by Eileen Rowley

Julie Emory is currently the US Servas Tech Team Lead. She Joined Servas in 2017 and became a superstar volunteer while working on the 2022 National Conference team in Salt Lake City. Julie now lives in Cannon Beach, OR

LEE: Julie, how long have you been volunteering with Servas?

JULIE: I started in early 2022, with the team that planned the US Servas conference in Salt Lake City. At that conference there was a session about Volunteering, and reps from each team were there, and I decided to try the Tech Team.

LEE: What surprised you most when you began volunteering?

JULIE: I was surprised about the underlying organizational structure. I had never paid attention to it. I knew people were out there doing things like sending the newsletter and answering membership questions, but I had never thought too much about the structure and planning behind all that. I had just taken it for granted.

LEE: What would you like us to know about your background and history?

JULIE: I was an accounting manager, and an employee benefits director. I enjoyed lots of business travel, overseas assignments, and worked a lot of hours trying to be a good employee. I am happy now to be retired.

LEE: What motivates you to continue to volunteer with the US Servas Tech Team?

JULIE: First, I feel like I’m contributing to a really good organization. I do not have a professional tech background, but I have a lot of related experience. I was very honest with everybody about that when I first joined, and they were able to provide training. It is going well. I have been able to apply a lot of my experience to the volunteer work that I do.

Also, while happy to be retired, I spent many years getting fairly proficient with Office software. I did not want to lose those skills. I need to use them frequently to stay up to speed. It works out well for me to keep those skills up and contribute; It’s a win/win.

LEE: What is the best part about being a Servas volunteer?  

JULIE: It’s something I heard during Tech Team training that resonated with me. Servas volunteers have unique skills and personalities; we come together to keep the organization solid and moving forward. It works pretty well! We don’t always agree, we work out our differences, we learn to appreciate other people. And that is what our organization is about, right? Appreciating other people, other backgrounds. We model this with volunteers in our own country to keep the organization going.

LEE: Can you recall one particular tech experience that made you feel proud/happy/exhilarated/surprised?

JULIE: I’m proud that my efforts are making a difference. When a new volunteer is identified for the Tech Team, we consider training needs, and work to give them the necessary system access. I remember emailing somebody when they first became a volunteer, now they have been with a team for over six months. It feels nice to have been there on their first day, and see they are solid and progressing. Another motivating factor: I’ve corresponded online with other volunteers, just emailing back and forth. But when I see their faces on an online call, or meet them in person at a conference, it is really neat. They’re nice, regular people, but they have a little background superpower of helping for an hour or two, here and there. Just a few hours to chip in can make a big difference.

LEE: Can I add something here? If people reading our newsletter think, “Oh, I don’t have training or a degree in finance or tech or whatever, so I probably couldn’t make a difference,” I would say: please think again. Solid administrative skills, solid organizational skills, every team needs that kind of support. We need people who can take decent notes, follow up with someone on a task, make a phone call, etc. Every team needs people with those skills. I think a lot of our members out there have those skills. They may not think they can be useful, but they really can!  

If you would like to volunteer with US Servas, fill out the form here https://usservas.org/Volunteering], or email your name, location, e-mail, phone number, your preferred method of contact to: volunteercoordination@usservas.org.