By Colleen Kelly, Executive Director

We are very excited Canada's Governor General is focusing on community engagement!

We have worked with volunteers, and in the field of volunteer leadership for years. So we have huge belief in the concept, and agree volunteering is part of being Canadian. Like the Governor General, we see the way people want to be engaged in their communities is changing – and a new definition of volunteering is required.  How wonderful to see a public figure insist on this so passionately.

by Colleen Kelly, Vantage Point Executive Director

by Colleen Kelly, Vantage Point Executive Director

Since hosting the 2010 Olympics, all levels of government have showed renewed interest in volunteerism. Locally and nationally, our elected representatives are convening conversations, seeking recommendations, and considering how to protect and encourage this valuable "natural resource."

Shakespeare tells us that a "rose by any other name smells as sweet". So I'm excited to introduce today's guest blogger, Lynda Gerty, who discusses the importance of identity and names. Lynda is the Manager of Marketing & Communications at Volunteer Vancouver. Read on to understand the cross out.

Somewhere in my meanderings through the internet today, I came across an incredibly thought provoking post by Sidney Hargro on the future of the not-for-profit sector and how we should react to the recession in positive ways. Hargro poses three critical questions we as a sector should be contemplating: