SAN FRANCISCO, CA, UNITED STATES, March 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The third edition of the Global Volunteering Summit (GVS26), hosted by Goodera, the global leader in corporate volunteering, brought together more than 250 social impact leaders, nonprofits, and technology innovators in San Jose from February 24–26. The summit explored the rise of enterprise-grade volunteering, as organizations build integrated and measurable systems to scale employee volunteering globally.
Across three days of conversations, workshops, and collaborative sessions, the summit centered on one overarching theme: building the infrastructure required to scale volunteering sustainably. The discussions explored topics such as enterprise-grade volunteering, building organization-specific champion networks, technology integrations between ecosystem partners, the growing role of artificial intelligence, and more.
“The conversations at GVS26 reflect how far corporate volunteering has evolved,” said Abhishek Humbad. “Organizations are no longer thinking about volunteering as episodic engagement. They want programs that are resilient, agile, global, scalable, measurable, and deeply integrated into their broader impact strategies. What we are seeing is a shift toward building long-term systems—supported by thoughtful program design, balanced volunteering portfolios, and enterprise-grade infrastructure that enables us to operate with the same rigor as any other critical business function.”
A key milestone during the summit was the release of Goodera’s 2026 Volunteering Quotient (VQ) Report, which analyzes volunteering participation across 240 companies globally. The report found that the median workforce participation rate in volunteering programs currently stands at 25.6 percent. Among the 76 companies that have consistently published participation data over the past three years, volunteering engagement has grown at 20 percent year over year, highlighting the sustained momentum behind structured corporate volunteering programs. The findings reinforce that organizations investing in clear program design, integrated technology platforms, and organization-wide volunteer campaigns consistently achieve higher engagement and are better positioned to scale volunteering effectively.
The summit also introduced new initiatives focused on the role of artificial intelligence in advancing social impact. As part of its AI for All program, Goodera launched AI Jam and AI Labs, two initiatives designed to help volunteers translate emerging AI capabilities into practical community outcomes. AI Jam engages students in an interactive, high-energy vibe-coding challenge where teams use generative AI tools to collaboratively build simple games while learning the fundamentals of AI. AI Labs, on the other hand, connects employee volunteers directly with nonprofit organizations to explore, experiment with, and apply AI tools to real operational challenges, helping nonprofits identify practical ways to integrate AI into their everyday work.
Among the key innovations introduced is Pro Bono AI, a global platform connecting nonprofits with AI expertise from engineers and technology professionals. Through AI-enabled matching and structured consultations, nonprofits can access guidance on areas such as grant writing, fundraising, volunteer management, and impact measurement, enabling skills-based volunteering at scale.
Another highlight of GVS 2026 was the Global Volunteering Awards, which recognized organizations and individuals advancing corporate volunteering worldwide. Company award recipients included JPMorgan Chase & Co., LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Northern Trust, IBM, and Cencora, while individual changemakers honored included Karen Bergin (Microsoft), Raechelle Rainey Drakeford (3M), Stephanie Kim-Poston (Cadence), Mike Heitmann (Johnson & Johnson), and Mallory Burke (Atlassian). The awards also, for the first time, recognized Volunteer Champions, nonprofit partners, and hosts for their contributions to shaping the global volunteering ecosystem.
The summit also reflected the continued growth of the Corporate Volunteering Collective, Goodera’s global community platform for CSR and social impact practitioners. Through summits, community workshops, and regional gatherings, the Collective provides a space for leaders to exchange insights, share implementation learnings, and collaborate on building the next generation of volunteering programs.
About Goodera
Founded in 2014, Goodera partners with 500+ global enterprises, including 75+ Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, Airbnb, ServiceNow, Visa, and Amazon, to power corporate volunteering and social impact programsThrough its curated network of 50,000+ nonprofits across 1,000+ cities in 100+ countries, Goodera enables employees to support a wide range of causes. The platform also operates through a global network of 2000+ trained hosts who facilitate and deliver structured volunteer experiences at scale. To date, Goodera has enabled over 2 million employee volunteers to contribute millions of hours of service to nonprofits and grassroots organizations worldwide.
Divya Unnikrishnan
Goodera
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