National Volunteer Week 17-23 May 2021: Our Volunteers 3

Oscar Bigiolli
Oscar is a new Volunteer here at Connecting Up having recently joined on 13 April 2021. Oscar has a background in Business and Marketing, having completed his Bachelors on the subject in 2018. Since then he has undertaken a number of small jobs and internships before joining the Connecting Up team. He looks forward to developing his skills as a volunteer with the hopes of securing employment that will utilise his Business degree in the future. See Oscar's story here. 

Hang Zhang
Hang joined the team at Connecting Up at the beginning of 2021 on the 10 February, having recently graduated from the University of South Australia with his Masters of Information Technology for Enterprise Management. Hang is interested in analytics, and has been working alongside Stathis each week to use PowerBi and Canva to provide data analysis for SA Councils. He is enjoying being a part of the team and learning new skills from some of our experienced volunteers. 

Hang is also looking forward to learning more about Australian working culture and environments, and opportunities apply his academic knowledge and skills in a practical, work place setting. See Hang's story here 

Blake Kennison
Blake has a certificate III in Information Technology (Network Administration) and a Diploma of Information Technology Networking at TAFE SA volunteering with Connecting Up first starting on 7 May 2018 and continuing on and off between his studies and current job searching. Blake has written about his volunteering experience in previous years' >>here.

Blake aims to move into the IT industry, particularly a position working at an IT help desk. He has volunteered at Connecting Up to expand his skills in customer service, data entry and to learn more about the software the workforce use in their daily routine. Blake volunteered with us earlier this year after completing his last subject and is now currently searching for work and potentially new studies in data analytics and we look forward to having him return to Connecting Up again soon.
 

Aaron Monaghan
Aaron came to Connecting Up in 17 February 2021 this year with a background in retail, video production, online marketing, and clothing production, and worked to develop a template for producing video content during his time here as well as put some clips together for a short video. Aaron has written about his experience with Connecting up, which can be found here.

[Editors note: Connecting Up would like to congratulate and farewell Aaron, who left us initially in 1 June 2021 and then in July 2021 after gaining full-time employment in a communications company. We wish him all the best in his future ventures.] 

Edward Windsor
Edward came to Connecting Up on 20 September 2019 from an extensive background in Retail and Customer Service. He has a keen interest in IT and related technologies, and has studied and completed a Certificate III in Information and Technology and Media from TAFE. Edward provides SAcommunity updates regularly each week, initially onsite and now remotely to assist the service, answering emails and making calls as needed, all to maintain his customer service experience. 

Edward continues to develop and refine his skills at Connecting Up, building on his meeting with volunteer mentor, James Newport, Senior Web Developer and their discussions on the state of the IT Tech industry, where it is headed and the training and development he can look into for preparation for this field. He hopes to find a career in IT or a related field, such as computer assembly and repair in the future.  

Brad Ng
Brad joined the team on the 30 August 2019 while studying marketing as an international student at the University of Adelaide. He has enjoyed the opportunity to undertake creative tasks as a volunteer, such as designing generic graphics and logos using Canva to represent services in the SAcommunity website, to this point providing 25 logos!

Volunteering at Connecting Up has provided Brad with opportunities to learn and develop new skills, gain practical experience and meet new people. In particularly his volunteer mentor Sam Lloyd, Marketing Lead - Products and Services who provided much welcome information and assistance on the Media and Marketing industry.

Brad took leave from volunteering to complete his student internship, however this year having completed his studies and moved home to Singapore, Brad has recently rejoined the team. He continues to volunteer remotely for SAcommunity providing graphic logos to order for the directory while searching for full-time employment. Brad previously wrote about his volunteering experience >>here.  
 

Editors note: 
We are thrilled to announce that Brad has now found a position as a Customer Marketing Specialist at a computer software company in Singapore - Congratulations Brad!
Brad's initial contract position in 26 June 2021 became a full-time position in March 2022 and he has kindly elected to continue to volunteer for Connecting Up around his full-time work, creating the generic graphic images used throughout the directory used as visual communication aids. These assist people in quickly recognising and identifying services provided by various organisations, improving the look and use of the listings.

Alexander Bull
Alex has been a volunteer with Connecting up since 30 September 2019. He has a Bachelors degree in Social Sciences from the University of Adelaide and a Certificate II in Business Administration from TAFESA. He is passionate about social and cultural issues, particularly those that effect the most vulnerable in society. Alex has previously volunteered for other organisations, such as Anglicare and JFA Purple Orange, and worked in the printing industry.

He joined Connecting up to gain experience, and enjoys developing his skills and practical knowledge, in a way that positively contributes to the community. Alex gained part-time work with a nursing and disability services provider in 2020 and has continued to volunteer remotely updating records for SAcommunity this year around his other commitments. 

Find our other volunteer stories below:
National Volunteer Week 17-23 May 2021: Our Volunteers 1

National Volunteer Week 17-23 May 2021: Our Volunteers 2