2019 Volunteer Training Recap
5 trainings
4 states
204 volunteers trained
497 training hours
At POW, we love stats, and we’re psyched to conclude 2019 with almost 500 training hours! Hosted by our advocacy coordinator, Lindsey Halvorson, our volunteer trainings inform and activate volunteers in the areas where POW is having the most impact.
POW supporters have been asking how to get more involved, and we answered that call by hosting four volunteer trainings this year in key areas across the country.
What is the structure of a POW Volunteer Training?
This year, we began all POW trainings with a Passion Into Purpose presentation from a local athlete (shout out to Tim Eddy, Chris Davenport, Maddie Phenauf and Brody Leven!), offering their experience in the outdoors and what drove them to volunteer for climate change advocacy. Additionally, we incorporated a Climate Science 101 aspect into our trainings to ensure that volunteers are armed with the fundamentals of climate science from local climate academics and experts.
The trainings continued with a POW Primer where we taught participants everything they’d need to know about POW, including POW’s history, our policy areas and the current campaigns we’re activating the community on. Through a workshopping session, we helped folks develop their own climate story, and closed out by offering our newly minted volunteers opportunities to help POW in the area, like tabling at ski movie premieres in Portland, Maine, or helping POW campaign for 100 percent renewable energy in Salt Lake County.
Our attendees have given us great feedback, stating that our trainings are “laid back, not intimidating at all, relaxing and empowering.”
The best part? POW Volunteer Trainings align like-minded people in the community, and have started many great ski buddy friendships! One of our New Hampshire attendees noted that it was, “really cool to have a regional training because I met a bunch of people from all over the Northeast, not just where I’m from” and that, “it was cool to meet a really good community of people.”
Future of Volunteer Trainings
We’re pumped to see our volunteers out in the field this year, and are so excited to support them throughout this upcoming election year as well! “It was just reassuring as to the messaging and how important it is for us to unite through POW and get out the message of climate change,” said one of our Nevada attendees. We can’t do this alone, and we are thrilled to be able to engage our community to work toward our goals.
Looking for more opportunities to get involved in 2020? Our next set of trainings are coming up in Colorado:
- Sunday, December 15, Denver
- Saturday, January 11, Roaring Fork Valley
- Sunday, January 12, Crested Butte
We’re holding additional volunteer trainings in Nevada, Michigan, North Carolina and New England, so please subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Instagram to get the latest updates. We can’t wait to see you out there!
Photo Credit: Chris Bennett