About the Speakers

Lead Presenter

Chris Millora (Philippines)
Doctoral Researcher
UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation at the University of East Anglia, UK

Chris Millora is a Filipino PhD scholar with the UNESCO Chair in Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation, University of East Anglia (UK). His project is an 11-month ethnography of the learning dimension of local volunteering by ‘vulnerable’ youths and adults in an HIV/AIDS awareness group and informal settlers’ movement in the Philippines. Chris recently worked with UN Volunteers developing a volunteer typology for the 21st century in preparation for the Global Technical Meeting 2020 on Reimagining Volunteering for the 2030 Agenda. Chris holds an MA in Lifelong Learning Policy and Management from UCL Institute of Education in London.

Moderator

Piotr Sadowski (Europe)
Secretary General
Volonteurope

Piotr Sadowski has been Secretary General of Volonteurope (an international civil society network advocating for active citizenship and volunteering as routes to achieve more social justice) since 2008. He was directly involved in the advocacy and implementation of the 2011 European Year of Volunteering. In 2017 he joined the Management Committee of Social Platform and in 2019 was elected President of the organisation. Social Platform is the largest network of civil society organisations in the European Union (EU). Comprised of a membership united in the fight for social justice, equality between all people, inclusion, sustainability and participatory democracy in the EU and beyond. His passion for volunteering dates to his International Baccalaureate studies at UWC Atlantic College in Wales (1996-98). He then studied Economics at the LSE in the UK. He works internationally and is based between London, Brussels and Ibiza.

Panelists

Dr. Sabrina Clark (United States)
Director, Voluntary Service
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Dr. Sabrina Clark is the Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Voluntary Service Program. Appointed to this position in September 2013, she leads the largest integrated volunteer department in the U.S. federal government with more than 61,000 volunteers serving more 9.1 million hours annually, as well as generating approximately $100K in gifts and donations each year to supplement the care and services of VA’s approximately 9 million Veterans across the country. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy, a Masters in Vocal Performance and a Ph.D. in Positive Neuropsychology, earned this April 2020.

Mujtaba Arshia (Afghanistan)
Founder
Afghanistan Volunteering National Organization

Mujtaba Arshia is an Afghan youth activist and, the founder of Afghanistan Volunteering National Organization. He aims to uphold his homeland through voluntarism and empowering the youth of his community. Arshia obtained his degree in Business administration in 2014 and served as a lecturer. He also led a project of National Endowment for Democracy in an Afghan NGO to answer the mainstream taboos of Afghanistan’s community through civic engagement of youth and has worked for the US Department of State as an Economist.

Raquel Rodrigues Keenan (United Kingdom)
Event Officer & Diversity Trainer
Volunteer Now

Raquel Rodrigues Keenan is the Events Officer and Diversity Trainer with Volunteer Now, the lead organisation for promoting and supporting volunteering across Northern Ireland (NI). Having graduated with a bachelor’s in journalism from University Nova Lisbon, Raquel moved from Portugal to Luxembourg for a one-year European Volunteer Service in 2007, where she met her Irish husband. She has been living in NI since 2008, working in education and voluntary sector. Her role with Volunteer Now involves recruiting, training, and managing teams of volunteers in partnership with the Northern Ireland Tourism Board. In this role she has supported large scale events such as the Giro D’Italia, Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and Culture Night Belfast. In 2019 she authored a practical toolkit on Events & Volunteering and has worked with smaller event organisers to improve the standard of volunteer-involving organisations. She is also an Investing in Volunteers Quality Assessor and a WorldHost Trainer.

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