Season 2 | Episode 10: Empowering Today's Volunteer Leaders with American Cancer Society's Bryan Sherwood

In our Season 2 finale, the American Cancer Society’s Bryan Sherwood shares his own journey from local Relay For Life volunteer to national program lead and how the organization is doubling down on its volunteer experience.

Long before nonprofit organizations had local offices and national program leads, peer-to-peer fundraising thrived through the dedication of volunteer leaders passionate about raising money for causes they loved. While volunteer management remains a critical strategy for the success of our events, it is often an elusive task for many organizations.

Identifying the right people, placing them in suitable roles, empowering them to make decision and holding them accountable can be challenging – and time-consuming. As a result, it’s often tempting to handle the work ourselves. However, this approach limits our potential to expand our reach and influence within the community.

In the episode, P2PPF’s Marcie Maxwell is joined by Bryan Sherwood, Senior Director for Relay For Life at the American Cancer Society (ACS). Bryan will share his personal journey from local and national volunteer to national program lead. Together, they explore how the volunteer experience and volunteer expectations have evolved over the years, particularly in the post-pandemic era. Bryan also highlights the key qualities his team seeks when identifying new volunteer leaders.

Additionally, this episode covers:
– Lessons learned from working volunteers across different generations
– Tips for training staff on critical volunteer management skills
– The role that volunteers can play in diversifying your P2P portfolio

Mentioned Links
American Cancer Society
Relay For Life
Instagram: @relayforlife

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Connect with Bryan
Connect with Marcie
Connect with the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum

Podcast Guest

Longtime fundraising leadership volunteer turned staff leader for the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraiser, Relay For Life. Dedicated to ending cancer as we know it, for everyone.

Bryan Sherwood serves as the senior director for Relay For Life at the American Cancer Society (ACS). He began his relationship with ACS as a volunteer for Relay For Life in 2005 and went on to serve in local, regional, and national volunteer leadership roles for Relay For Life, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, and overall Community Fundraising. Bryan joined ACS as a full-time employee in 2023 and has more than a decade of experience leading teams and customer experience strategy based on his previous work in the IT customer service field.

Bryan is based in Dallas, Texas.

Podcast Host

Marcie Maxwell is the Managing Director of the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum. Marcie joined the P2PPF team in 2021 after 15+ years as a front-line fundraiser, national events & campaign director and fundraising consultant. In her role, Marcie serves as a primary thought leader and community builder for the peer-to-peer fundraising industry. She started her career in fundraising with 10+ years at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she ran local fundraising events, managed national volunteer partnerships and launched their national walk program. She then spent 5+ years as the Director of Chapter Fundraising Events with Make-A-Wish America, where she provided strategy, support & training to 60 chapters on the full event portfolio – walks, school fundraising, an endurance hiking program and galas & social events. In her most recent role at Charity Dynamics, she partnered with clients to provide strategic guidance and analysis to help them optimize and grow their peer-to-peer fundraising events & campaigns. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in Ethical Leadership from Christian Brothers University. She resides in Memphis, TN.