Kim Mair represents CVSS at Global Volunteering Leadership Summit

Kim Mair, vice-chair of the Council of the Voluntary Social Services (CVSS), recently represented the CVSS at the Global Volunteering Leadership Summit (GVLS), held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on December 3-6.

Mair has dedicated almost two decades of her career to philanthropy, and is the chief executive officer of JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, and has served in key roles at several other local charitable organisations, such as Food For The Poor, Jamaica Cancer Society, and as general manager of American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica.

While at the summit, she shared the experiences of how voluntary organisations in Jamaica tackled the pandemic and highlighted the successes of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) COVID-19 Relief Fund, which saw the CVSS and partners mobilising 1,200 volunteers towards the distribution of 72,000 food packages and 63,000 personal protective equipment and masks to front-line healthcare workers and residents of communities that have been most affected by the pandemic.

The summit was held under the theme,’The Role of Volunteering Leadership: Responding to COVID-19 and Building a Sustainable Recovery’ and was hosted by the Emirates Foundation and the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE). Representatives from national volunteering leadership organisations from across 50 countries were in attendance at the event. The 2021 GVLS highlighted the successes and exchanged valuable knowledge on how volunteerism has made a huge impact during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the event focused on how the role of volunteering will take on renewed importance as individuals work together to provide innovative solutions to the issues surrounding global crises. The summit is a space for volunteering leaders to reflect on the experiences, challenges and fundamental lessons learned from the global pandemic, and explore the future of volunteering in a post-COVID-19 society. This is the first in-person convening of the Global Network of Volunteering Leadership since the start of COVID-19. The summit is a lead-up to the 26th IAVE World Volunteer Conference, which will be hosted by the Emirates Foundation in October 2022.