Complete the course below and earn a LinkedIn Certificate.
This course is separated into 13 sections featuring the principles that will make you a highly-effective experteer:
At the end, we'll also provide you tips on how to maximize your own learning and growth while experteering.
To earn your certificate, complete the form at the end, which includes an attestation of course completion, as well as the details we need from you to send a certificate.
Volunteering can be transformative for you, and the people around you. We recommend you listen to this panel of alumni experteers tell their story about how they made an impact, and how it impacted them in the process:
Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say 'We have done this ourselves'.
In this course, you will learn more about:
A lack of access to talent is considered one of the leading barriers to progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
According to the United Nations,
"It simply is not possible to attain the SDGs without a wide range of people engaged at all stages, at all levels, at all times. Volunteerism is a powerful means for bringing more people into the fold. Volunteerism and volunteers are already expanding the space in which we achieve the future we want by engaging greater numbers of people in local and national planning and action for achieving the 2030 Agenda..."
Simply put, an equitable and sustainable planet is not possible without inspiring people like you to go above and beyond to transfer your skills, knowledge, and time to others at home and around the world.
Human creativity is unlimited. It is the capacity of humans to make things happen which didn’t happen before. Creativity provides the key to solving our social and economic problems.
Before jumping into the training, it's important to realize that every project will require something different. On the MovingWorlds platform, projects are categorized as one of the following -- and you can find the one that best suits you:
Engage with an organization to help teach a specific skill or resource (like training Excel skills, accounting best practices, git methodology, HR best practices, or marketing analytics to name a few).
Support an organization get clarity about a certain area and better understand their needs around it. Have a 30-60min call to share your expertise about a specific skill and/or industry area, in a short one-off initiative.
Support a team with a specific task that has a clear deliverable, like designing a new website, setting up an accounting system, developing a marketing plan, creating an engineering schematic, or other skills-based projects. It can also be an opportunity to immerse yourself around a specific opportunity or challenge area.
Be a coach to help social entrepreneurs develop their leadership skills, by using your skills and experience to support them to overcome their challenges. As a coach, you are not a subject matter expert but you will focus on the social entrepreneur and help them think through ways to grow as a leader and improve their social enterprise. This is usually done with a 30-60 min call per month and email exchanges, over 3-6 months.
Be a mentor to help social entrepreneurs grow their organization, by using your skills and experience to support them to overcome their challenges. As a mentor, you are a subject matter expert in the social entrepreneur’s industry and will help them think through ways to grow and mature their social enterprise. This is usually done with a 30-60 min call per month and email exchanges, over 3-6 months.
Browse organizations on our platform, and then message them directly to suggest a new project that aligns with their mission and your skills.
If you cannot see where you are going, ask someone who has been there before.
We consistently reference Human-Centered Design (HCD) as it is one of the most powerful mindsets you can use while volunteering, collaborating, and/or working on any project.
It means that as you conduct your work, you should place the end beneficiaries of your work in your focus point, and never lose sight of them. Better yet, you should collaborate with them so they can develop their own solutions.
As you volunteer your skills, the key takeaways about this are:
Cultural sensitivity is the pillar to working in a different context, whether it is working with people from a different background, or physically working in a different city or a different country. When you are working in a different context, it is important to remember that your work isn’t only about your understanding of the subject matter, it’s also about the people that you are working with.
Your work will not be successful unless you stop and listen to their desires, needs, and existing knowledge and expertise. Here are some tips:
When working in a different context, you need to be open to new ideas and new experiences. To do that, you must be humble and understand you can learn and grow from everyone around you. Being humble is important in every context, especially when volunteering with people from different organizations and backgrounds.
Start with a better understanding of yourself, namely:
Effective communication is one of the pillars of success in all aspects of life. That success can be in school, while playing on a sports team, while building a new business, and especially while volunteering with social impact organizations. The more you learn how to adapt your communication to those around you, the more successful you will be in your endeavors.
In all your interactions, be mindful of cross-cultural differences (explained below) AND the 4C's of communication:
In addition, be mindful of the 6 dimensions of cross-cultural exchanges developed by Hofstede Insights (watch the video to learn more about each)
1. Power Distance 2. Collectivism vs. Individualism 3. Uncertain avoidance 4. Femininity vs. Masculinity 5. Short-term vs. Long-term Orientation 6. Restrain vs. IndulgenceLearning quickly will enable you to grasp the industry you are volunteering in, the stakeholders that are critical to long-term impact, and then the nuances of the organization you are supporting.
Before starting, do your homework on the organization, industry, and individuals you are working with, by:
When volunteering your skills, it is necessary to remember that you will not work on this project forever. Your work will come to an end, and the work that you do should be created and implemented with an action plan to hand off the project to a full-time counterpart at the organization you are supporting. This way, the work will continue after you are gone, and your social impact will last.
Social enterprises are often working at complex intersections with many important stakeholders. To make an impact, it's important that you understand the stakeholders that exist and the value and relationships that your enterprise has with each.
Oftentimes, social impact organizations are part of networks with complicated power structures. This is especially true for nonprofits that are beholden to donors, foundations, governmental grants, or corporate giving campaigns.
Oftentimes, people do not make rational decisions. This is true for you, the team you will work with, and the beneficiaries you are serving. Understanding that sometimes people really do act out of emotions (fear, joy, pain, depletion), and not out of rational thinking is key to designing more effective solutions, services, and programs.
Keep referring back to human-centered design processes to ensure that you are accounting for how people truly act, not how they say they will act or how they acted Be mindful of your own irrational behaviors, and take note of them. Managing them can help you be a more effective teammate.
"What gets measured, gets managed"
Goals provide all stakeholders a clear compass. Too often, social impact organizations and volunteers work on projects for the sake of completing the project and lose sight of the important goals at hand. Setting the right goals will help you plan a more impactful project.
Take the time to understand:
Read the book, Measure What Matters.
As a volunteer, you will have more work to do than can be done in the time you are able to commit. It's important to be mindful of your work in such a way that you can maximize your efforts for the sake of creating impact. One of the best tools that exist to help your organization -- and you -- ensure that your efforts are contributing to a longer-term vision is what's called a Theory of Change (explained in the video on this page).
We have seen executives enter into this program with less confidence than interns. "Imposter syndrome" is real, and it strikes us all. But if you are doubting yourself, you will hold yourself back from the impact you are truly capable. If you can approach this process with humility, but also assurance, you will achieve your potential, and in so doing, help your organization achieve its potential, too.
One of our favorites quotes at MovingWorlds is from Lao Tzu:
Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say 'We have done this ourselves'.
The goal of an Experteer is not to be the savior, champion, hero, or leader -- it is to be an enabler.
Building capacity dissolves differences. It irons out inequalities.
In our Harvard Business Review article from 2015, How to Use Stretch Assignments to Support Social Good, we share how one UX Designer used her Experteering experience to build the skills she needed to get her next promotion.
Indeed, stretch experiences like this are one of the best ways to grow as a leader and as an expert in your subject matter.
To make the most of it, adopt a reflective practice on a daily basis by asking yourself:
Learn more about the Think Back, Think Through, Think Forward in our article on The Ladders.
Sustainable development requires human ingenuity. People are the most important resource.