This June, Kate Hagner, Ann Pedtke, and Roland Richardson traveled to Detroit to represent SCA at the annual Points of Light Conference on Volunteering & Service — the largest service-related convening of nonprofit, government, business, and civic leaders in the world, welcoming more than 3,500 participants.
SCA was selected through a competitive proposal process to present an interactive workshop session as part of the conference’s Capacity Building Track. At SCA’s session “Capturing the Data that Matters Most,” Kate Hagner, SCA’s Director of Evaluation Strategy, spoke to a packed room of 150 attendees about SCA’s metrics evolution, from tracking traditional outcomes (i.e. volunteer numbers, hours, and work completed) to identifying compelling evidence of change in SCA’s member participants — and about what this re-envisioned evaluation strategy could mean for other volunteer and service programs. Ashley Gomillion, multi-year SCA crew leader from the Detroit Community Program, shared her experience and what SCA has meant to the youth on her crews.
Following the presentation, SCA staff hosted a lively Q&A and welcomed participants to visit the SCA conference table to learn more about SCA’s programming. From the tenor of the feedback after the session, SCA’s story inspired other programs across the country to think more deeply about the data that matters most for telling their own stories — further establishing SCA as a thought leader in the conservation and youth development sectors. 
SCA joined a star-studded conference lineup including Corporation for National & Community Service CEO Wendy Spencer, Lonnie Ali, Neil Bush, and other global service leaders. SCA Centennial Volunteer Ambassadors from across the country also joined the 3,500 conference attendees in Detroit to network and learn about service initiatives nationally and globally.
This year’s Points of Light Conference presentation followed another SCA session presented by Ann Pedtke and Jane Chan at the Atlanta POL Conference in 2014 (“SCA ConSERVE NYC: Rallying Volunteers & Support 12 Months After Disaster Strikes”) and the large-scale “Servapalooza” conference service event organized by SCA on the National Mall at the DC POL Conference in 2013. SCA is proud to continue to be involved with Points of Light as a national service leader.
