“From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”- Arthur Ashe

Some of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences in my career, and in my life, have been those where I have volunteered my time to an effort, cause, or organization that mattered to me. It’s been my experience that we get so much more than we give from these opportunities and I’ve met many others who agree they can be the most rewarding experiences of all. Far from “What’s in it for me?”, I’ve found working with volunteers to be an exercise in “How can we make a bigger difference together?” There is something very special about people coming together to give their time, knowledge and experience.

I’ve had several great volunteer opportunities during my IT career with some of the most engaging being my work with SHARE (www.share.org), the Fresno Area Collaborative Regional Initiative (CRI), and the Fresno Regional Jobs Initiative (RJI). All three of these experiences allowed me to make a difference and helped me grow as a professional and as a person. The CRI and RJI gave me the opportunity to work with colleagues from government, the university and the private sector to help improve the economy of our region and give people here better opportunities. In the process, I also was able to strengthen my network of connections to other IT professionals as we worked to use technology to advance the mission.

My volunteer work with SHARE was the best experience of my professional career. Over a period of 23 years, I volunteered to support and organize the work of this association dedicated to providing the best training and networking for enterprise IT professionals, and to influencing vendors, standards bodies, and others to advance the value IT can provide. Beginning in 2001, I served on the SHARE Board of Directors for eight years and that was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. The culture of SHARE is one of the most unique and engaging of any organization I have ever encountered and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of this group that really lives the meaning of the phrase we often used to explain our name. “SHARE. It’s not an acronym. It’s what we do.” 

While my purpose working for SHARE was to pursue the mission of this great organization, I gained greatly in that process. When I joined SHARE, I was a systems programmer working on IBM mainframes. By the time I left the board, I had been an IT manager for more that eight years. I am certain that the contributions I've made to the work of my university have a great deal to do with what I learned at SHARE. I learned my first lessons in management as a SHARE Project Manager, and key lessons in budgeting, policy and strategic planning as I served in various roles on the Board. I’m convinced I would not be where I am today in my career if it weren’t for the invaluable experiences I had at SHARE. They say that what you get out of any experience depends on what you are willing to give. I gave my best at SHARE and it is clear that I got even more out of my time there than I gave.

In addition to all the professional growth I experienced in my years of service to SHARE, I also received great personal satisfaction from our work and met many lifelong friends in the process. I also enjoyed the opportunity of traveling to many interesting and beautiful places and would bring my wife, Sue, along on many of these trips. It was working with this great organization that lead me to meet my best friend, Martin, and provided Sue the chance to meet and become friends with his wife, Cathy. I learned a great deal working with Martin on the Board and, thanks to our work at SHARE, the four of us traveled to some wonderful places together. Now, long after my active role as a volunteer has ended, Martin and Cathy are two of our very dearest friends, we continue our travels, and the time we spend together is a gift from SHARE that grows more lovely with the passing years.

I learned to volunteer from watching the example set by my parents and I grew up having opportunities to sing at convalescent homes and mental hospitals, serve meals to others on Thanksgiving, and help with the restoration of wetlands in Southern California. As an adult, I’ve  served on the City of Fresno Historic Preservation Commission, worked on political campaigns and performed at benefit concerts to raise funds for worthy causes. I’m so grateful to my parents that I grew up volunteering as it has enriched my life more that I can express.

The most satisfying volunteer experience I’ve had outside of work has been in beautiful Yosemite National Park. Since the fall of 1988, I have volunteered in the Pioneer Yosemite History Center (PYHC) in Wawona with most of my work being for the wonderful Yosemite Environmental Living Program or YELP (http://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/education/elp.htm). This outstanding program gives 4th and 5th grade students the opportunity to study a character from Yosemite’s past throughout the school year and to portray that person, in costume and in character, for 24 hours amidst the historic buildings at the PYHC. 

The students cook their meals on a wood-burning stove, ride an authentic wagon reproduced with funds from the Yosemite Conservancy (http://www.yosemiteconservancy.org/), work in the blacksmith shop, learn about other period-appropriate skills, and complete a project that reflects the experience of the character they are playing. Many times each spring, students live what they've learned portraying historical figures including Chief Tenaya describing how his people have lived in this place for generations, Christian Jorgensen painting a watercolor of this beautiful place, Jennie “Mother” Curry planning an affordable way for people to visit the valley, John Muir writing a letter to advocate for the preservation of Yosemite, or Claire Hodges working to protect this place and provide people the opportunity to enjoy it as Yosemite’s first female ranger. In the process, they learn about how our National Parks were set aside for future generations and that it will be up to them, as they become voters in a few short years, to determine the future of these places that belong to them.

Again, the gifts I’ve received from volunteering far exceed what I have given. It was in the process of my volunteering for Yosemite that I fell in love with my wonderful partner, Sue, and we were married in the park. After years teaching 4th grade, participating and volunteering with the YELP, she left the classroom to devote herself entirely to volunteering to coordinate this program and has now been involved with YELP for 30 years. We both continue to volunteer in Yosemite and it is only as I write today that I realize that we have had the opportunity to model volunteering for our children, and the satisfaction of watching them volunteer for YELP and other worthy causes.

I am a very lucky man to have had these wonderful opportunities in my life and, although I’ve done my best to give, I know I’ve gotten even more in return from my service as a volunteer. From my first opportunities in childhood, to the outstanding experiences I’ve had with SHARE and in Yosemite, being a volunteer has been immensely rewarding and satisfying. I look forward to new volunteer experiences once I retire and I encourage all of you to look for volunteer opportunities in your professional and personal lives. As a great leader at our university once said to me when I was offered a volunteer role in the community “Are you hesitating? The answer is ‘Yes!’”