Some experiences make you pause and rethink what you thought you already understood. Attending the Policy Cafe on “Reimagining Nonprofits: Leadership, Community, and Volunteer Power” was one of those moments. As someone who has volunteered for several years, I believed I understood how leadership and service fit together. However, listening to experts and practitioners discuss the development of volunteer leaders and their retention in a volunteer-led nonprofit organisation opened my eyes to the immense potential and responsibility that each volunteer truly carries.

Here are the three lessons that stayed with me:

1. Volunteers Can Lead—If They’re Given the Space and Structure

I’ve often seen volunteers take on roles far beyond expectations, yet their potential is sometimes underutilized. At the Policy Cafe, Dr. S.P. Kothari (Professor of Accounting and Finance at MIT Sloan School of Management) shared an insight that resonated deeply: “Nonprofits must create and clearly spell out a ladder of growth for volunteers.” That ladder, he noted, can be built through deliberate succession planning. And this, as Geoff pointed out, “is often the biggest challenge for volunteer-led nonprofits.”

Listening to these perspectives made me reflect on my own experiences: the moments when I was trusted with leadership roles were the moments when I grew the most.

2. Building Volunteer Leadership Through Culture and Connection

Another key takeaway was the importance of intentionally harnessing volunteer power. Volunteers thrive when organizations create a supportive environment and, as Mike Young (Executive Director of California EnviroVoters) said, “when they see how their contributions fit into the bigger vision and culture of the organization.” Combined with the deep connections they build in the communities they serve, this approach, as Dr. Nair noted, can spark real social change.

Dr. David Renz (Director Emeritus of the Midwest Centre for Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Missouri–Kansas City) captured this beautifully: “Volunteer’ is a label for a relationship, and relationships only work when there’s reciprocity, authenticity, mutual appreciation, and value.” In my own journey, the times I felt most capable and empowered were always within organizations that prioratized culture, connection, and purpose.

3. Volunteers Thrive When Organizations Provide Structure and Support

I realized that even the most motivated volunteers need systems, structure, and resources to lead effectively. Luis (Partner and Head of Practice at La Piana Consulting) emphasized the importance of planning for capacity and complexity in nonprofits.

Monisha suggested that one way to achieve this is through a hybrid model where staff and volunteers are supported by training and clear processes. But even with the right structures, volunteers can only thrive if organizations, especially smaller ones, have the resources to sustain them. As Ade explained, “Foundations need to increase indirect costs to 25% and/or offer multi-year funding.” With the right support, volunteers can focus on leading and creating impact rather than getting weighed down by coordination challenges.

My Reflection

Seeing how individual leadership, a supportive culture, and thoughtful structures all interact made me appreciate that the impact of a volunteer depends on all three. I walked away with a renewed sense of both the responsibility and the potential inherent in volunteerism.

For me, the most powerful takeaway was recognizing how thoughtful relationships and resilient structures transform service into leadership and into meaningful, lasting impact.

At Sewa International USA, we believe the strength of a nonprofit lies not just in its programs, but in the people who power them: its volunteers. They are the bridge between community needs and collective action. But as demand for services continues to rise across the country, nonprofits are being asked to do more with fewer resources. As demand for services grows, staffing, infrastructure, and funding remain limited. In this context, volunteerism, once central to nonprofit identity, is too often reduced to operational support rather than leadership.

To explore how this trend might be reversed, we hosted a Policy Cafe on ‘Reimagining Nonprofits: Leadership, Community, and Volunteer Power'on September 9, 2025, beginning with one key question: How do we sustain volunteers?

Sustaining volunteers, as the discussion revealed, requires more than appreciation or incentives. It depends on culture, connection, and purpose. When volunteers see how their work contributes to a larger mission, when they feel trusted and part of a collective vision, their commitment deepens. And when their service connects them directly with the communities they support, it transforms both sides of the relationship.

But sustaining volunteers is only the first step. The next challenge is nurturing them into leaders. True leadership in a volunteer-led space must be built through intentional mentorship, clear pathways of responsibility, and recognition of effort. The conversation highlighted that nonprofits must create “ladders of growth” that allow volunteers to see tangible ways to lead. Without such pathways, organisations risk stagnation, over-reliant on a few individuals while missing the potential of many.

