Make an Impact with Hands On Network!

We selected Michelle Nunn as a leader in action not only because we admire the organization she co-founded, Hands On Network, but also because of the passion and philosophy that have guided her work — she sees a need and finds a way to make a real difference. Hands On is a great model for service because its focus is on making a genuine impact — on those who serve, on those served, and on the community as a whole. What started as a handful of people in New York in 1987 who were interested in making an impact possible has become a network covering 58 cities across the country and the world. Its mission is to connect volunteers to service activities that are meaningful to them, teach them to be more effective volunteers and leaders, and sustain the impact they have. Through Hands On’s Corporate Service Council, businesses have gotten in on the act, taking, as she says, the “impulse and inclination from corporations to think about what can we do as corporations not only through our own individual efforts, but through a coordinated and networked effort” to get involved. More about Michelle Nunn: Michelle Nunn is the co-founder and CEO of Hands On Network. She is the founding director of Hands On Atlanta, a nonprofit organization that helps individuals, families, corporations, and community groups find flexible volunteer opportunities at more than 400 service organizations and schools. Hands On Atlanta now has 25,000 volunteers who work every day of the year building community and meeting critical needs in schools, parks, senior homes, food banks, pet shelters, low-income neighborhoods, and more. Under her leadership, the organization has grown from a grassroots startup in 1989 to one of the nation’s largest community-based volunteer organizations. Hands On Network is mobilizing 6.4 million volunteers over the next two years through projects designed to make an immediate, tangible impact on children and education, health and wellness, and the environment. Its nationwide Hands On Campaign works in partnership with the Hands On Network Corporate Service Council, an alliance of 29 CEOs and civic leaders mobilizing the corporate workforce to engage in a range of high-impact community projects throughout North America. Michelle graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia in 1989 with a major in history and a minor in religion. She has studied at Oxford University and in India. She was a Kellogg National Fellow and earned a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She currently serves on the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, and has received a variety of awards — including recently being named one of the “100 Most Influential Georgians” by Georgia Trend magazine. Michelle resides in Atlanta with her husband, Ron Martin, her son, Vinson, and her daughter, Elizabeth.