ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗
Volunteering is changing — and bold leaders are rising to shift the system. Hosted by Tracey O’Neill — visionary consultant, mentor, trainer, and unapologetic disruptor — Making a Ruckus shakes up how we understand volunteering, leadership, and community. More than a podcast, it’s a movement to challenge old systems, measure what matters, and lead with courage, care, and connection.
Hosts:
Update frequency:
biweekly
Average audio length:
27 minutes
English
Australia
20 episodes
since Oct. 29, 2025
episodic
LATEST EPISODE 🔗
I read a lot of volunteering strategy documents. Most of them don't make me stop.
The new Points of Light US National Volunteer Strategy did.
One line on page 13, Principle 2: make volunteering a core strategic function, not an add-on.
People in volunteer engagement have been making this argume…
PREVIOUS EPISODES 🔗
What if some of the most important work in volunteer engagement happens long before anyone ever signs up to volunteer?
In this episode of Making a Ruckus, I explore the idea of hidden impact – the conversations, connections and moments of belonging that rarely appear in our reports, but shape comm…
Tom Gill doesn't work in the volunteering sector. He's a cultural placemaking consultant and writer for The Guardian, who spends his career studying how cities and communities create connection.
So, when he wanted to find community for himself, he didn't start with the research. He went looking fo…
"What gets measured gets managed."
It's one of the most repeated phrases in leadership and reporting. But what if it's led us to pay attention to all the wrong things?
In this episode of Making a Ruckus: Rethinking Volunteer Engagement, Tracey explores what happens when volunteer engage…
What if the most important impacts of volunteering can't be counted?
In this episode of Making a Ruckus, Tracey is joined by volunteerism researcher, writer, and thought leader Sue Carter Kahl, whose work has challenged volunteer engagement professionals around the world to rethink how we understa…
Season 3 of Making a Ruckus opens with a question that came out mid-sentence in a workshop, surprised the room, and hasn't left Tracey since.
What if the real work of volunteer engagement is the work we keep putting off?
Drawing on two stories from her own career, Tracey reflects on what happens …
Over the past couple of months on Making a Ruckus, I’ve been exploring volunteer engagement through the lens of Volunteer Love Languages.
Not to label people.
But to notice something that doesn’t always get talked about.
That people don’t just volunteer in different ways — they experience vol…
Physical touch is one of the most misunderstood — and often avoided — aspects of volunteer engagement.
In professional settings, it raises important questions about boundaries, safety, and risk.So many organisations respond by removing it altogether.
But what gets lost when we do that?
In this e…
Receiving Gifts is often the volunteer love language that makes organisations the most uncomfortable.
Volunteering is frequently framed as altruistic — something people do without expecting anything in return. Because of this, tangible gestures of appreciation can feel unnecessary, or they become …
When the Moments Between the Tasks Matter Most
Some volunteers stay because of the moments between the tasks.
For volunteers who value Quality Time, shared experience isn’t a bonus — it’s what gives volunteering meaning.
Not every volunteer role naturally includes long conversations or team bond…
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tracey O'Neill, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
PODCAST SEARCH ENGINE
You can use our website to search 3,828,197 podcasts and 196,376,058 episodes by people, places, or topics.
If I have seen further than others, it is by listening to podcasts and standing upon the shoulders of
giants.
‐ Isaac "Llamacorn" Newton
CLAIM THIS PODCAST
Why to claim podcasts?
If you are a podcaster, the best way to manage your podcasts on Listen Notes is by claiming your Listen Notes
podcast pages.
It is a great, free way to engage the podcast community and increase the visibility of your podcasts.
After claiming your Listen Notes podcast pages, you will be able to:
✓
Manually refresh the RSS feed to sync up
✓
Get a verified badge (
✓
) alongside with your podcast name on Listen Notes
✓
Post classified ads for sponsorship,
guests, co-hosts,
cross-promotion...
✓
Respond to listener comments on Listen Notes
✓
Use speech-to-text techniques to transcribe your show and
edit transcripts
✓
Improve the presence of your podcasts, e.g., self-service
podcaster interview...
✓
If you share your Listen Notes page and at-mention @ListenNotes
on X (formerly Twitter),
our official X (formerly Twitter) account will retweet to promote
your show to our followers.
Coming soon:
◯ Self-service promotion on Listen Notes
◯ Track your podcast stats on Listen
Notes, e.g., listens, page
views...
◯ Manage episodes
EDIT
Thank you for helping to keep the podcast database up to date.