But even the most motivated volunteers can only thrive if the organisations they serve provide the right systems, structures, and resources. This led to another critical question: What are the key challenges in governing a volunteer-led organisation while sustaining impact?

The dialogue emphasised that effective governance depends on capacity and complexity. As volunteer-driven organisations grow, they must continually revisit their models based on their capacity and complexity. Achieving this coherence requires clear systems and consistent training that align people and processes. Equally vital is sustainable funding, not merely for growth, but to preserve continuity, transparency, and fair investment in the people who make the mission possible.

Taken together, the discussions around sustaining, growing, and governing volunteer-led organisations made one insight clear: volunteer-driven nonprofits thrive when people, culture, and systems work in harmony. Volunteers are not just supporters; they are leaders, catalysts, and partners in creating impact.

For Sewa USA, the Policy Cafe was a reminder that reimagining volunteerism is an ongoing journey, one of listening, learning, and building organisations where volunteers can lead, grow, and create lasting change.

When I first joined the Policy Cafe hosted by Sewa International USA, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’d heard of service learning before, but thought it simply meant volunteering. As the discussion unfolded, I realized it’s deeper — it’s about learning through doing good, connecting what we study with how we live and act. It reminded me of my days at Irvington High School in Fremont, where projects often took us beyond textbooks. I still recall the CHANGE Project, where my friends and I partnered with a local environmental group for a beach cleanup and later wrote a paper on community engagement. Listening to educators and policymakers that day rekindled why learning should never stop at the classroom door.

1. Service Learning is Learning by Doing, Not Just Doing

At first, I assumed service learning was about volunteering outside school hours. But as the panelists spoke, I realized it’s actually a pedagogy, a structured way to connect learning with purpose. It’s not just about completing activities, but about asking why those activities matter.

When one speaker described reflection as the “engine” of service learning, that image stayed with me. Reflection is what turns experience into insight. Asking questions like “What did this teach me?” or “Whose story did I not see?” transforms ordinary work into personal growth. I realized that when we take the time to pause, think, and question, learning becomes something we live, not something we memorize.

2. Service Learning Teaches Life Lessons that Textbooks Can’t

The Cafe also helped me see how service learning teaches lessons far beyond academics. Yes, we might be helping others, but in the process, we discover ourselves. Through projects and teamwork, we learn empathy, adaptability, and how to take responsibility for something larger than ourselves.

One speaker described service learning as “education for citizenship,” and that resonated deeply with me. It’s not just about community hours or credits; it’s about learning to collaborate, to listen, and to lead with compassion. These are the skills that help us navigate real life, the kind that no test can measure.

3. Youth are Not ‘Future’ Leaders, They are the Leaders Now

The most powerful message I carried home was this: young people aren’t just preparing to lead someday, we’re already leading today. Whether it’s organizing a food drive, helping younger students with homework, or identifying community challenges, students everywhere are stepping up.

Service learning gives us the space and the confidence to do that. It tells us that leadership isn’t about age or authority; it’s about initiative, empathy, and action. That realization was empowering. It made me see that change starts with us.

My Reflection

Walking away from the Policy Cafe, I understood that service learning reimagines what education can be. It blends knowledge with action, reflection with growth, and learning with leadership. For me, the biggest shift was realizing that education isn’t only about what we know, it’s about who we become through what we learn. 

Takeaways from the Policy Cafe on Education

At Sewa International, we have long believed that education should do more than transmit facts; it should nurture empathy, responsibility, and civic leadership. Yet, too often, service learning is treated as an optional add-on checkbox activity rather than a transformative core of education. On August 7, 2025, we convened a Policy Café to explore how Service Learning connects classrooms with communities and knowledge with action. The discussion began with a simple but profound question: How do students truly benefit from real-world, service-based learning? For Lori Heslewood, Director of Operations at the South Carolina After School Alliance, the answer begins with equity. She described service learning as a way to include historically underrepresented communities, transforming civic engagement from theory into a lived experience. The result, she explained, is a deeper sense of belonging and purpose.

That message resonated with Elizabeth Navarro, a Migration Policy Expert, who said, “It taught me that leadership isn’t about having a title’s about showing up.” For her, service learning rooted in reflection and relevance transforms empathy into leadership.

