Volunteer Spotlight: David Green
Let’s meet David
A life-long web builder, David Green currently works as both an SEO manager at Apptio and a Bootcamp Instructor in a WordPress-based digital marketing program at UNC Chapel Hill. He has a degree in communications from the University of Arkansas, and it was through an alumni association for UofA that David was first encouraged to volunteer with 48in48 in 2019. Though not what he studied during university, David’s passion for web design and development has had him building sites since he was only 12 years old. Luckily for us, he decided to start volunteering those skills for our nonprofits!
Volunteering for 48in48
David chose to volunteer as a Project Manager because he was looking to take on greater project management responsibilities in his career, and felt that the build event was a good opportunity to get his feet wet – though perhaps the experience is better described as diving in! He says the event was good practice for later projects in his professional career. His advice to future volunteers is to stick generally to your strengths – but not be afraid to step into a new role that you might not have other access to.
“If there is a different direction in your career that you want to try, this is a good way to get that experience in, and is also worthwhile.”
– David
David has now volunteered in two events, both times as a Project Manager, meaning he facilitates the schedule, planning, and coordination of the build team leading up to and during our build event. After volunteering in-person in 2019, David’s experience as a virtual volunteer in our Global Event was particularly challenging – only one of David’s expected team members called in on the day of the event. Quickly adapting to an online-only platform and a need for more team members, David mobilized five students from his WordPress bootcamp to show up, show out, and get the sites made. Wow! He cites their varied experiences and interests as a stroke of luck – they were able to fill out the team cohesively while matching their skill sets. Pulling double duty as a PM and a bootcamp instructor, David led his team of first-time volunteers through the entire weekend to design a fantastic site for their nonprofit.
Why does David volunteer?
For David, volunteerism has always been a point of interest. With a desire to get out and offer help to his local community, David says 48in48 is the ideal kind of activity that incorporates his professional skills and how he is interested in spending his time offering positive impact and service. In tying together his skill set and desire to do good, 48in48 offers a space to create impactful content outside of normal, working-hour projects. Furthermore, he highlighted how he sees 48in48 events as highly conducive to networking – he even said he recently came close to accepting a job interview with one of his former build team members!
Why should YOU volunteer for 48in48?
About the time commitment, David reminds future volunteers, “It’s just one weekend, and that weekend can then have a huge effect for a nonprofit. You get 52 weekends a year, I think it’s well worth it to help out.” He noted too that seeing a nonprofit’s site up and running in such a short amount of time feels fulfilling, and is a validating use of professional skills. Like us, David is looking forward to when we can start hosting in-person programming again, but until then, he’s still along for the ride!
Interested to learn more and volunteer with us? Register here – we welcome new volunteers at any time of the year!
