48in48 Volunteer Spotlight: Keleigh Harris

Who is Keleigh?

Keleigh Harris lives in Dallas, Texas where she’s a Scrum Master for State Farm. If you’re not familiar with the term scrum master, Keleigh describes it as a project manager who helps teams of people come together to do something bigger than themselves. What an apt description of both her State Farm job and the role Keleigh has just taken on as Global Event Planning Committee Lead for the recent 48in48 Global Event 2021.

How did Keleigh get involved with 48in48?

State Farm has been active with 48in48 for several years now as a sponsor in addition to sending teams of marketing and technology volunteers to build websites at the weekend events. Back in 2018, one of the State Farm volunteer teams rebuilt the Miller Park Zoo (who we featured here in 2019). State Farm has hub offices in Bloomington, Dallas, Atlanta and Phoenix, and so employees around the company were already invested in the “beloved Miller Park Zoo” in Bloomington, Illinois, and word started to really spread around State Farm about 48in48 and the ability to help other Nonprofits. Keleigh was in!

“I was trying to figure out, ‘How do I help in a positive way?’, and 48in48 gave me a specific opportunity to apply my specific skills to help make a huge change, a huge impact on society.” 

The fact that she is able to volunteer for 48in48 these last couple of years from her own office in the safety of her own home is icing on the cake.

How State Farm supports volunteering

State Farm states one of their goals as a company is to give back to the community, and Keleigh confirms they live and breathe it. The company encourages employees to volunteer their time, giving certain time off to do it. State Farm offers many options for organizations to support, and 48in48 is an option that by default connects volunteers with additional Nonprofits of various causes. Keleigh’s manager and team were very encouraging with logistical and emotional support when she decided to take on this recent hefty volunteer role as Lead for the Global Event.

What does the Global Event Planning Committee Lead do? 

Leading the recent Global Event means Keleigh organized and managed all of the people/roles – a team of Volunteer leaders – involved with bringing the event together. Keleigh’s responsibility was making sure those leaders were clear on their roles, knew who to collaborate with, understood the right timing to achieve milestones, to bring it all together as a single event at the end. These Volunteers managed, helped and guided our Nonprofits having websites rebuilt and our Volunteers devoting their time, energy and passion to the new websites. They also orchestrated speakers and entertainment as well as the Project Management team and the Engagement/social team. Keleigh facilitated countless meetings, ensuring that everyone was on track and having the right conversations.

What inspires Keleigh?

The Global Event Planning Committee that Keleigh worked so closely with has been a huge source of inspiration to Keleigh these past many months. She says the group attitude was such that whenever an obstacle arose, they’d remind each other of why they’re doing the work and what they’re doing. They would return to those core values, remember that they are helping to make the world a little better – they are making it easier for Nonprofit patrons to answer the call and support these Nonprofits through better online presence and easier to use websites. They stayed focused on this mission, and they stayed positive, no matter the obstacles. 

Add to that every single person who volunteered for the Global Event, AND showed up. Keleigh is inspired by seeing people follow through on their commitments, and the Planning Committee and all the Volunteers did just that.

Keleigh created a space where everyone else could swarm in and do what they do for the weekend, and it was all to their credit. That IS inspiring!

A little more about Keleigh

• What’s your favorite ’90s jam?
  • If I had a million dollars
• What is one personality trait you simply have no time for?
  • Lack of accountability
• Which do you prefer, logic or creativity?
  • Logic – definitely a logic person, but she partners really well with creative people
• You’re a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?
  • Yellow! Bright and sunshiny yellow
• What are you known for?
  • Attention to detail and organization
• We finish the interview and you step outside the office and find a lottery ticket that ends up winning $10 million. What would you do?
  • Give it straight to 48in48 so they can continue building great websites

Volunteering for 48in48 can take many forms. If you’re daunted by a weekend event, you can get involved in other ways by donating your time on a weekly or monthly basis. There are year-round ways to give back, so reach out to talk about what might be the right way for you.

Sign up to volunteer today!