If empathy gives service learning its heart, agency gives it its strength. Isabel Luciano illustrated this through the example of participatory budgeting, a model that lets students help decide which community projects to fund or pursue. “When students have a say in what gets done, they stop seeing service as an assignment and start seeing it as their own contribution,” she said. Her insight revealed a subtle truth: participation without decision-making is not empowerment. True service learning invites students to co-create solutions, not just carry them out.

Even when such experiences are powerful, they risk fading if their stories aren’t told. Ramona Schindelheim, journalist and editor of The Future of Work(ers) newsletter, reminded everyone that storytelling gives service its permanence. “If we don’t share what these experiences mean,” she said, “we lose the bridge that connects classrooms to the wider community.” Reflection and communication, she emphasised, are not afterthoughts; they are how learning takes root. As the conversation deepened, the focus shifted from classrooms to systems. Efrain Mercado, Director of California Policy at the Learning Policy Institute, noted that “policymakers need to see classrooms firsthand so that service learning isn’t just a line item, but a lived experience that informs policy.” Ankur Patel, a school teacher and Director at the Hindu University of America, added that parents also hold quiet power: “Just by showing up at school board meetings, they can advocate for meaningful projects and signal that service matters.”

Closing the loop, Pam Siebert, Vice President of Community Impact at the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC), emphasised that service learning becomes sustainable only when it is integrated into existing structures, such as career pathways, workforce development programs, and civic engagement curricula. “When service connects to the skills and goals students already value,” she said, “it stops being extrinsic and becomes essential.”

By the end of the Policy Cafe, one shared realisation emerged: service learning isn’t just an activity’s a way of rethinking education as a bridge between knowing and doing, self and society. When done thoughtfully, it nurtures empathy, leadership, and active citizenship. For Sewa International USA, this conversation was both an affirmation and a call to action: shaping education for service is not a destination’s a continuous journey.

In elementary schools across the country, educators often meet face-to-face with underperforming students, unequipped with the resources to help them succeed. From language barriers to a lack of classroom supplies, students in certain areas struggle a bit more than others, suffering under the weight of an imbalanced funding system.

For the past two weeks, I attended Sewa AmeriCorps’ ASPIRE Summer Program, organized in the Newark school district. While volunteering with ASPIRE, I met a student who refused to write because he didn’t know how, falling behind in his grade level. As one of the many districts across the country dealing with lower test performance and attendance, the Newark school district has been struggling to keep up with its bright students, compromising students’ will to learn and their futures.

Oftentimes, unequal school funding stems from inconsistencies in local property taxes, leaving poorer areas, often predominantly immigrant districts, with less funding towards education. In turn, poorer districts maintain poorer schools, resulting in declining graduation rates and worse test scores. Moreover, these kids are significantly shaped by the distinctive influences in their lives, whether at home, on the playground, or in the classroom, all playing a role in their academic needs. Thousands of brilliant students, many from poorer neighborhoods, have unique educational struggles and face social injustice because they are denied access to the help that they need. This isn’t an easy fix, however, but acknowledgement is the first step. “Class size is, first of all, a concern, and more than that, the range of the [knowledge] level in the class is what is the bigger concern. It's really unfair for very high-performing kids and also extremely far behind kids,” says Sudha Prabhunandan, a program director at ASPIRE. “We bridge the gap by pulling one sector out, so that the teacher can focus on a smaller range, as opposed to a huge spectrum of performance levels in one class.”

It is our responsibility, as journalists, educators, politicians, and leaders, to provide these children with the tools to empower their own lives. These kids aren’t just our future; they are the present, and they possess the ability to shape the world into a place where they see themselves succeeding in an opportunity they very much deserve. Effective funding reforms are emerging across the country in hopes of supporting these underprivileged students, with programs investing in more qualified teachers and distributing more funds to areas of high poverty. “Participatory budgeting is such an impactful backdrop for service learning [and it involves] having focused populations present at the table because you recognize that they're often excluded from our decision-making spaces,” Isabel Luciano, a community leader in participatory budgeting, said at a Policy Cafe on policy changes in education and service-based learning hosted by Sewa back in August.

To combat this learning epidemic, ASPIRE has supported over 3500 students this past year and is building a strong foundation for youth success. “Underserved and underprivileged subconsciously translates to dumb. But, a lot of these students, especially in these schools [in the Newark area], have really bright minds, and I think what’s happening outside of their control is really affecting them and holding them back,” says Varun Damojipurapu, a high school volunteer at ASPIRE.