During our recent conversation with Jeremy Cohen, Research Fellow in the Department of Computing and Director of Research Software Engineering Strategy at Imperial College London, and Marion Weinzierl, Senior Research Software Engineer at the Institute of Climate and Science at the University of Cambridge, the Move the Needle team dived into the world of volunteer organisations and best practices. This interview was conducted by volunteers for volunteers, focusing on essential elements as mission, purpose, forward movement and strategic planning.
Interview by Cristin Merritt, CMO of Alces Flight with editorial support by Dominik Wojtak
Starting the Volunteer Journey
Marion began her volunteering journey with the Society of Research Software Engineering (RSE) at the RSE Conference in 2020 (which did not happen, but morphed into the Series of Online Research Software Events, SORSE), later became a trustee for the RSE Society and currently sponsorship chair for RSECon. Jeremy’s volunteering started with developing a research software community at Imperial College London, which expanded into a regional community, and work supporting the growth of new regional communities across the country. This growth allowed people to enhance their knowledge and skills within the research software community. Both have taken on multiple roles in volunteering since, including time spent with Women in HPC.
We were lucky to host Marion and Jeremy due to their roles as RSEs, as their jobs are quite unique. Becoming an RSE doesn’t mean doing one specific job. In fact, this role is diverse and varies depending on the institution. Responsibilities range from technical duties to bringing projects together and moving them forward. As such, this role is people-focused, and while it requires technical acumen, at their core many RSEs are actually community builders. As such, you will find that many who hold the title of RSE also volunteer across technical and network groups in order to keep up their software skills and social connections.
Both Marion and Jeremy agree that it only takes a small start to lead to impactful changes. Read on to discover how volunteering builds communities!
Bringing a Community to Life
Building a community means bringing together individuals in similar roles to share skills, experiences and opportunities. These collaborations help everyone involved to grow and develop best practices. A community thrives on teamwork in order to solve problems, and when you can create an environment where you are able to debate issues, build solutions and create new ideas you are well on your way to building an initiative that reaps multiple benefits.
Tip: Don’t overwhelm yourself. Starting out with your volunteering or organisational journey? It is crucial for you to establish boundaries early and learn to say no when necessary to avoid burnout. Volunteers and their organisational leaders often face working commitments, and it’s important to manage these effectively to maintain a balance.
A Mission That Matters
The biggest factor in establishing a volunteer group or community is knowing what problems you seek to solve, issues to address, and ideas to elevate. Oftentimes people start out on a journey as a volunteer or organisation builder with a good idea in mind but never take the time to define what they wish to accomplish and what steps they will take to do this. This can result in the idea never getting off the starting block. Sometimes this can be because the idea is quite significant, such as reducing the barrier of entry for underrepresented groups into supercomputing. But, when you take that idea and break it down into areas – such as focusing on women in tech, software accessibility in HPC, or working with student cohorts – then you have found a transformative way to benefit the wider community.
Tip: Avoid ‘scope creep.’ If you are looking to develop your organisation or role as a volunteer try to focus on core aspects, making sure you review them from time to time. One of the biggest fail factors in volunteering is finding yourself unable to deliver because you have taken on too many goals to achieve!
Growing Your Community
Expanding a community, especially when you move beyond regional to national (or even international) can be especially challenging. What was once a small idea has taken root – so now you need to consider things such as time zones, roles, and even cultural differences. You may need to look at things you never expected before, from recording meetings, working asynchronously, to how you communicate to your community.
Tip: Get clear and balanced on your roles and responsibilities. Passionate volunteers will often help you build up an incredible community – but what happens when they need to take a step back? Don’t let that passion fade – make sure no one is taking on a big burden and review those (and your!) roles regularly.
Watch the Full Interview!
Explore more insights from our conversation with Jeremy Cohen and Marion Weinzierl to learn about effective volunteering
Move the Needle Project
Furthering the cause of diversity and inclusivity in HPC, the ‘Move the Needle’ project by Women in HPC and Alces Flight is all about tracking actions people and teams are taking to drive positive change. Beginning in January 2024, individuals in the HPC field can commit to one to three actions to move the needle toward greater inclusion.
Events & Communities
- RSE Conference 2024 – RSECon24: Research software engineering conference (society-rse.org)
- Research Software Community at Imperial College London – Research Software Community | Research groups | Imperial College London
- Research Software London – Research Software London – Research Software London (rslondon.ac.uk)