Date: Thursday, October 28, 2021
Category: General

“This year, I am thankful for the RESNA community who is always so willing to support our society with their time, ideas and expertise. RESNA volunteers truly keep our society moving forward.”

As we begin the holiday season, I often reflect on what I am thankful for. This year, I am thankful for the RESNA members who are always so willing to support our community with their time, ideas and expertise. RESNA volunteers truly keep our society moving forward. The ideas you bring are inspiring, and I always enjoy hearing what others are working on within the AT field.

The time that you dedicated to RESNA is extremely valuable to our future, and we want to better support your efforts and role as a volunteer. This is why RESNA is developing more tools to help our volunteer committees, task forces and communities to thrive and achieve their objectives. In 2021, RESNA hosted our first volunteer leadership meeting, to help committee chairs, group chairs, and board members understand their role within RESNA and develop leadership skills and best practices. I am excited to see those who participated grow in their roles as volunteer leaders.

In addition, RESNA is implementing formal orientations for PSG and SIG chairs. These orientations will help guide PSG and SIG initiatives for the year. The RESNA staff will also serve as valuable resources to support development and activities within these volunteer communities. We envision this additional training and staff support will help our volunteers meet other leaders within our community and develop further develop their leadership skillset.  

You can gain so much by volunteering with RESNA. Your service can lead to lasting friendships, professional growth and thought leadership opportunities within AT. There are many opportunities within RESNA to lend your talents, including Special Interest Groups and the Professional Specialty Groups, review panels for the RESNA Annual Conference, the Assistive Technology Journal and RESNA position papers. We are always looking to expand volunteer roles and positions, so don’t be afraid to lend your voice and expertise.

With volunteering, I find you get what you put into it. If you make the effort and set aside time to participate in RESNA meetings or discussion forums, you will see the difference you are making within the society and advancing technology for people with disabilities. I have always found volunteering with RESNA to be a very rewarding experience. It has been gratifying to see my volunteer efforts result in improved products and services for the people that we all serve.  But to me, volunteering has always been about the people.  It has populated my professional network with experts that I could call on to enrich my practice, while also turning colleagues into friends and personal relationships that have lasted decades.  

I encourage you to get involved with RESNA. We are always looking for fresh faces and new ideas. Visit the RESNA website to learn more and email us at membership@resna.org if you are looking to become a volunteer.

Best,

Maureen Linden