05 November 2026
2026 is International Volunteer Year, shining a light on the importance of volunteering globally. This year’s theme, Legacy and Leadership: Honouring the Past, Present and Future, highlights the significant impact of those who lead and support other volunteers while dedicating their own time to the work: Volunteer Managers.
By Jill Scanlon
And, as the year winds down, November 5 will see a celebration of these people with Volunteer Managers Day, highlighting those who volunteer in management roles in the development sector – be that a co-ordinator, manager or team leader - the majority of whom are women, playing key roles in organisations globally.
As part of this celebration, Women in Aid & Development wants to shine a light on its own volunteer managers.
WiAD is a mostly volunteer-run organisation and has had wonderful support from volunteers across the years, and therefore wants to recognise some of its great managers and co-ordinators.
Carla Hasrouni is our current volunteer co-ordinator, having taken over mid-year from the wonderful Maya McGain, who served in that role through its previous term. Ella O’Bree is WiADs Mentoring Co-ordinator, overseeing one of our key support programs, while Claudia Miranda-Veloso is this year’s Communications intern, a role which supports the media and communications content output, key to the organisation’s advocacy platform.
One of the well-known features of WiAD is the regularly hosted city-based and online events throughout each year, which bring together like-minded people in a space designed to serve as a platform for guest speakers to share their career experiences and roles in the development sector, as well as being an opportunity for those attending to network and share their knowledge.
These events and forums are led by WiADs volunteer facilitators - Jill Scanlon (Melbourne), Julie Robert (Canberra), and Jamie-Lee McLoughlin (former Sydney event convener) who themselves lead a collection of volunteers to ensure the success of these key events each year.
Volunteers are an essential part of the non-profit workforce, no more so than in the development sector, and those who undertake the additional responsibilities of leading, managing and co-ordinating as part of their roles are to be applauded.