Are We Confusing More Voices with New Thinking in Volunteer Leadership?
Global Voices, Local Impact
Andy Fryer, Australia
I’m getting old!
In fact, I took on my very first volunteer leadership role at the age of just nineteen - and here I am forty years later, still working in the sector.
A lot has changed in that time and one thing that has evolved significantly, is the volume of people writing about volunteerism, especially in short formats via social media.
Blogs, vlogs, LinkedIn articles, opinion pieces, podcasts and You Tube commentaries.
The ‘voices of volunteering’ appear to be just about everywhere, coming from all angles and it feels a little like everyone has a need to have their voice heard.
This is great and certainly a departure from twenty years ago, when largely the only thing you heard about volunteerism directly from the sector was the sound of crickets!
In fact, the late and very great Susan J Ellis, along with her US colleague Steve McCurely used to jokingly call myself and UK volunteerism expert Rob Jackson their ‘retirement plan’, simply because we were some of the very few willing to write or share our thoughts more broadly back in the day. Over the years the two of us have collectively published literally hundreds of articles and have been at the forefront of promoting authors through our work with the ENGAGE journal and through our own businesses.
Fast forward to 2026 and that landscape has dramatically changed.
And to be honest, it sometimes feels it has changed to the point where there are too many voices! It can be a little overwhelming, as I for one simply cannot find the time to read or listen to everything I’d like.
But what are these voices saying? What can we learn that we didn’t already know?
To begin with, learning is always a positive thing, and especially for newbies to the volunteer leadership space, these resources offer great practical insights to get you started. So, of course it is good to follow your favourite author and lean on their experiences.
But, when I look critically at these many commentaries, the topics being raised are largely the same issues that have been spoken about for decades. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with that - keeping issues front and centre is important if we are to raise awareness, promote discussion and solve those things.
However, when I reflect on all this info I am struck by just how few things have emerged over the last decade that are truly new topics and thought pieces.
I can immediately think of just two!
The first of those of course, is the emergence of technology and now the evolution of Artificial Intelligence. Back when I started my first job it was quite literally all paper and pen!
Technology has and continues to forever change the landscape, not only for how we lead volunteer engagement but for how volunteers experience their involvement.
The other important and previously unearthed issue that has emerged during that time is the one surrounding BIPOC communities, equity and white privilege - and how volunteerism was traditionally constructed to disadvantage volunteers in that space. That topic was confronting, important and new.
But that’s it!
Other mechanisms and topics may have evolved and the dialogue changed - but the conversations were already there.
I raise this simply as an observation. If I have missed anything obvious, I am happy to be corrected and add it to my list.
My final relatable observation is this.
Despite these many new authors, one thing that has not changed has been the dearth of authors willing to write longer articles and think pieces about their leadership experiences.
Blogs are great but the authors often have little time to truly dig deep into a topic, which can leave the topic only partially unearthed and the reader only partially educated.
My wish would be to encourage more short form authors to write longer articles about their experiences and for us all to unearth some more, truly new and original thinking in this space.
Let me know if that resonates with you!
BIO:
Andy Fryar is the APAC Regional Director for Better Impact and since 2001 has worked as Manuscript Developer for the [ENGAGE journal](https://engagejournal.org/) (The global voice of leaders of volunteer engagement)
He is a published author and well known across Australia and Aotearoa for his contributions to growing great volunteer leadership through his writing, training and advocacy.
