Hundreds of CES members volunteer their time to bring to life the experiences we all share. If you’ve ever attended a Chapter event, been to a conference or joined a webinar, it was likely organized and led by volunteers. Have you read about the work of CES and its Chapters in a CES Annual Report? That work was led and supported by volunteers on the CES Board of Directors, committees, working groups and Chapters. Volunteers support every aspect of CES, from sharing their knowledge and expertise, ensuring that you have a great experience at an event, to guiding the development of policies to further the CES mission and vision.

Volunteers are integral to the success of CES’ annual conferences. For the Ottawa 2021 conference (postponed from 2020), Co-Chairs Benoit Gauthier and Jennifer Birch-Jones are working with a core group of 65 dedicated volunteers, with additional volunteers engaged to assist with proposal and workshop reviews, as well as the actual staging of the conference. While the 2020/2021 conference volunteers have been active, volunteers from the Maritimes were supporting the 2019 conference in Halifax and volunteers are already supporting the 2022 conference to be held in Winnipeg.

Volunteers help to create a vision for what CES can achieve for members, source the best content, provide feedback, contribute to goals such as addressing diversity, equity and inclusion within CES, helping CES be more sustainable and promote sustainability as a value. Fellows are recognized for their important contributions to evaluation, and they continue to volunteer in support of CES. If you are reading this, there is a good chance that you have attended a meeting, provided feedback, volunteered at an event, or otherwise volunteered in some way for CES. We celebrate all CES volunteers during National Volunteer Week. Next time someone invites you to a Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation book club webinar, lets you know about the upcoming virtual Student Case Competition, shares information about an upcoming Chapter-led webinar or otherwise offers their time in support of your experience, please thank them and acknowledge what a meaningful impact their volunteer time makes on you.

Thanks to all CES volunteers! Happy National Volunteer Week. Now, more than ever, your commitment to our community matters and we are grateful for everything you do.