Johnson County United Way breakfast kickoff

United Way of Johnson County invites area business leaders to learn more about the Workplace Volunteer Council at a kickoff breakfast at Procter & Gamble on Wednesday, February 29 from 7:30-8:30 am.

The Workplace Volunteer Council is forming as a coalition of local businesses that have an employee volunteer program or are interested in starting one. It creates a structure to help businesses establish, grow and sustain successful employee volunteer programs that align with business goals, employee interests and community needs.

Barbara Waters will deliver a keynote presentation, By Leaps and Bounds: Increasing Impact by Working Together.  Barbara Waters is the Community Relations Manager for Placon Corporation, a plastic manufacturing company in Madison, WI, where she leads Placon's volunteer program and corporate contributions.

She has been a member of Madison's workplace volunteer council, the Business Volunteer Network, for 10 years and currently serves as BVN Chair.

BVN was the 2008 “Corporate Volunteer Council of the Year Award” recipient by the Points of Light/Hands On Network.  She also serves as a member of the HON Corporate Volunteer Council Advisory Committee.  In this role, Barbara has presented workshops at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service for new and emerging Corporate Volunteer Councils.

• Drawing on her experiences with Workplace Volunteer Councils around the country, she will share:
• How to link your company's volunteer program to serve a larger need in the community
• The benefits of membership in a Workplace Volunteer Council
• Different WVC models and what makes a great WVC.

Procter & Gamble, the University of Iowa Foundation and CIVCO will also highlight their employee volunteer engagement strategies and policies.  To date, 19 companies plan to attend the breakfast or are interested in being part of the Workplace Volunteer Council.