BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Exware Solutions Inc.//ExSite v3.8//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:ExSite-EvtCal-232-@vmpc.ca DTSTAMP:20260509T153554 DTSTART:20260618 SUMMARY:Roots to Results: Balanced Leaders, Powerful Stories, Measurable Impact – VMPC National Forum 2026 DESCRIPTION:-- Roots to Results: Balanced Leaders, Powerful Stories, Meas urable Impact --\n\n-- VMPC National Forum 2026 --\n\nJoin us for a powe rful keynote on reimagining wellbeing in volunteer leadership, along wit h engaging breakout sessions and hands-on presentations exploring ethica l storytelling, confident communication, and smarter approaches to volun teer data and impact.\n\nDate: Thursday, June 18, 2026\n\nTime: 9am-1pm PST, 10am-2pm MST, 11am-3pm CST, 12-4pm EST, 1-5pm AST\n\nFormat: Virtua l half-day seminar\n\n \n\nThe VMPC Forum was created to foster meaning ful connection among volunteer engagement professionals across Canada. B ecause our community does not gather in person every year, the Forum pro vides an important annual opportunity for members to come together virtu ally to share ideas, learn from sector leaders, and strengthen professio nal relationships.\n\nThe forum is held every one to two years, typicall y in years when an in-person conference does not take place. Each forum features a distinct theme, reflecting emerging trends and priorities in volunteer engagement. \n\nImportantly, the VMPC Forum is offered free o f charge to members, reinforcing VMPC’s commitment to supporting the g rowth, connection, and advancement of volunteer engagement professionals across Canada.\n\nNot a VMPC Member yet? Sign up HERE.\n\nVMPC Members, please register below. \n\n--   --\n\n-- AGENDA --\n\n-- Forum Welcom e & Announcements --\n\n------------------------------------------------ ------------------------\n\n-- Keynote Speaker: Jenna Wray  --\n\n-- Re imagining Workplace Wellbeing for Volunteer Leaders --\n\nJenna Wray (th ey/she) & Jayden Fox (she/her) are co-founders of Better Belonging, an o rganization dedicated to creating workplaces that foster psychological s afety and collective well-being. As queer and neurodivergent entrepreneu rs, with a combined 30+ years of professional experience, they use story telling and evidence-based strategies to influence change that supports mental health and inclusion.\n\n---------------------------------------- --------------------------------\n\n-- Breakout Session #1 --\n\n-- Faci litator: Maggie Stewart --\n\nMaggie Stewart (she/her) is a dynamic lead er and engaging speaker with over 12 years of experience in people and v olunteer management. She brings an innovative mindset grounded in seven post‑secondary credentials, including certificates in volunteer coordi nation and management, and a Bachelor's of Science. Maggie is Manager, F oster Program at the BC SPCA and Chair of the BC Regional Committee for Volunteer Management Professionals of Canada. Her work has earned the Em erging Leaders Award (2017), Valedictorian Award (2022), and the 2025 VM PC President’s Award. Outside of work, Maggie enjoys time with her par tner, family, friends, and her Golden Retriever, Rio. \n\n-- Presentati on: The Bucket Has Holes: Rethinking Growth, Data, and Impact in Volunte er Programs --\n\nVolunteer managers are often asked the same question: “How many volunteers do you have?” But what if growth in volunteer e ngagement isn’t always about increasing that number?\n\nIn this sessio n, Maggie introduces a simple but powerful metaphor she uses to explain volunteer program data: The "Fluid Resource Bucket". The volunteers we n eed represent a line in the bucket determined by operational needs. Recr uitment pours water into the bucket, while volunteers inevitably leave t hrough holes—some we can fix (like poor onboarding) and others we cann ot (life changes, health, relocation).\n\nThis metaphor helps reframe ho w we interpret volunteer data. Maintaining the same number of volunteers may actually represent success if fewer volunteers are leaving. Likewis e, growth might mean improving volunteer experience, increasing efficien cy, or strengthening the quality of engagement—not just adding more pe ople.\n\nParticipants will explore how to challenge assumptions about gr owth, identify meaningful indicators of success, and use data-driven ins ights to guide program decisions. The session will also highlight the va lue of qualitative feedback, thoughtful survey questions, and collecting baseline data to demonstrate meaningful change. Because measuring the w rong things can send us chasing the wrong goals.\n\n-- Session #1 Contin ued --\n\n-- Facilitator: Vladyslav Hryhorenko, CVA, ABCP --\n\nVladysla v Hryhorenko, CVA, ABCP, is Executive Director of Volunteer Bénévoles Yukon and Principal of Rigóre Consulting, a management advisory practic e specializing in nonprofit governance and organizational strategy. He h olds the Certified in Volunteer Administration and Associate Business Co ntinuity Professional designations. He is developing a book on volunteer ism and the cultural dimensions of civic participation, drawing on Hofst ede’s cultural framework and the Inglehart-Welzel model. His writing o n volunteer sector trends has been developed for professional sector aud iences across Canada and the United States.\n\n-- Presentation: Misreadi ng the Decline: What Volunteer Participation Data Actually Tells Us --\n \nThe volunteer sector has a preferred explanation for falling participa tion: people care less, younger generations will not commit, and the pan demic broke habits that never came back. This session challenges that di agnosis directly.