Being an AUTM Volunteer Can Level Up Your Career 

We’ve all heard that it’s better to give than to receive, but many AUTM volunteers know giving is a two-way street. In addition to helping AUTM support the tech transfer community, donating time and expertise to one of AUTM’s 35 committees will help you grow in ways that can boost your job performance and even earn you a promotion. 

So many things about the committee experience can help you excel in your current tech transfer position. The same collaborative skills that you’ll sharpen while working with other volunteers will also enrich your interactions with colleagues and with tech transfer partners. Interacting with volunteers from a range of institutions, with a range of backgrounds, can expand your understanding of technology transfer and your network of folks who can help you out in a pinch.  

“Volunteering for AUTM has a host of benefits—building your own knowledge, understanding other offices, growing a network, and giving back to your profession, to name just a few,” said Linda Kesselring, Operations Director for the Office of Technology Transfer at Emory University. Kesselring has been an AUTM volunteer since 2017, with the Website Committee and more recently the Operations & Compliance Course Committee. 

Volunteering can also help advance your career beyond your current position. Your fellow committee members can be invaluable for providing professional references and tips about job openings at other institutions. Your new skills also can lead to opportunities within your current institution.  

“Being a volunteer has helped me expand my knowledge of tech transfer, which has helped me in my career because I received a promotion,” said Ann Amidzich, a Senior Intellectual Property Manager in the Office of Technology Development at the Medical College of Wisconsin, who has been a member of AUTM’s Better World Project Committee since 2019. “I have enjoyed working with many talented tech transfer professionals through the years with the Better World Project Committee.” 

Of course, the rewards of being an AUTM volunteer extend beyond professional opportunities. Just ask Nidhi Sabharwal, Assistant Director of Business Development and Licensing at The Rockefeller University, who says volunteering brings her happiness—and she swears it will do the same for you.  

“I would like all of you to consider volunteering for AUTM,” Sabharwal told attendees at the AUTM Annual Meeting, where she received the 2023 AUTM Volunteer of the Year Award for her work with the Online Professional Development Committee and the Eastern Region Planning Committee. “It’s a volunteer-run organization, and you can help shape the future vision of the AUTM community and profession. In return, I promise, your heart will be full of joy as mine is.” 

Click here to learn more and apply to be an AUTM volunteer.