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MAVA’s New Board Chair Niila Hebert

Name: Niila Hebert

Position: Senior Manager of Volunteer Support and Relations

Organization: Girl Scouts of MN & WI River Valleys

MAVA Member Since: 2015

Please describe your volunteer program: Girl Scouts is the premier girl leadership program in the world. For Girl Scouts to be able to reach all girls we rely on our auxiliary workforce, our volunteers. Our volunteers are true G.I.R.L’s (go-getters, innovators, risk takers, leaders) who lead and mentors girls into living our mission: Building girls of confidence, courage, and character to make the world a better place. 

What is your role? My role is to provide support, training, supervision, and recognition to our volunteers. 

How did you get involved in Volunteer Management? I started as a volunteer in 1999, while in college, I was a mentor and tutor to Jr High and High School kids at a program in Compton, CA. My love for volunteerism grew as I volunteered for Meals on Wheels and shortly thereafter, was hired as staff. Shifting from volunteering to supervising volunteers was a quick lesson on the importance of volunteer management. 

What does it mean to you to be a MAVA member? Being a MAVA member carries the weight and prestige of being a well-connected and qualified volunteer manager. MAVA is the hub for volunteerism and being a member of an organization that is leading the charge in racial equity in volunteerism and setting trends in world of volunteer management.

Can you recall a time when being a MAVA member directly impacted your work in your organization? What were the outcomes of MAVA’s impact?  Really, being a MAVA member beneficially impacts my work and my organization on a regular basis. From having all of our volunteer support staff trained and engaged in the VILT series, to the relevant and on-time training offerings, to the impactful work of earning our Service Enterprise Certification, our organization and staff continue to benefit from being connected to MAVA. Through these professional growth opportunities, our organization continues to be seen as a thought-leader and on the cutting edge of working with all volunteers!