Meet AIR’s Champions for Change
For AIR staff, volunteering is more than giving back. It’s an opportunity to understand different perspectives, build relationships, and learn firsthand from the people and places at the center of our mission to build a better, more equitable world.
Through the AIR Champions for Change initiative, AIR celebrates staff who demonstrate a strong commitment to putting their values into action in service of others. As part of this recognition, AIR donates to the eligible, mission-aligned charities where our staff volunteer, helping their efforts go even further.
From expanding girls' access to education in the small town of Nioro, Senegal, to ensuring individuals returning from incarceration in suburban Iowa have a soft place to land, AIR’s Champions for Change embody the AIR ethos of not only working to understand social challenges, but also taking action as part of the solution.
Learn more about AIR’s approach to corporate social responsibility
2024 Awardees
Julia Talbot
Julia volunteers with Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange, working to reduce material waste and equip local teachers, artists, and nonprofits to access reusable resources.
Our vision is for a sharing and circular economy in which creative reuse is integral to Chicagoland's infrastructure.
Tad Johnston (2023 and 2024 awardee)
As a volunteer at Charlie's Place in Washington, DC, Tad conducts "food rescue" pick-ups twice per week, prepares and serves Saturday breakfast to individuals experiencing homelessness in his community, and provides guidance and support to a team of young volunteers.
There are tremendous opportunity and wealth gaps in DC, which I experience daily as I move about the city. The sense of the 'us' and the 'them' is easy to slip into. Eating together and being with people consistently provides a way to bridge the gaps even though the gaps remain. It is important and meaningful for both neighbors who start in the kitchen, and those who come in through the front door.
Mitchell Morey (2022 and 2024 awardee)
A believer in the power of sports to develop life skills, Mitchell has held various leadership roles with the Ice Wolves Youth Hockey Association, working with young people to support their growth as athletes, teammates, and community members.
Volunteering expands my understanding of the role of ‘places and spaces’ in the equity of our communities. This organization serves families with fewer financial resources than the families in bigger peer communities, and my experience has made clear how where a person lives can directly affect their access to resources.
2023 Awardees
Gislene Tasayco
Gislene supports out-of-school-time programs for youth and community outreach at Identity, Inc., a Maryland-based nonprofit aimed at creating opportunities for Latino and other historically underserved youth to realize their highest potential and thrive.
As a first-generation, formerly undocumented Latina, I see myself reflected in the young people, families, and community members that Identity, Inc. serves. Much of my work at AIR focuses on youth and community development—being closely involved with an organization that does this well continues to inform my work.
Jaclyn Pavelec-Ceesay
Jaclyn supports the work of Boys Hope Girls of Baltimore, an organization working to break the cycle of poverty and help youth to harness their ability to overcome adversity, become life-long learners, and transform our world.
Working with Boys Hope Girls Hope of Baltimore allows me to get to know the wonderful scholars who benefit from this program. Watching them grow up and generate a positive ripple effect in their families, workplaces, and communities is truly humbling and rewarding.
Pushpa Nandibasappa
Pushpa volunteers at Aavanee, a Maryland-based nonprofit focused on empowering women to improve their communities through a variety of programs and services, targeted toward uplifting immigrants, women, and girls.
From serving as a judge at a youth science fair to providing workforce training and support for women survivors of domestic abuse, my volunteer experiences remind me to keep a positive outlook; there is always hope.
Christine Koerner
Christine serves on the board and supports the work of the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance, working to bring equitable access to STEM education to Oklahoma students.
During a day of volunteering, a student working on a tangram activity asked me questions about who I was and if I liked math. She looked at me and said, 'If you can be a math person and do math as a job, then I can too!' The confidence and excitement she had exclaiming that she was a ‘math person’ stays with me.
Debbie Davidson-Gibbs
Debbie volunteers more than 16 hours each month at St. Michael’s Free Community Dinner and Food Distribution program in Adelphi, Maryland, which provides free groceries, meals, and clothing. Debbie organizes volunteers and builds partnerships with local organizations to better meet the needs of those they serve.
I am fortunate to work for an organization like AIR whose mission aligns with my personal values and inclination to be involved in work and activities that contribute to improving people's lives.
Emma Cohen, Courtney Tanenbaum, and Team
Emma Cohen and Courtney Tanenbaum organized a team of 27 colleagues to serve together at Arlington Food Assistance Center, sorting nearly 38,000 pounds of food that will go to local families at no cost.
It was important to us to give back in the community where AIR is headquartered, and to support this organization that provides direct assistance to families in need.
Chris Preager
For nearly 20 years, Chris has supported the work of Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi in the Bolivian rainforest. His virtual volunteerism helps ensure this grassroots organization can sustain their efforts to preserve forests, rehabilitate rescued wild animals, provide local environmental education, and conduct scientific research.
