Civic Leadership at Wayne State (CLAWS) hosted a production of Leadership in Non-Profit Organizations and Volunteerism in the Community on Thursday, March 30 in Gardner Hall Auditorium. 

CLAWS brought in speaker Hannah Miller from TeamMates Mentoring of Omaha. Miller is currently a recruitment and marketing manager and has served as a member of the TeamMates National Office staff since 2015. Hannah has made presentations to recruit more than 15,000 new mentor applicants within the TeamMates organization.  

“It is important that we find ways to reach as many people as possible to show that the possibilities are endless and how much it means to our society that people engage in their communities, including faculty,” WSC professor Teresa Morales, said.  

A total of 25 people came to the seminar. Miller showcased a minimalistic slideshow throughout to reinforce everything she was saying. She provided multiple activities and encouraged an open dialogue. Her bubbly and outgoing personality helped audience members open up. 

“She every much produced an atmosphere or climate of generosity and sharing. Nobody seemed to hold back,” Morales said.    

The first activity was a bracket worksheet of values that we identify by. WSC Students and faculty in the audience chose between different words to narrow it down to the word that best describes them. The final word represented who each person is as an individual.  

This activity helped audience members come to understand themselves. All of the words were really positive words, so by the end, the bracket showed that each individual was an overall positive thing, Morales said.  

The next activity was a purpose statement. Audience members chose from a list of interests and wrote down their strengths and skills. From this, a statement was made by each individual stating that their designated skills allowed them to do certain things in order to help specific people. The goal in mind was to discover how to benefit others instead of just themselves.  

“This seminar was so fun because we learned what our purpose statement is in life and how we can become successful with that statement we chose,” WSC student Tiffany Toth said.  

The third activity was designed to reveal what brings out the best in each individual. Audience members answered thought provoking questions, including questions asking what brings out the bad.  

“One of the most enlightening activities actually was this best of me worksheet. This one was really enlightening… I have never thought about how you get the best of me, what I need from other people, and how I’d like to be recognized,” Morales said. 

The last activity was designed to appreciate others. Audience members were given “drops,” to help others fill their mental buckets. These paper water droplets were designed to be given to someone as a form of appreciation. This drop allowed space to write how wonderful their chosen person is, the impact they have had on them and the good their chosen person has provided.  

Miller made a point to discuss how this activity is especially important in volunteerism because of burnout. Volunteers at nonprofit organizations do not receive paychecks, making it easier to feel unrewarded. However, volunteering is a good thing to do, and this activity helped audience members learn how to keep their buckets full.  

“If we don’t get recognition for the things we do, we drain our little buckets,” Morales said.  

The audience thoroughly enjoyed Miller and some members even asked when she would be coming back. This was the last CLAWS event of the spring semester.