Volunteerism - Where is your passion?

HDI is the professional association for the IT service and support industry. It's mission is to elevate the customer experience through the development of the technical support industry. In addition to professional training and certifications of best-practices, they hold local and national meetings, events and conferences throughout the year. There are 60+ local chapters across the US and Canada and I have been involved with the Minnesota Local Chapter since 2012 as a Local Chapter Officer (LCO). LCO's are completely volunteer positions and we host local chapter meetings which fosters:

Connecting with others and growing our network of industry peers and resources.
Learning from each other to enhance our leadership skills and overall knowledge of the IT service and support industry with the goal of becoming more successful in our own careers and learning how to develop, engage and motivate our staff to maximize the CX.
Inspiring others with our personal stories of what being involved with HDI has done for our careers, and our personal growth and our teams.

My involvement allows me to bring back what other companies are doing and how we can use those to help improve our people, processes and technologies. I have learned so many valuable leadership skills from the speakers at the events and conferences. I apply these leadership skills in my daily work here at Mayo of leading and building my team to be able to create the best CX for our customers. I have built a network of industry peers and leaders from across the US--many which have also turned into life-lasting friendships. As the professional networking evolves into friendships, we learn from each other how to become better people and, when applicable, better parents and spouses. My involvement in volunteering in HDI has changed my life bother professionally and personally.

I have been volunteering in the Mankato, MN, community since spring of 2014. I have health issues that forced me to go on disability as I could not perform duties at my former job and many other positions as well. I felt like I wanted to give of my time and talents so I volunteered at Salvation Army Thrift Store and at New Perspective Senior Living. I especially enjoyed interacting with residents at the assisted living ass I enjoy being with others and serving them. In November 2017 I became a volunteer at Mayo Clinic Health Systems in Mankato, MN. I work at the Information Desk and in the Gift Shop. I love escorting patients, family members, and visitors to their destination, as well as assisting people in the gift shop. I have always had a love for health care and helping others!