Volunteer
There are many ways to help Student Advocacy while building your skills and meeting interesting people. Consider the following:
Annual Dinner Committee
Volunteer to serve on the OTO Awards Dinner Committee. The event is held each May. Our Dinner Committee is instrumental in planning and promoting this event, which is our key fundraising effort for the year. We are looking for people who share our passion for helping kids.
Awards Selection Committee
Our signature Overcoming the Odds Award celebrates students who have surmounted incredible challenges in their lives. Students are nominated by parents, teachers and others close to the child. The Awards Selection Committee reviews and discusses nominations and then selects the four OTO Award winners. It’s a humbling experience to read the incredible hardships that others face. If you are up for the challenge, it is an experience you will not forget.
Serve as a Board Member
If you share our beliefs in the resilience of children and the power of education and would like to do what you can to ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed in school, then consider volunteering to serve on Student Advocacy’s Board of Directors. A passion for our mission, not prior experience, is our main requirement. For more information about the work of the Board and the application process, please contact us at Studentadvocacy@studentadvocacy.net.
Board Member Responsibilities
1. Support Our Mission
The mission of Student Advocacy is to get students on track to graduate by advocating improved educational opportunities, protecting educational rights and fostering effective communication between families and schools.
As advocates, we do not teach, tutor or educate children. Rather, our role is to ensure that schools follow the law, provide all services to which a child is entitled, and provide an educational program which offers each student a reasonable chance for success. We advocate for about 1,000 individual students each year. We also advocate to change school policies and practices that are barriers to student success.
2. Attend Meetings Regularly
The Board of Directors holds monthly meetings between September and June, on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. Meetings are held at our office in Elmsford.
Materials sent in advance of meetings, such as budget reports or briefing papers on policy issues, must be reviewed prior to the meetings. We expect Board members to attend and participate in all regularly scheduled meetings.
3. Participate on Committees
Each Board member serves on one or more committees which typically include the:
Planning Committee which coordinates the annual review and update of the strategic plan.
OTO Benefit Committee which coordinates the annual Overcoming the Odds Awards dinner.
Development Committee which develops and coordinates other fundraising initiatives.
Membership Committee which identifies, recruits, and helps to orient new candidates for the Board.
Public Policy Committee which supports policy projects such as the current project on home instruction.
Finance Committee which supports development of the annual budget and oversees the annual audit.
4. Help Build Relationships & Fundraise
Fundraising is really about building relationships. Board members take every opportunity to share their passion about our work. In addition, they support our annual fundraising activities including our Overcoming the Odds Awards Dinner in the spring and our Direct Mail Campaign at the end of the year.
All Board members support these activities and encourage their friends and colleagues to participate. All Board members are expected to make a contribution at a level of their own choice.
5. Promote Student Advocacy Everywhere
Board members take every opportunity to learn about the agency and its work by reading our materials, visiting the office, or attending a training program. This enables Board members to speak informally about the agency at any time and help nurture contacts in businesses, foundations, law firms, and community groups.
In addition to acting informally as emissaries of the agency, Board members also write letters on behalf of Student Advocacy and accompany staff to meetings with legislators, other public officials, and private donors.
Board members play an important role in running Student Advocacy. We hope you will join us.