I switched my career to international development because of this experience, so I wouldn't be at AIR had I not stumbled into a shack in the middle of the jungle 19 years ago and offered my services.
Allison Nederveld and Zenobia Wingate
Rooted in the belief that everyone has a right to safe and stable housing, Allison co-founded Lafayette Tool Library, a free, mobile tool trailer providing community members with the equipment they need to repair and maintain their homes. Zenobia teamed up with Allison to support a key fundraiser event.
Living in south Louisiana, we are used to dealing with major disasters on a regular basis. One of the main barriers to community-led disaster response is the lack of access to tools, something that my co-founder and I recognized in the wake of the hurricanes in 2020.
Emily Ackman (2022 and 2023 awardee)
Emily organizes events with East Somerville Main Streets, a nonprofit supporting small business owners in East Somerville, Massachusetts—78 percent of whom are immigrants—to thrive economically, preserve cultural heritage, and nurture community connections. She also volunteers at The Elizabeth Peabody House, supporting low-income and immigrant families in Boston.
My volunteerism reminds me that in our work at AIR, we need to make the extra effort to bring in perspectives from families that we might not hear from as often. They use the public services that we support through state and federal grants, and we need to understand how to meet their needs successfully.
Sushmita Subedi
Sushmita supports Samaanta Foundation, a nonprofit providing quality higher education opportunities to students from disadvantaged and marginalized communities in Nepal. Sushmita helps the organization develop systems for measurement and evaluation, and mentors program Fellows and alumni.
This experience reminds me to prioritize the voices of young people as much as we can in our work at AIR. Youth have a lot more to give to policy and decision-making in education than we give them credit and space for.
Taletha Derrington
Committed to reducing plastic pollution, Taletha volunteers with Sea Hugger, where she engages current and future environmentalists in community beach cleanups, shoreline story times, and other educational service activities.
I started a ‘green group’ among AIR’s remote staff, and it’s now self-sustaining. I would like to bring an environmental aspect into more of my work at AIR and am working on some exciting initiatives intersecting climate change and health.
Nara Nayar
Concerned about the lack of inclusive sexual health education in her community, Nara co-founded Oak Park Our Whole Lives. The nonprofit offers voluntary, age-appropriate courses for youth and their families, aimed at preparing young people to have healthy, respectful relationships with themselves and others.
As chair of the AIR Pride employee resource group, my volunteerism makes me think more about how to advocate for our LGBTQ+ employees and how to empower them to advocate for themselves.
Tara Zuber
Tara tutors seventh graders each Tuesday at Tutoring Chicago, where her favorite moments include friendly debate with students about the merits of learning history and discussions on their favorite authors.
I am passionate about Tutoring Chicago because they provide free tutoring to students whose families have financial issues. I grew up in a reduced-price lunch family, so I am very supportive of services that help kids in that situation.
2022 Awardees
Jennie Jiang
Jennie supports BUILD Chicago, a community-based organization focused on violence prevention and youth development. She has led efforts to attract young people to community leadership opportunities in her neighborhood, including an Earth Day clean up at the local park.
My work at AIR often focuses on the systematic issues at a larger scale. My volunteerism grounds me in the community and people. As a former middle-school teacher, I've seen the trauma my students experienced due to gun violence in their communities—I also have seen how connections to the community and safe spaces can help students grow and succeed.
Karin Johnson
At Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center, Karin channels her lifelong love of horses toward supporting people of all ages and abilities through equine occupational and physical therapy.
My advice for someone looking to get involved in their community is to think back to something you loved when you were a child, and then look for organizations that offer related volunteering opportunities.
Femi Vance
As an active board member of the California School Age Consortium (CalSAC), Femi supports educators in providing quality out-of-school time programs that offer learning, fun, and relationships with caring adults when children are not in school.
CalSAC’s board recruitment strategy and selection focused on ensuring that people with lived experience in out-of-school time programs would be considered. This made me think about ways we can be more intentional at AIR about involving people with direct experience in the systems we hope to change through our work.
Jackie Troschinetz
Passionate about the role of music in bringing communities together, Jackie volunteers with the percussionists of Mountain Vista High School in Colorado, helping students build soft skills like confidence and teamwork while also keeping a beat.
Music is a great equalizer and connector across societies, culture, race, age, background, and socioeconomic status. Through music education, students learn how to contribute to something bigger than themselves.
Rebecca Bates
Rebecca prepares and serves weekend meals at the Ames Romero House, which provides a safe space for individuals experiencing housing insecurity and returning from incarceration. Open to house residents and neighbors, meals bring the community together in the spirit of sharing.
Looking at our own bias and value of status is hard—but essential—to do our work successfully.