Points of Light Anual Gathering
From 5 to 9 February, part of the Volies management team participated in the 2024 Global Summit on Social Impact and in the Global Gathering of our partner Points of Light, in Warsaw, with 62 other affiliates from almost 30 countries.
They have been very intense days, which have started, of course, with a volunteering activity, to continue with the congress, the visit to the city and the work between the “points of light” (which gives name to the organization: Points of Light) to exchange knowledge, deepen topics of interest, highlight challenges and solutions, learn from each other, the whole sprinkled, not casual word, of much fraternization and desire to connect, create synergy and of course, enjoy.
In addition to knowing the reality of Poland, who are currently working hard to support many refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. For my part, sharing that moment with a colleague from the Belgian organisation and two elderly people, one Polish and one Ukrainian, was wonderful. Through technology, creativity and desire we managed to connect and share a unique moment.
Diversity and privilege debated by Volies
From Volies, our project manager Julia Aramendi, who is currently Vice Chair of the Assembly of the international network Points of Light, co-led the first session of the meeting, sharing a powerful reflection on diversity and the different dimensions of privilege.
Thanks to an extremely interesting map, she managed to make us visualise perfectly the number of variables that can affect our position of privilege and that can change, depending on the context.
Very important elements for a global network, where simply having to speak a non-native language can put many of the participants in a situation of inferiority with respect to the organisation’s American parent company.
Voluntare: "origin, peculiarity and strength" of Volies
On the other hand, I was able to share how, from Volies, we transmit our impact. In addition to the diversity of our services, international reach and results, I shared that the change that our work generates is truly the triple impact of corporate volunteering, which we study and measure through the Voluntare Voluntare network, “origin, peculiarity and strength” of Volies.
Conclusions from my first Gathering
Personally, it was my first gathering and I took away a lot of reflections and learnings among which:
- Our approach from Volies, essentially “corporate”, is quite atypical and sometimes difficult to understand from the point of view of social entities.
- That said, by explaining it, we reinforce this bridge between “different worlds” and allow the bidirectional transit between the two, of those who really have the power to generate change: the people.
- We have talked, and lived, a lot about the importance of “together” to have an impact.
Archimedes said "Give me a foothold and I will move the world"; the power of the Points of Light network is to have footholds, all over the world, to create exponential impact.
- We need to better internalise the different power dynamics in order to truly create more empathetic and consequently inclusive environments, allowing the full potential of collaborations to be unleashed.
- Depending on the context, these dynamics can vary enormously and we cannot take anything “for granted” (Thank you Julia!).
- The collective building and support that a network, such as Points of Light, can generate to achieve a shared vision. It is something that really inspires and leaves you with the feeling that the sum of the parts, multiplies.
- We have not only met and listened to each other but also planned how to achieve this impact in a coordinated way, measuring and valuing the efforts of thousands of volunteers to transform their realities.
- It cannot be repeated enough how important it is to listen. And it really is. I have been very positively impacted by the great effort made by the top leadership of Points of Light to listen to members and people. In these networking spaces it is clear when you want to just talk or just listen. It is an apprenticeship that, although not new, is surely still very much needed.
- I urgently need classes in singing, dancing, and night stamina, but that’s another story.😂.
It's been a very inspiring few days and we are undoubtedly coming back reinforced and motivated to continue building bridges, "bridging" as was repeated in most of the presentations at the Summit. But first... let's rest!
