Choosing to volunteer and support a cause you are passionate about not only enriches your life, but also impact others. When members of #TeamNuance volunteer, they embrace our Nuance Values and connect with friends, new people, and colleagues, to ‘stay curious’ and learn something new while also making a difference.
Andiana Aponte joined Nuance in 2017 and works as a Talent and Organizational Development Specialist. She is passionate about learning, diversity and inclusion, as well as helping her peers. Her DEI efforts are showcased via leading two of Nuance’s employee resource groups, as Chair of the Multicultural Network, and Co-Chair of the Women in Nuance Network. She graduated from Northeastern University with a BS in Psychology. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family, reading, and spoiling her dog.
Over the past two years, we’ve all faced challenges to change so many things about how we live our everyday lives – how we gather with friends and family, how we carry out chores and errands, and how we work. Despite all this, at Nuance, our employees have continued to exemplify our values, especially by “using their powers for good.” One way we have seen this is in the willingness of so many to continue to give back to their communities through volunteerism – getting creative, when necessary, but still giving their time and energy to causes that matter most to them. Nuance Cares, our Corporate Social Responsibility program, empowers us all to give back to various causes and communities by providing employees with 16 hours of Volunteer Time Off (VTO) per year to help make finding the time to do these things even easier.
In celebration of National Volunteer Month in April, read on to hear from a few of our employees as they share their thoughts around why volunteerism is important to them and join us in honoring the significant impact all volunteers have on our communities across the globe.
Loredana Cerrato | Sweden
“What motivates me to volunteer is not only my wish to reach out to others, to do something for the community, and to feel gratification from a sense of achievement – but my wish to share both my time and my knowledge. I believe that sharing will enrich everyone with more knowledge! And knowledge is power as it creates opportunities, success, helps people to solve problems, and even improves health!”
Dawn Cox| USA
“Volunteering, to me, is a way I can make the world a better place by giving back to those who are less fortunate than myself. Sometimes this means spending an hour at the animal shelter loving on unwanted animals and other times it means gutting a building in a rough part of town, so that their church can turn it into a children’s ministry center. In both cases, I’ve been able to be that spark of light that is very much needed in my city because I truly believe that helping my city is my mission.”
Mital Kumar Patel | Canada
“To me, volunteering means to act without expectation and to act with love. I choose to volunteer my time to our community, because I believe that as our society serve us – we also need to also provide and service our society in return. I usually volunteer at our community temple, community school, or in nonprofit organizations who are helping immigrants develop their careers in Canada.”
Linda LaBiosa | USA
“I volunteer because I want to participate in improving the quality of life in my community. The COVID-19 virus left many of us feeling helpless and powerless; I wanted to do something to personally fight this virus instead of standing on the sidelines watching others fight the battle. I believe I have made a difference to others in this community and contributed to the success of beating COVID down. I also am a member of my local Women’s Club chapter, and we fundraise with various charitable functions to raise money for college scholarships, help needy families in our community, and help those with drug addictions, among other charitable groups. This too is satisfying to me in that I am making a difference in my local community one person at a time.”
Rocio Armas | Spain
“The hours I spend volunteering are always quality time for me. It´s a way to pay forward and to try to make a change for the better, no matter how small. Through my time volunteering, I´ve learned a lot – greater empathy and awareness being the two main things I gain with every action. As Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
Sean McCarthy | USA
“As a Nuance employee, it’s been fairly common to come across the term “better together.” I feel that absolutely applies to life outside work, and volunteering is one of the best ways to embody that belief. Most likely, all of us have benefitted from a volunteer, be it a mentor, a helping hand, or even a pint of blood. Volunteering is one of the best ways to repay that service.”
We are proud of all of Team Nuance, especially those who share their time to make meaningful differences every day. We hope to learn more about what our volunteers are doing across the globe and encourage our colleagues to continue sharing their stories and inspire others!