International scope - mentioning several countries

Susan J. Ellis was more than a passionate advocate for the change that great volunteering could make, and more than a passionate voice for the influence that Volunteer Engagement professionals could make while forging that change.

She ‘walked the walk’ and ‘talked the talk.’ She invested time, money, and her expertise into the development of resources that have become the benchmark of volunteerism the world over.

But more than that, she was a generous soul with a heart that was driven to not only help build volunteerism in her home country – but the world over. Whenever the name ‘Susan J. Ellis’ is brought up at a volunteerism conference or a DOVIA meeting, stories are inevitably shared by volunteer leaders about the knowledge they learned from one of her publications, or the encouragement they personally received while meeting her at the Energize booth during a conference or over a quick chat at the conclusion of a workshop.

To celebrate Ellis’ life, her long-time colleague, friend, and fellow writer Andy Fryar, who serves as manuscript developer for e-Volunteerism, approached key volunteerism leaders from around the world and asked them to share their personal insights about the difference she made to volunteerism in their country – and to them personally. This unique e-Volunteerism feature presents stories and reflections from 10 volunteerism leaders on the influential lift of Susan J. Ellis and her life’s work.

Susan J. Ellis may be best remembered for her prolific writing and famous "Hot Topics," her personal musings on important issues in the volunteer engagement field. But for many people, their fondest memories and biggest 'aha' moments came from Ellis’ work as a trainer. This Training Designs shares the insights and lessons learned from Ellis as she blazed a trail across the field and trained thousands of leaders of volunteers, past and present.  

In its final appearance, Along the Web presents "Impact Susan," a collection of articles about Susan J. Ellis and her lasting impact on the volunteer management profession that appeared around the country following her death in February 2019. Descriptions and links to these publications, online exchanges, and group chats are provided here as Along the Web, which Ellis created, bids farewell.  

This special issue devoted to e-Volunteerism’s Co-Founder Susan J. Ellis begins with a feature by Rob Jackson, the Journal’s new Editor-in-Chief. In this article, Jackson reflects on the legacy of Ellis and her life’s work, including how and why she started the profession’s first online journal 20 years ago. He also shares reflections on Ellis’ work that has emerged in the last 17 months since her passing. And he looks ahead to the future of e-Volunteerism by sharing, he writes, some “exciting news and plans about the future for the Journal.”

"Social prescribing" is a means for tackling poor health without, or alongside, prescribing  pharmaceutical drugs. Schemes for social prescribing cover a wide array of activities and programmes, ranging from physical activities such as dance classes through culture programmes and volunteering.  As research proves that volunteering has a positive impact on mental health, volunteering has become an efficient and increasingly popular way of addressing health and well-being concerns and a part of social prescribing schemes. Participating in volunteering activities in the framework of social prescribing is especially beneficial for patients with mental health issues, and/or suffer from loneliness and isolation, perhaps caused by physical illnesses or other social issues.

In this e-Volunteerism feature, author Gabriella Civico explains how volunteering is an important part of social prescribing schemes for patients. “Social prescribing leads to patients requiring less on-going support and enables them to contribute to an important cause, often continuing to support it even after the prescribed period ends,” she writes. “In this way, social prescribing has a positive impact on society as well as the patients.”  

In this Voices, co-editor Tracey O’Neill talks with leaders of volunteers about the value of podcasts, those video/audio presentations that now cover every topic around the world and can be accessed via computers, cell phones, and tablets. Through her interviews with experienced podcast users Meridian Swift, Jennifer Bennett, and Tobi Johnson, O’Neill uncovers the benefits of podcasts for leaders of volunteers, and explains what podcasts offer to the volunteer sector. O’Neill also explores how to manage expectations for this newly ubiquitous communications tool as she hears from voices in the field.