FEAture story
Nearly 12 years of volunteering, and still actively at it! That's Michael Ambjorn for you. Michael is one of Reach's most prolific volunteers, having been associated with the organisation since 1996. "I had just joined IBM, when the company got its employees in touch with Reach for a volunteering programme. I jumped at the opportunity to make a contribution to the community in whatever little way." From then on, he's never looked back, having worked for a variety of causes in multiple roles. "My first job as a volunteer was with a local community help group in Manchester."
In 2005, after spending nine years at IBM and spending time in voluntary roles simultaneously, he quit his fulltime job to focus more on voluntary organisations. A technology specialist, communicator and blogger by profession, Michael hoped to provide specialised help like imparting communication inputs and web 2.0 expertise to the Third Sector. "It takes time and determination to facilitate more nonprofits' adoption of the social web," he says. "But I believe once a few board members let alone staff have become Google Reader and Google Alert addicts, the road ahead is just that little bit easier. I always start off with some PC 101 skills that simply speed up the inevitably slow laggard-laptops/desktops ... and then gently moving over into Web 2.0 without making the transition too obvious," he says.
Some of the organisations that have benefited from these skills are - Kernos, a charity that lends support services to people with emotional and psychological difficulties. “Here, I sat on the board and helped bring in the funds to help reshape the site and I then got the graphic designer and advised on the site,” he says.
An avid traveller and wildlife enthusiast, Michael also got actively involved with The Wilderness Foundation UK, a charity dedicated to preserving and promoting the value of the world's last remaining wild areas. Here, he blogged on issues relating to wildlife, environment, and ecology and assisted with the upkeep of the charity's website. He was also the Development Director for At One Foundation, where he created a federation of independent charitable organisations to create an experimental forum for establishing best practice for a specialised sector (youth at risk). "By emphasising on technology, I got members of the foundation blogging and podcasting, thereby creating a successful brand and on-line presence," he says.
In between volunteering in the UK, Michael was recruited via REACH to the board of Brazilink, a portal that provides comprehensive educational information on Brazil and its development issues. Here he worked on the portal’s development strategy. “I am associated with Brazil since that is my wife’s home country,” he says. He later founded Tactical Communications, a social enterprise that provides e-intelligence training and resources to the third sector, academics and activists based out of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Returning to the UK after a year in Brazil, Michael helped the African Women’s Network for Development and the Islington Refugee Forum build a thorough communications infrastructure for the charities. Michael has recently joined Motorola as an Internal Communicator, but that doesn’t stop his drive for volunteerism. “Volunteering is very enriching not only because you add value, but also because it is a learning process in its own way. Go on, use your skills and experience to benefit a larger audience, and you can make a lasting contribution.”