Meet Cam Tu: Volunteer Services Manager
By: Cam Tu Nguyen
July marks my four months as the Volunteer Services Manager at Northwest Education Access and I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be a part of a fun, professional, and supportive community.
I have worked in direct service all my life with first-generation students across various non-profits throughout Pierce and King country. With the new volunteer manager role, I’ve thought about how my experiences have influenced me to take on developing the volunteer program at NW Education Access and where I envision it to be.
My first major volunteering management project dated back when I was an AmeriCorps member out of college working as a tutor at a community center in the Hilltop area of Tacoma. I created a formal dinner event aligning with the high school’s homecoming to create a special evening for our students. There were over 30 volunteers from the church and partners who took on roles to make it happen. The chemistry teacher at our high school partner site was a part time florist and organized boutonnieres and collages making. Members from the church made a delicious three course meal. I joined forces with a student’s mom to provide manicures for students. A professional photographer volunteered her time to take beautiful pictures of our students dressed up in their formal best. It was quite a memorable experience for all staff and students.
Fast forward to other jobs, I have taken on mentoring pairing and career exploration events. I remembered at Rainier Scholars over twenty professionals from different backgrounds attended in-person resume reviews and mock interviews for our college students. At College Success Foundation, I paired up volunteers to be Hometown mentors and have recruited many of my former students who were very eager to give back. The biggest project I’ve taken on was a Families Belong Together fundraiser for a friend and his family with Century Ballroom. The event had over 80 volunteers including performers, with every latin dance studio in the city and two major churches of Seattle. There were over 500 attendees that night all wearing red to show solidarity. All the DJs volunteered their time and performers put on two shows for the night. It was an amazing event and reinforced my beliefs in the power of community and purpose.
My strength is in providing space and logistics for people to congregate, but after that I just sit back and watch the power of the community. A mentor of mine told me that people are happiest when they have purpose:communities thrive when there is a reason to come together. The bouquet of these magical memories have attracted me towards opportunities that allow me to organize. The Volunteer Services Manager role is a great fit to explore my interest in program development and events.
As I get to know Northwest Education Access more, it is the perfect workplace to take my experiences to the next level as the organization is very mindful in its work towards equity and justice. I’ve come to realize that volunteer coordinating is not merely assigning everyone tasks, but it’s important to dig deeper to think about the why of volunteering and how to be helpful in a constructive manner.
The panelists of our recent healthcare career event emphasized for students to “find your why” in choosing their pathways and this very much applies to volunteerism as well. When does helpfulness mask a savior complex that reinforces structures and systems that created barriers for our students? What does it mean to stay in the “zone of helpfulness” so volunteers can cultivate authentic relationships without compromising the task at hand? I am very much looking forward to having these discussions with volunteers as we begin to hold space in our diversity equity inclusion meetings. In my short time so far in my role, I already came across amazing individuals ready to lend their expertise and invest in the time to ensure a successful experience. Volunteers give me creativity energy and I can’t wait to see what we can build together this coming year!
Building unity through latin dancing at the #FamiliesBelongTogether and #KeepJaimeHome Fundraiser, Century Ballroom 2019