5 Reasons to Continue Volunteering at Every Stage of Your Career

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

Many women who are featured or profiled on The Glass Hammer have sung the virtues of volunteering – from serving on non-profit boards to working in soup kitchens, many women are breaking the glass ceiling while taking part in philanthropic efforts.

Some have described how volunteering has helped their careers, and some have discussed how volunteering has helped them grow closer to their families. And still others have explained how volunteer work can help build the next generation of female leaders.

Why should professional women consider volunteering? Here are five voices from The Glass Hammer on what volunteer work has done for them.

1. Become a Leader

While building her Wall Street career, now-President of The Financial Women’s Association Susan Ganz felt the need to give back, and has now managed to successfully transition her passion into a new leadership role. She explained, “I began helping recruit mentors for the [FWA’s] Wall Street Exchange program, a workshop series for to-be college seniors who were interested in the Financial Services arena.” She continued, “And from there I was hooked.”

Ganz became more and more involved with the FWA, first serving as a volunteer, then a committee chair, then later Annual Dinner Co-Chair, then Treasurer and Vice President. When the organization began searching for a new president, Ganz was a natural choice. She explained, “My passion is educating and empowering women, businesses, and non-profits.”

2. Figure Out Your Path

Recently, Shearman & Sterling Partner Patricia Hammes explained that it was her time volunteering with the Peace Corps that set her on the path to law. After graduating from college, she had no idea what she wanted to do, she said. But her experience working in Honduras changed that.

“I worked in youth development, and it was a great but very challenging experience,” Hammes recalled. “They say ‘it’s the toughest job you’ll ever love,’ and that’s true. It helped me focus on who I was, my abilities, and the work for which I was best suited.”

Hammes now works in project finance at Shearman & Sterling – and she said it was her time working in Honduras that initially drove her interest in Latin America and development, both of which have contributed significantly to her career.

3. Create the Next Generation of Leaders

According to several women we’ve interviewed, the field of technology suffers an image problem – people see it as too geeky. This stereotype is one of the issues that prevents many girls, as well as ethnically diverse children, from excelling in the field from an early age. Augusta Sanfilippo, Citi‘s Managing Director of Cash Securities Operations IT, is working to change the stereotype.

“I work with a not-for-profit organization called First Robotics. There’s not enough excitement about science and technology in middle school and high school kids – and the organization provides an opportunity for high school and middle school kids to take the robotics kits, giving them six weeks to create a robot and to compete in the Robotics Games,” she said.

Sanfilippo also served as a judge at the upcoming Regional Competition in the New York Javits Center in March. She said, “It focuses on inner city kids – it keeps them out of trouble and challenges them as they raise the $6,000 to build, test, and transport their robot to the competition. It’s been an amazing experience for me over the past few years, and I’ve gotten my family involved as well.”

4. Become a Better Manager

In a recent Intrepid Woman article, Margaret Schramm Horn, a self-described “casualty of the financial crisis,” wrote about her experience volunteering in earthquake-devastated Haiti after leaving her role at a top financial company. She explained that what she learned in Haiti actually has had a lot of bearing on her team management skills. She wrote:

“The work reminded me of what was truly important in life and put some of my challenges in perspective. Even though I had no medical training, there was still much that I could do to make people’s lives better. Small tasks such as sorting the medical supplies and donated clothing that came from around the world, helping the surgeons find the bone screws they needed, contributed in a tangible way to the hospital’s daily accomplishments and efficiency.

The trip provided me with a great grounding, as I decide what to do in the next chapter of my professional life. Such efforts reminded me how essential each team member can be to achieving the larger objective.”

5. Connect with Family

Volunteering can also be a meaningful experience to share with family. Yaarit Silverstone, Managing Director of Talent & Organization Performance at Accenture, explained that she makes time for volunteer work with her children. She said, “We give so much at work – how do we pass our values to our family?”

As a member of Hands On Atlanta, she volunteers with her children at shelters, packing food, or serving breakfast to the needy. “It’s so they can see a different state, and so they can contribute,” she explained.