The 2015 Halo Awardees, which included CARCEN, The LGBTQ Center of Long Beach, Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, The People Concern, San Bernardino Symphony, and Valley Family Center, gathered every quarter during their Halo Award program year to engage, teach, and learn from each others’ volunteer management efforts. Each day-long session included discussions with peers on recent accomplishments and emerging challenges and workshops and activities designed to help strengthen and deepen their efforts.
2015 HALO Award Winners
On January 24, 2017, the 2015 awardees met for the last time as “Cohort 5” for their final peer convening at The California Endowment’s Center for Healthy Communities. The organizations reflected on their experiences with the Halo Award program and how their volunteer management capacity have evolved since receiving the Award. All six organizations highlighted that formalizing their volunteer program with the creation and development of a volunteer management plan was instrumental in pushing their efforts to the next level. In her reflection, Anne Viricel, Executive Director of the San Bernardino Symphony said, “When applied thoughtfully, the Halo Award not only improves a volunteer program, but an organization as a whole.”
The convening also included a panel discussion represented by past Halo Awardees Brooke Lykins, former Chief Development Officer, Downtown Women’s Center; Camrin Christensen, Volunteer Recruitment & Outreach Director, CASA of Los Angeles; and Joanne Kim, Managing Attorney, Koreatown Youth & Community Center. Each alum shared their own organization’s stories, including how they are managing to sustain the efforts developed during their Halo experiences.
The day concluded with discussions for continuing and institutionalizing their volunteer capacity building post-Halo. Executive Directors joined their volunteer program staff to provide input on integrating the volunteer program into their organizations’ overall operations and missions.
The Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation wish the 2015 Halo Awardees great success and look forward to staying in contact to hear of their progress!