Making a Ruckus

For our very first interview on Making a Ruckus, I’m joined by someone who has shaped the thinking of volunteer engagement professionals around the world for more than 30 years — Rob Jackson.

In this wide-ranging and deeply energising conversation, we look back at three decades of volunteer engagement:
what’s changed, what hasn’t, and what still desperately needs a rethink.

Rob reflects on the biggest shifts he’s seen — the hopeful ones and the uncomfortable ones — and together we unpack some of the assumptions, biases, and long-running debates that continue to hold our sector back.

We dive into:

• The myths and mental models that refuse to die

• Why some conversations from the 90s are still happening today

• What volunteer involvement could look like if we stopped trying to fit people into outdated boxes

• The risks and possibilities of AI for our field

Rob also reads his powerful reflection Stewards of Hope — a moment that will stay with you long after the episode ends.

And we debut the Ruckus Round, a rapid-fire set of questions that invites Rob to share what he’s rethinking, what he’s wrestling with, and the one ruckus he believes we must still make.

If you’re ready for a conversation that honours where we’ve been and challenges where we’re heading, this episode is for you.

Stay bold, stay curious — and keep making a ruckus.

Mention:

This year’s International Volunteer Day launches the 2026 UN International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development — and there has never been a more important time to rethink how we recognise and value volunteers.

In this episode, Tracey O’Neill flips the script on traditional volunteer appreciation. Instead of asking “How do we thank volunteers for what they do?”, she asks the bigger question:

“How do we honour who volunteers are — and the strengths they bring that shape culture, community and impact?”

Drawing on more than 25 years of experience, Tracey introduces her Four Pillars of Volunteer Appreciation — Recognition, Reward, Participation and Progression — and explores how leaders of volunteer engagement can move beyond morning teas and certificates to activate strengths, shift systems and influence organisational culture.

She unpacks how Participation and Progression aren’t just ways to value volunteers, but powerful practices that position leaders of volunteer engagement as cultural leaders — shaping belonging, voice, inclusion and leadership across the organisation.

Here’s the shift we’ve been waiting for: seeing volunteer engagement as culture work, not administrative work.

If we want a more inclusive, equitable, community-centred future, then Participation and Progression must sit at the heart of our recognition practices.

If you’re ready to shift from “thank-you strategies” to practices that elevate voice, leadership and belonging, this episode will spark new ways of thinking.

Every contribution matters. Every contribution begins with strengths. And recognition is only the beginning.

Stay bold, stay curious — and keep making a ruckus.

Connect:

For most of my career, I thought I knew exactly what volunteering meant.  

A clear definition.

A neat set of boundaries.

A shared understanding across our sector. 

But the more I paid attention to how people actually show up for each other in community, the messier — and more interesting — the word became.

 In this episode, I explore why volunteering has never had a single agreed definition — not in research, not in practice, and certainly not in everyday community life.

I dig into decades of debate, my own subconscious bias, the rise of consumer language in volunteer engagement, and the shift toward seeing volunteers as citizens rather than customers.

 At its core, I’m realising volunteering is far less about programs, roles, and organisational pathways… and far more about belonging, identity, connection, and our deeply human desire to contribute to something that matters. And once you see volunteering as a human behaviour — not just a sector construct — the old definitions begin to unravel.

 I don’t land on a neat answer in this episode. I’m not sure I want to.

Because the real question I’m sitting with now is:

If volunteering lives in community, not just in organisations... then who gets to define what it means?

 Join me in the messy middle as I rethink one of the most fundamental words in our field… and maybe invite you to rethink it too.

Mentioned:

What if volunteers aren’t walking away — they’re just choosing a path that feels right for them?

In Episode 3 of Making a Ruckus, Tracey O’Neill explores the metaphor of Elephant Paths — those natural shortcuts peoplecarve when the “official path” just doesn’t make sense for them. And what these paths tell us about volunteer behaviour today.

Instead of seeing low recruitment conversion or disengagement as a sign that people don’t want to volunteer, Tracey reframes it: people are volunteering — they’re just stepping around the hoops, delays, and rigid processes. They’re choosing paths that feel intuitive, meaningful, flexible — paths that fit with their real life.

You’ll hear:

• Why many people start the journey to volunteer…and then step away
• How delays, friction, rigid processes andmisaligned roles shape these “paths”
• Why informal volunteering isn’t competition —it’s communication
• How Elephant Paths mirror Aboriginal Songlinesand the ancient wisdom of following meaning, not control
• How you can “read the map” volunteers arealready drawing — and design systems people want to walk

This episode will change how you understand disengagement.
It’s not apathy. It’s adaptation.
A quiet—but powerful—signal about where meaning and momentum truly live.

Stay bold. Stay curious. Keep making a ruckus.

Mentioned:

What if people still want to volunteer — they just don’t want to do it the way our systems expect them to? In this episode of Making a Ruckus, Tracey O’Neill challenges one of the biggest myths in volunteer engagement: the “recruitment problem.”

We keep hearing it: “No one wants to volunteer anymore.”
But what if that’s not true?

Tracey explores how outdated processes, rigid roles, and under-resourced leadership have created unnecessary barriers — and why the real challenge isn’t recruitment at all, it’s system design.

You’ll hear:

• What the data really says about the shift from formal to informal volunteering.

• Real quotes from sector leaders who are rethinking the future of engagement.

• How volunteer engagement needs a seat at the strategy table.

• Why systems built with community — not for them — are the key to belonging.

• Six practical ways to make volunteering easier, faster, and more human.

Because volunteering doesn’t need fixing — it needs reimagining.

Mentioned: