Reflections on Virtual Volunteering — Achievements of Black Women Event
By Hannah Marx
I recently volunteered for Comm Giveback @ IBM Consulting’s quarterly virtual volunteering event, Making fact cards on the achievements of Black women. We created these fact cards with the intention of inspiring young Black girls find their role models and learn more about successful Black women before them. This opportunity to volunteer with Project DIVA International was a wonderful way to celebrate Black History Month and get a head start on celebrating Women’s History Month. Beyond what I learned about the achievements of Black women, I learned how good it feels to unite with my IBM community for a good cause.
Here were my biggest takeaways:
You don’t have to be an expert to volunteer.
We started the volunteer event with a trivia game on famous Black women and I felt disappointed by how many names I didn’t recognize. So going into the fact card portion of the event, I intentionally chose a woman whose name I didn’t recognize. While it took longer to research Wilma Rudolph (who went from a child told she could never walk again to track and field known as “the fastest woman in the world”), it felt rewarding to create a fact card about someone who wasn’t universally known but still had incredible achievements that will surely inspire others.
Volunteering virtually can still be impactful — maybe even more so.
To be completely transparent, I wasn’t sure how impactful a virtual volunteering event would be — isn’t volunteering supposed to be difficult and have a direct, tangible impact? But sitting at my desk at home, learning about Project Diva and the way our fact cards would be distributed, I realized almost the opposite was true: because we were creating these online tools, we could impact more than just a few girls in our local communities, but maybe even hundreds or thousands of young Black girls across the world.
One of the best ways to bond with your coworkers is through volunteer work.
I started working at IBM just 6 months ago, and this was the first event I’ve organized. When several people on my Comms CT team signed up to volunteer, I felt a stronger connection between us — it was confirmation that so many of us at IBM care about having a positive impact. Fellow associate consultant Darryn Davis reaffirmed this sense of bonding, saying “The virtual volunteering event has been one of my most engaging experiences. It exceeded my expectations and left me eager to meet my fellow IBMers located across the US in person someday.”
I feel proud to work at a company that is passionate about volunteer work and making the world a better place. IBM has many inspiring events for Women’s History Month, and I encourage all of you to attend. Please stay tuned and join us for our next virtual volunteering event in Q2!
