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Spark Awards

Volunteer engagement innovations aren’t always sweeping transformations. Sometimes, they begin as sparks from simple ideas, thoughtful adjustments, or pivotal shifts that improve how we engage with volunteers.  Learn more about how your spark can be awarded and highlighted in this section.

Jamie Gray, MS, CVA, CSHIP
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Jamie Gray is a Certified Volunteer Administrator (CVA) with extensive non-profit and association management experience designing and promoting tools and programs to support volunteer engagement, leadership development and governance. She is responsible for developing and delivering programs to… Read more
Michaela Rýgrová (Míša)
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Michaela Rýgrová (Míša) loves connecting people, ideas and resources in ways that spark meaningful action. She is a community curator, sustainability advocate and strategic thinker working across volunteering, culture and innovation. Based in Prague, Rýgrová collaborates internationally to… Read more
Stephanie Ashley Caban
Stephanie Ashley Caban
Stephanie Ashley Caban (she/her) started her career with Reading Partners in NYC, partnering with Title I schools in East Harlem, Jamaica and Queens Village to increase children's literacy rates with volunteer tutors. In 2018, she pivoted to social services at Part of the Solution in The Bronx,… Read more
Shaminda Perera, M.Ed., MJF
Shaminda Perera, M.Ed., MJF is an experienced practitioner in the volunteerism space since 2011 and in the Performance and Learning space since 2003. He approaches volunteer involvement from the perspectives of capacity-building of the volunteerism ecosystem, strategic Volunteer Engagement and… Read more
Paul P. Falkowski, Ph.D.
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Paul P. Falkowski, Ph.D., is the Founder and President of the National Association of Long-Term Care Volunteers (NALTCV), a nonprofit dedicated to increasing community engagement in long-term care through companion volunteering, training, and advocacy. For Falkowski, volunteer engagement is rooted… Read more
Sharleen Tarnate-Nguyen, CVA
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Sharleen Tarnate-Nguyen, MAT, CVA, is the Volunteer Engagement Manager for the San Diego Humane Society. She oversees volunteer event management, recognition, engagement strategy, external and episodic service, and new program development for their volunteer base of over 4,000 individuals. During… Read more