\n\nDrawing on Statistics Canada’s 2023 Survey on Giv ing, Volunteering and Participating, Labour Force Survey data on gig wor k, and Canadian Social Survey findings on affordability, the session ide ntifies two structural forces that better account for the observed decli ne: economic competition for discretionary time and the fragmentation of civic participation across informal, digital, and non-institutional cha nnels.\n\nParticipants will work through the data together, examine what it can and cannot tell us, and apply a structural diagnostic lens to th e planning assumptions their own organizations are currently operating u nder. The session is designed to be genuinely interactive: participants will be invited to identify which of their current recruitment and reten tion strategies address structural barriers and which assume a motivatio n problem that may not be the primary issue. The goal is to give practit ioners a more accurate diagnostic frame so that organizational strategy starts from the right problem.\n\n-------------------------------------- ----------------------------------\n\n-- Breakout Session #2 --\n\n-- Fa cilitator: Marcela Zafra --\n\nMarcela Zafra is a fractional marketing s trategist with over ten years of experience in the nonprofit and social impact sector. She helps small and mid-sized nonprofits move from reacti ve marketing and communications to proactive strategy through partnering with nonprofits, working as an embedded marketing partner alongside lea dership, programs, and fund development teams. Marcela also runs Comms C onnect, a free monthly community of practice for nonprofit communicators and marketers. Her work is grounded in the belief that marketing is cap acity building, and that strong systems, clear messaging, and ethical st orytelling create sustainable impact. \n\n-- Presentation: Build an Eth ical Storytelling Framework You Can Actually Use --\n\nMost organization s know storytelling matters. Fewer know how to do it without causing har m.\n\nVolunteer engagement professionals are often at the center of stor ytelling, whether they are gathering stories from volunteers, sharing im pact narratives with leadership, or helping community members feel safe enough to share their experiences. But without a clear framework, even w ell-intentioned storytelling can cross lines around consent, dignity, an d privacy.\n\nThis interactive workshop moves beyond principles and into practice. Participants will learn a four-phase ethical storytelling fra mework that covers the full lifecycle of a story: gathering, crafting, d istribution, and stewardship. We will explore what informed consent actu ally looks like, how to conduct trauma-informed interviews, how to craft stories that center dignity over drama, and what to do when something g oes wrong.\n\nParticipants will walk away with a downloadable ethical st orytelling toolkit, including the full framework, a media consent form t emplate, and practical guidelines they can adapt and implement in their own organizations right away.\n\nWhether you manage five volunteers or f ive hundred, this session will give you the structure to tell stories th at build trust instead of breaking it.\n\n-- Session #2 Continued --\n\n -- Facilitator: Jessica Pang-Parks --\n\nJessica is a volunteer engageme nt thought leader who helps organizations build trust, create  impact, and inspire belonging. She is the recipient of the 2021 Alison Caird You ng Leader Award in  recognition of her leadership and excellence in vol unteer engagement and the recipient of the 2023  VMPC Exemplary Leader Impact Award in recognition of her contributions to the field as a mento r,  leader, trainer, and advocate.  \n\nJessica was named one of the Top 10 Volunteer Leadership Voices in 2025. She earned her CVA  credent ial in 2023, became Trauma of Money Certified™ in 2025, and has facili tated Fleming  College’s Volunteer Management: Spectrum of Engagement course since 2022. She has held professional volunteer and community en gagement roles at Crohn's and Colitis Canada, Pathways to Education Cana da, the Heart & Stroke Foundation, Volunteer Toronto, and WWF-Canada. Je ssica has the privilege to work on the traditional land of the Huron-Wen dat, the Seneca, and the  Mississaugas of the Credit. Learn more about Jessica at www.learnwithjpp.com. \n\n-- Presentation: Authentic Visibil ity: Sharing Your Work with Confidence --\n\nDo you ever struggle to tal k about the amazing work you do as a leader of volunteers, including to boards and executive teams, without feeling like you’re bragging? Yo u’re not alone.  \n\nMany volunteer engagement professionals find it easier to shine the spotlight on others than on  themselves. The truth is: your voice, accomplishments, and impact deserve to be seen and hear d. This interactive session is all about finding ways to share your work that feel natural and aligned  with your values. We’ll explore why s ome forms of self-promotion make us cringe, and how to  reframe visibil ity so it feels authentic, empowering, and even enjoyable. \n\nUsing Me ntimeter, you’ll have the chance to reflect anonymously, brainstorm wi th peers, and  practice new techniques in real time. You’ll leave wit h practical tools and the confidence to show up  more fully: whether on LinkedIn, at networking events, or in conversations. \n\n------------- -----------------------------------------------------------\n\n--  Foru m Wrap Up & Announcements --\n\n  END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR