Today’s post comes from Business Volunteers Unlimited Maryland. They recently hosted an event for National Volunteer Week.
About the Author:
Emily Alt is a graduate of BVU’s GIVE Program, a civic leadership for young professionals, and now serves on the program’s Advisory Board. A former real estate lawyer, Emily currently works at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
It’s National Volunteer Week, and BVU celebrated by hosting one of its signature “Do Something!” events in Baltimore on Monday. BVU, or Business Volunteers Unlimited Maryland, has been hosting “Do Something!” events since 2006. Th
e events are dedicated to celebrating service, connecting citizens who care about the community, and highlighting opportunities for volunteerism. At this “Do Something!”, more than 20 local nonprofits were set up at tables to talk to participants about local volunteer opportunities available to them, in a format that has been compared to “volunteer speed dating.”
Attendees were given time to walk around and talk with representatives from each of the nonprofits. The participating organizations ranged from the Maryland SPCA, to the Baltimore 
Curriculum Project, to Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland.
Baltimore is already an actively engaged city, according to Kelly Hodge-Williams, BVU’s Executive Director. In her introductory remarks, Hodge-Williams noted that out of 51 large U.S. cities, Baltimore ranks 14th in terms of volunteering, and that approximately 30% of Baltimore’s population volunteers each year!
After the attendees heard from Hodge-Williams and from a representative from the event’s sponsor, OneMain Financial, it was time for the keynote speech from Paul Schmitz.
Schmitz started off by commenting on the amazing space in which the event was held. The American Visionary Arts Museum is one of Baltimore’s most unique treasures- known for 
celebrating non-traditional artistic expression, and is located right along Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The Museum’s celebration of innovative perspective and accessibility made it a fitting backdrop for Schmitz’ message (and his book with the same title): Everyone Leads.
Schmitz is the national CEO of Public Allies, an organization whose mission is to advance new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation. The theme of his keynote message was his conviction that everyone has the ability to lead- and that lasting social change must come from the acts of many, not just the inspiration of a few.
Schmitz talked about 5 core values critical for people who want to create social change. The one that resonated most for me was “Continuous Learning.” Part of his concept of continuous learning is having an understanding of your own strengths as well as weaknesses. He used the analogy that each person is like a glass that is both half-full and half-empty, and that it is important to have the humility to recognize your own emptiness. He also stressed the value of learning from failures- having the strength to own 
your failures and to create the space in which to discuss them.
But his message was about more than just knowing your own emptiness and failure- it was about seeing the fullness of others and developing those around you to lead with you. He used many examples of unlikely leaders with humble beginnings and of architects of great social change whose names we may have never heard. It may have been his telling of his own story that did the most to get his message across to the audience. Schmitz talked openly about his own struggles growing up with addiction and depression, and how some might have seen him as an unlikely candidate to become a leader. You can learn more about Schmitz and his organization, Public Allies, by clicking here.
It was an amazing way to kick off National Volunteer Week! This event introduced civic-minded individuals to specific ways they could volunteer and have an impact on their community, and ideally also inspired them to see their own potential to lead and to build other leaders around them.
About BVU
Business Volunteers Unlimited Maryland (BVU) inspires volunteerism by connecting motivated people and businesses with the 
nonprofits and communities that need them most. BVU serves as the primary resource for recruiting, developing and organizing volunteers in the Greater Baltimore area.
