Sarah “Sam” Elliston has worked to train and teach volunteers for over 20 years. She coaches volunteer coordinators and consults with agencies wishing to strengthen their volunteer programs. She is an adjunct instructor with the Union Institute & University as well as the graduate school at Northern Kentucky University. She presents at international and regional conferences, and is the author of several articles on volunteer management. Her passion is to ensure that volunteers have the best experience ever and she believes the way to do that is to empowerthe organization to support the volunteers.
Elliston worked for the United Way of Greater Cincinnati for 23 years, managing numerous volunteer activities, notably creating the Volunteer Cincinnati Program, which brought volunteers into city hall. She was responsible for the United Way’s Internal Volunteer Program, which included teams of volunteers who trained and consulted with other non-profits. A high school teacher before she started at United Way, Elliston developed and managed a certificate training series for volunteer coordinators in conjunction with a local university.
