Marty Petillo
Volunteer Services Manager, Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Marty Petillo has served the community for the past 12 years as the Volunteer Services Manager at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. With over 30 years experience in nonprofit management, she defines her work with the 600+ Olbrich volunteer crew as an HR office for unpaid staff. She works with staff supervisors to ensure that volunteers are assigned to work that needs to get done and that it’s done right. And, she manages to always have a smile for each of the Olbrich volunteers (and staff!), a positive attitude that she feels is key to volunteer retention.
She started her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer Health Educator in The Gambia, West Africa. Her interest in both health education and community resource development resulted in a wide range of professional positions including Deputy Director for health education contract work for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Director of UW Madison’s Cancer Information Service, and Project Director for Life Options Rehabilitation Program for Dialysis Patients.
Volunteer-specific Presentations & Trainings
- Converting Short-term Volunteers into Long-term Volunteers, DCVAS Lunch & Learn Panel, July 2012
- Managing Seasonal Volunteers, American Public Garden Association Biennial Volunteer Interaction Conference, Fall 2009
- Recruiting and Retaining Your Volunteers, DCAVS Lunch & Learn Panel, July 2009
- Training Volunteer Supervisors Workshop, American Public Garden Association Biennial Volunteer Interaction Conference, Fall 2007
- Supervision: Getting Results Through Others, Annual Olbrich Intern Spring Training, (2006-present)
- Crash Course on Volunteer Management, Olbrich Staff Training (2005-present, as needed)
