Heather T. Cox serves as the Director of Volunteers at the Science Museum of Minnesota, located in St. Paul. With a volunteer base of over 1,000 volunteers located in a thriving urban setting, cultural competency plays a key role in her dialogue about the quality and effectiveness of the museum’s volunteer program. Cox’s past professional experience also includes being a part of the Volunteer Resources team at Catholic Charities, the Education and Training Manager for Hmong American Partnership, and statewide Volunteer Outreach Coordinator for the Minnesota Literacy Council. She also serves as a member of the Minnesota Association of Volunteer Administration’s Volunteer Resources Leadership Oversight Committee, which provides statewide training on building best practices and capacity building in volunteer programs throughout Minnesota. As her most fulfilling personal work, Cox cites her position as volunteer co-director and co-founder of a new adult literacy organization, Foundation for Immigrant Resources and Education (FIRE). FIRE has been operating for three years on 100% volunteer effort, and achieved full federal non-profit status in March 2007.
Cox holds a B.A. in Communications from Macalester College. She holds mini MBAs in Non-profit Management and Volunteer Management from University of St. Thomas’s Center for Non-profit Management. She has lived and traveled in over 25 different countries and considers herself to be a citizen of the world, which includes an active commitment to global volunteerism.
