At Code to Hope, we have many dedicated volunteers who have helped build the organization from group up. And thus made an impact on hundreds of students across the world! Our organization is run by volunteers who put a lot of their time and effort into supporting our mission — which is to empower future leaders to change the world through technology.
This year we would like to honor one of our dedicated volunteers, Amy Finn, a Business Analyst for Johnson & Johnson, with our Volunteer of the Year Award! Amy holds the role of Volunteer Coordinator at Code to Hope.
Amy heard about Code to Hope “a long time ago when [she] was an intern [at Johnson & Johnson] in the summer of 2017… Someone from Code to Hope spoke to the interns about getting involved. [She has] a long-standing past with volunteerism, constantly raising money for all types of initiatives.” She was attracted to Code to Hope because “being in technology, [she] had never thought of a cause like this and thought it was interesting that the goal of Code to Hope was to empower communities with technology.” She sought opportunities to “contribute to something bigger than [herself] and to be part of an org that makes a difference in the quality of life of people in their communities, so [she] wanted to be a part of that.”
Amy explains her role as the Volunteer Coordinator at Code to Hope: “I am responsible for the management of our volunteers. I have been able to create processes for our volunteers and vetting them to ensure that our volunteers align with our values. I connect them with opportunities, meet with the leadership team to understand the demand, and connect them to opportunities that match their interests and what is available within the org. I am the advocate for the volunteers.”
Amy has been able to embrace the start-up mindset by embracing ambiguity in her role and applying a creative mindset to bring structure to the organization. Here is her response when we asked about some of the challenges we faced: “I’ve been able to ask questions that we haven’t really thought of, about trips, how are we going to expand to different markets like college campuses and high schools. If a high school student or minor wants to volunteer, what types of policies do we need to look into to enable them.” Throughout this process Amy has grown in various ways including “learning how to have crucial conversations, to always speak [her] mind about something even though it’s not the popular opinion, and ask questions, even if [she is] uncomfortable. It’s been a personal growing opportunity for me…Just like IT, we have to be iterative, learn as we go, and we can’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Learning that was tough.”
Code to Hope thanks Amy for her dedication and passion and we look forward to her continued success!