Monday, March 23.
Our Volunteer Ambassador team was also welcomed back in 2021 after a brief pause to in person information sessions during the pandemic. In delivering presentations to the public, now virtually, these volunteers have supported the reach and impact of our volunteer-seeker services. Thank you!
If you send a message to Volunteer Toronto on social media, you'll connect with one of our two volunteer Digital Receptionists: Angela and Vinson. These high school students were recruited in 2018 to test a new flexible virtual role supporting our online presence. When the pandemic began, the remote nature of the Digital Receptionist role meant this team was more than prepared to continue responding to individuals and non-profits reaching out with questions about volunteerism through social media.
This year, Angela and Vinson spent 5,580 minutes, logged in 15-30 minute daily increments, responding to messages online on behalf of Volunteer Toronto.
You may also be familiar with the stellar written contributions—and creative puns—of our Volunteer Copywriter, Roop. Every other week, Roop writes our Opportunities of the Week social media posts, promoting timely volunteer roles that are actively recruiting. Roop has also lent her skills to write content for the 2020 Legacy Awards, and a case study for our non-profit Learning Library.
This year, Roop wrote 50 pieces of copy for various Volunteer Toronto programs and channels. Thank you!
A new volunteer role and team was formed at the beginning of 2021: Posting Support Assistants. This team ensures every role on VolunteerToronto.ca has all of the information a potential volunteer would want to know, including safety precautions. The Posting Support Assistants also look out for conflicts against the Ontario Human Rights Code and Volunteer Toronto's Anti-Oppression Policy to ensure that our recruitment platform enables safe, equitable roles.
Through weekly shifts, the Posting Support Assistants actively reach out to non-profits to secure missing information and flag roles that need to be reviewed for policy conflict. Their efforts directly contribute to ensuring Volunteer Toronto's recruitment platform is the safest, highest quality resource for volunteer seekers.
As of March 2021, Kyle, Michelle, Nancy, Rose-Ines, Shauna, Vanessa and Samra, as Posting Support Assistants, have reviewed 460 roles for quality and safety.
Volunteer Toronto's research efforts were supported by several skilled volunteer teams in 2020-2021 who focused on analyzing our data, drawing correlations, and conducting desk research to directly inform upcoming programs.
Excitingly, this year Volunteer Toronto was selected as a client for TD Bank's Analytics for Social Good program, pairing skilled volunteers with non-profits to solve a question through data analysis. The TD team dove into Volunteer Toronto's website and non-profit data to answer complex questions, such as, what are hardest hit non-profit sub-sectors during the pandemic? And how has COVID-19 changed volunteer participation for seniors?
Thank you to the TD team leads: Sarah and Amanda, as well as the full analytics team, for sharing your time and skills!
Additionally, to support a project funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, we engaged several research volunteers who conducted literature reviews, environmental scans, and desk research. Their goal was to find source material on the barriers newcomers face when starting sport leagues. This research directly contributed to a research report, and a pilot training program rolled out in 2021.
With thanks to our sport research volunteer team: Erin Lloyd, Laura Ramos, Max Dibu-Caiole, and Michelle Green.
Our Dedicated Board of Directors
Maryann Istiloglu
Chair
Executive Director,
Ontario Association
of Mental Health Professionals
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Heidi Reinhart
Secretary
Colin Druhan
Vice-Chair
Hekmat Kaadan
Treasurer
Executive Director,
Pride at Work Canada
Partner, Norton
Rose Fulbright
Canada LLP
Senior Manager - International Tax, Deloitte
Sarah Llewellin
Director
Senior HR Professional, Independant Consultant
Sushma Narisetty
Director
Helen Moroz
Director
Chief Policy Officer, Digital ^ Shift
Operations Director,
Toronto Hydro
Charlene Viscek
Director
Senior Manager Public Affairs, Rogers
Mack Rogers
Past President
Kanta Wadhwan
Director
Horace Wright
Director
Partner (retired), Baker McKenzie
IT Transformation,
National Bank of Canada
Vice President of Learning & Public Programs,
Royal Ontario Museum
A Growing Staff Team
With the support of United Way of Greater Toronto and Service Canada grants, our staff team grew in order to mobilize volunteers and help community organizations adapt during the pandemic. We are thankful for the additional capacity, incredible talent, and compassionate individuals who joined our team for student and pandemic-related contracts during 2020-2021.
Joanne McKiernan
Executive Director
Cara Eaton
Director, Strategic Communications
Iona Frost
Director, Programs
Sammy Feilchenfeld*
Manager, Training
Kasandra James*
Manager, Programs
Niranjala Mariathas
Manager, Operations
Deirdre Millin*
Training Officer
Olivia Sonnenberg
Specialist, Engagement
Ambrose Fan*
Researcher, Grassroots Groups
Annu Aikulola*
Assistant, Projects
Jess Gillis*
Assistant, Marketing
Ladan Issa*
Assistant, Engagement
Heather Johnson*
Assistant, Engagement
Roshini Mathews*
Assistant, Engagement
Joya Mukherjee*
Assistant, Engagement
Jillian Rago*
Assistant, Advisor Program
Sina Ramezanali*
Assistant, Communications
Alyssa-Marie Talotta*
Assistant, Matching Program
*Employed for part of the 2020-2021 fiscal year