A Candid Conversation: Power and Privilege in Volunteer Training and Supervision

In every aspect of volunteer management, Black Leaders of Volunteers have different professional experiences than their White colleagues. They are often a part of the communities we advocate to serve and can feel a fundamental tension between wanting to make a substantial impact in the community and navigating the biases and harm individual volunteers can bring into service spaces. In this Voices conversation between Breauna Dorelus and Victoria Machar, we get an authentic look at how power and privilege can rear its heads, specifically in volunteer training and supervision. This candid and vulnerable interview will shed light on what many people of color experience as they navigate their way through the nonprofit space – confirming the experiences of Black and Brown Leaders of Volunteers while hopefully prompting others to examine how they continue to hold up the power and privilege that harm their fellow managers in the field.