We are thrilled to welcome 8 new members to our Board of Directors in 2013. Our board is responsible for providing feedback, giving insight into the volunteer, corporate and nonprofit worlds, and creating a solid backbone for HOTC. Our board is currently populated with experts from different fields around the Twin Cities, and we are excited to add new expertise to our board this year.

Please welcome 3 of our new board members: Heidi Kramer, Krista Harding and Brian Hissong.

Heidi Kramer 
Heidi is the program manager for the IBM global volunteer program.  The program goal is to inspire 400,000+ IBMers to engage in their local communities to make the world work better.

Why were you interested in the HOTC board?
With my role at IBM, it just made sense to join a board with a very similar mission.  I also know that the organization is a real leader, not only in MN, but nationally, with its ideas and programs, and I wanted to be a part of that creative and groundbreaking environment.

What motivates/inspires you to engage in your community?
Change and results!  It is always about the change as change keeps us moving forward, but change with no results … why bother!

Anything else you would like to share?
I’m thrilled to be a part of this great team of board members and staff!  I’m hoping to bring new ideas and energy to it all.

Krista Harding
Krista Harding is the Youth and Family Programs Coordinator for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Upper Midwest Chapter. She has served as an AmeriCorps Member with the National Civilian Community Corps, and worked for over 3 years as a Match Support Coordinator with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities.

Why were you interested in the HOTC board?
While serving as a Corps member in Sacramento, CA, I participated in a number of volunteer projects that were coordinated by the local HandsOn affiliate.  I had a great experience there and was thrilled to have the opportunity to reconnect with an organization who provides volunteers with such rewarding experiences.  I hope that being a member of the HOTC board will allow me to help spread the word further about the profound impact volunteering can have, both on our communities and on the volunteers themselves.

What motivates/inspires you to engage in your community?
Above all else, I am motivated by knowing that I am doing my part to make a positive change, no matter how big or small.  I also view it as a way to try out something new and be someone else.  We each spend a minimum of eight hours a day focused on a topic that we will likely pursue for the rest of our lives.  Engaging in my community through volunteering allows me to step out of that box, to challenge myself and to learn something I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Brian Hissong
Brian Hissong leads the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities Community-Based mentoring program as the Director of Match Support.

Why were you interested in the HOTC board?
Volunteerism is powerful medicine.  It strengthens any community that receives it, makes the volunteer feel good about their actions and it connects both community and volunteer in meaningful  action.  HOTC matches willing volunteers with existing community needs better than any other organization; they’re the eHarmony of volunteerism.  Who wouldn’t be interested.

What motivates/inspires you to engage in your community?
Professionally I work with thousands of volunteers and I’m always amazed at their dedication and commitment to help others.  They inspire me. Also, I grew up in a very small town where everybody just helped out.  We didn’t call it anything, certainly not volunteering, but it’s just what you did.

Anything else you would like to share?
My first volunteer experience occurred during my freshmen year in college.  My dorm was across the street from a 95 year old former professor, Dr. B, whose wife was struggling with the physical tasks of transferring him from wheelchair to chairlift to his bed.  She asked us one day for help.  We obliged, thinking that it would be easy enough. Dr. B. was sitting in his sunroom where we joined him for tea and an hour long conversation.  And that is was it looked like every day for the next year.  Tea, amazing conversation and 10 minutes of getting ready for bed.  Dr. B was hilarious, brilliant and very ornery; I feel thankful that his wife asked for help and that I had the good sense to accept.

If you have questions for an HOTC Board Member, or are interested in serving on the HOTC Board, please contact Kristin Schurrer, HOTC Executive Director at kristin@handsontwincities.org.