2026 Summer Speakers - Minnesota Alliance for Volunteer Advancement

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Volunteerism Without Borders
2026 Speakers

This conference is a space for leaders, disruptors, and community builders who have moved beyond the "traditional" to master the non-traditional. Whether it’s cracking the code on micro-volunteering, scaling a movement through decentralized leadership, or leveraging technology to meet the community in real-time, this is YOUR space.

Meet your 2026 presenters for this incredible and important conference!

ALEC REITZ
Alec Reitz is the Community Engagement Manager at Safe Passage, an anti-domestic violence organization in Northampton, MA. They hold a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. They are the Project Manager and a founding member of the Survivor Anthology Project (at Safe Passage). Through the Survivor Anthology Project, they have supported the publication of three issues of the anthology Survival & Beyond, which has featured art, poetry, and writing from over 55 survivors of domestic violence. Their professional work focuses on building meaningful connections, creating accessible education for skill building, and empowering community members to find their own paths into social change work. In their everyday life, they are passionate about art, the power of communal goofiness, and joy as resistance.

ANDRIA LIVINGSTON
Andria L. Livingston, CLC, is a Family and Community Wellness Strategist, speaker, and trainer dedicated to strengthening families and communities through culturally responsive, trauma-informed approaches. As the Founder of The ReVamp Life Initiative, she equips parents, leaders, and organizations with practical strategies that foster healthy relationships, emotional wellness, and community connection. With over 20 years of experience in nonprofit, community, and faith-based leadership, Andria specializes in early childhood development, family engagement, and leadership training. She currently serves as an African American Parent Connector with Help Me Grow MN and actively leads community initiatives that empower families to navigate systems, access resources, and build resilient support networks. Grounded in faith and inspired by motherhood, her work centers on creating safe spaces where individuals and communities can grow, heal, and thrive together.

BRI QUARFOOT
Bri Quarfoot is a Senior Volunteer Engagement Specialist with six years of nonprofit experience and a focus on volunteer engagement since 2022. When she joined Second Harvest Heartland, event volunteering had been on a long pause due to COVID, and she led the work of rebuilding the event volunteer base from the ground up. Through experimentation, iteration, and close listening to volunteer needs, Bri redesigned the organization’s approach to one-time event volunteer engagement and created a streamlined, adaptable process now used across multiple large events. She specializes in making episodic volunteer roles clear, accessible, and meaningful—ensuring every individual understands how their contribution directly connects to the mission. Bri is passionate about helping volunteers see the impact of their service and fostering experiences that strengthen their connection to the community.

HANNAH SMITH
Hannah Smith is the Volunteer Engagement Coordinator at Safe Passage, an anti-domestic violence organization in Northampton, MA. Hannah first joined the team at Safe Passage as a volunteer in 2024. With a background in facilitating creative writing groups, managing live story telling events, and a masters in Women and Gender Studies, she was instantly drawn to the Survivor Anthology Project at Safe Passage. Hannah is fiercely dedicated to creating spaces and communities that advocate for empowerment, build self-confidence, and embrace vulnerability, all of which are hallmarks of Safe Passage and the Survivor Anthology Project. As a former volunteer Hannah learned how important trust, autonomy and community building are when working on a mixed team of staff, interns, and volunteers. Now as a staff member, it is her hope that she can continue to uplift volunteer’s voices and rely on all the skills they bring to the project.

HEATHER RENAUD
Heather Renaud is the founder of Lambrecht Literature and steward of the Eastpointe Little Libraries & Sharing Spaces Network, where she designs neighborhood “third spaces” that transform curiosity into community stewardship. What began as a salvaged cabinet turned Little Free Library has grown into a rapidly expanding network of neighborhood micro-infrastructure designed to spark connection, resource sharing, and participation. Her work is informed by a neurodivergent and disability-informed perspective on accessibility, pattern recognition, and designing systems that lower barriers to belonging. Heather serves on the Little Free Library Community Engagement Advisory Board and is developing a replicable framework for “curiosity infrastructure” that communities can use to build networks of neighborhood care.

KAREN PATTISON
Karen Pattison has spent the last eight years as the Volunteer Services Manager at Naples Botanical Garden in Naples, Florida, where she manages 170+ volunteers in Horticulture, Conservation, and Education. Along with a degree in psychology, Karen also spent 25 years working with families and children in a preschool setting as a teacher and program director. When not at the Garden, she can usually be found at home with her husband, her houseful of books, and their rescue animals.

KIMBERLY PETERSON
Kim is a Minnesota-based nonprofit professional with a Master of Arts degree focused on structural models of support for performing arts nonprofits, disrupting traditional funding paradigms through leadership in industry working groups and collaborative networks. With over a decade of experience in the sector, she has built and expanded volunteer programs at organizations including The Soap Factory, the Northern Spark festival, and Girl Scouts River Valleys, developing deep engagement strategies that transform volunteers into invested community members. Her work sits at the intersection of relationship-building, partnership development, and volunteer experience design — recognizing volunteerism as an extension of an organization's broader community presence, impact, and giving strategies. Kim will be presenting on leveraging mutual aid as a framework for rich cross-organizational collaboration, exploring how shifting the focus from mission to impact can unlock deeper volunteer engagement and more meaningful community experiences.

MONICA JASSO
Monica Jasso, CVA, proudly serves as the El Paso County Volunteer Coordinator, blending decades of nonprofit volunteer management experience. A proud Fronteriza, she attended Texas A&M University and finds purpose in advancing social good by creating genuine volunteer experiences. She is deeply committed to viewing all aspects of her work through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion—a lifelong commitment rather than a professional practice. Monica currently coordinates hundreds of volunteers across 30+ departments, championing inclusive systems rooted in servant leadership. Her career milestones include earning the Certificate in Volunteer Administration (CVA) and receiving AL!VE’s 2022 Impact Award for exemplary leadership in in volunteer engagement. A mother of two, Monica leads with resolve, vision, and inclusiveness, while enjoying nature, travel, Star Trek, and foodie adventures in her free time.

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