The Call for Volunteers is now closed. We plan to offer this opportunity in the fall of 2027. If you have questions about committees in the meantime, please contact education@apwa.org.
Past Volunteer Projects
APWA Committee: Technology
Project Description: The Technology Committee is seeking volunteers to participate in a review of APWA’s cybersecurity certificate program, "Foundational Cybersecurity Concepts for Public Works Professionals." We need participants to review the course content, provide feedback, and evaluate the program's marketing and promotional strategies. This project will include a few working meetings, along with note-taking and submitting content recommendations. A background or understanding of cybersecurity practices and their importance to public works functions is helpful.
Role of the Volunteer: Volunteers will need to review the current certificate program content for updates and relevancy and provide recommendations. Volunteers will also provide recommendations for marketing the program to public works professionals.
Ideal Volunteer: The ideal volunteer has a background in or understanding of current cybersecurity practices and emerging trends. Volunteers can be from an agency or consulting firm, but ideally can speak to the intersection of public works and cybersecurity, and what public works professionals need to know on the topic of cybersecurity.
Number of Volunteers Needed: 5
Time Commitment: Volunteers will need to attend a few working meetings and submit detailed notes from their review. Time outside of meetings is estimated to be 3–5 hours. The full project should take approximately two months.
Project Description: This work group is tasked with providing insight, guidance, and recommendations to ensure APWA workforce initiatives align with current and future industry needs. The group will also provide feedback on how APWA credentials can be incorporated into hiring and training plans. This group fosters a deeper partnership with employers, educators, and other community stakeholders to strengthen the public works talent pipeline.
Role of the Volunteer: Attend and actively participate in meetings. Share industry knowledge, trends, and labor market insights. This could also include sharing tools, templates, or policies that can be used as best practices. Provide feedback on workforce initiatives, hiring practices, HR policies, and industry training needs. This can include a review of public works job descriptions and training requirements for accuracy and relevance.
Ideal Volunteer: HR professionals, community college or university representatives, and leaders representing a broad range of agencies, from small to large, that make hiring decisions and can influence job descriptions. Also looking for those with an interest in career mapping, career progression, and professional development for their own organization.
Number of Volunteers Needed: 10–15
Time Commitment: Approximately 2–3 hours a month, quarterly meetings.
APWA Committee: Facilities and Grounds
Project Description: The Facilities and Grounds Committee is developing two guidebooks for those who are either new to the facilities and grounds management profession, or those who would like a reference guide. The top-level sections are: Strategic Planning and Governance, Capital Planning and Project Management, and Operations and Maintenance. There are subsections under the top-level sections. If you are interested in this opportunity, additional information on the subsections will be provided.
Role of the Volunteer: The table of contents has been developed by the committee and is in final draft form. For the next step, volunteers with subject matter expertise are needed to help write draft content for each section/subsection of the facilities guidebook.
Ideal Volunteer: The ideal volunteer for this project is a facilities professional working for an agency or a consultant. Volunteers with experience in operations and maintenance, engineering, construction, and management are being sought. Experience in more than one of the following areas is preferred: regulatory aspects, operations and maintenance, vendor management, sustainable practices, design and construction, healthy buildings, building management technology, development of best management practices, and emergency management.
Number of Volunteers Needed: 8–10
Time Commitment: Time commitment will vary, depending on how many sections or subsections the volunteer wants to help with. The writing phase of the project will begin at the end of November/early December and conclude at the end of May 2026 (6–7 months). There will be virtual check-in meetings at least once a month, and then more frequently as we get closer to the writing deadline. Meetings are intended for authors to report on their writing progress and bring awareness to any challenges or questions they may have.
APWA Committee: Facilities and Grounds
Project Description: The Facilities and Grounds Committee is developing two guidebooks for those who are either new to the facilities and grounds management profession, or those who would like a reference guide. The top-level sections are: Strategic Planning and Governance, Capital Planning and Project Management, and Operations and Maintenance. There are subsections under the top-level sections. If you are interested in this opportunity, additional information on the subsections will be provided.
Role of the Volunteer: The table of contents has been developed by the committee, and is in final draft form. For the next step, volunteers with subject matter expertise are needed to help write draft content for each section/subsection of the grounds guidebook.
Ideal Volunteer: The ideal volunteer for this project is a grounds professional working for an agency or a consultant. Volunteers with experience in operations and maintenance, engineering, construction, and management are being sought. Experience in more than one of the following areas is preferred: regulatory aspects, operations and maintenance, vendor management, sustainable practices, development of best management practices, and design and construction.
Number of Volunteers Needed: 8–10
Time Commitment: Time commitment will vary, depending on how many sections or subsections the volunteer wants to help with. The writing phase of the project will begin in the end of November/early December and conclude at the end of May 2026 (6–7 months). There will be virtual check-in meetings at least once a month, and then more frequently as we get closer to the deadline for writing. Meetings are intended for authors to report on their writing progress and bring awareness to any challenges or questions they may have.
APWA Committee: Emergency Management
Project Description: The APWA Emergency Management Committee created checklists for agencies to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies. The checklists are fillable PDF documents. They have created checklists for the following: ice storm, earthquake, hurricane, flooding, wildfire, tornado, and civil unrest. The next checklist will be for site security.
Role of the Volunteer: Volunteers will draft the checklist to include responsibilities and tasks needed for site security. Volunteers do not need to address formatting, grammar edits, formatting citations, or layout.
Ideal Volunteer: The ideal volunteer for this project is a public works professional working for an agency or a consultant. Volunteers with experience in emergencies, particularly in site security, are being sought.
Number of Volunteers Needed: 3–5
Time Commitment:
- Attend virtual meetings generally at least once per month
- Initial meeting is often used to brainstorm content
- Meetings will continue so volunteers can report on their progress and bring awareness to any challenges or questions they are facing.
- Time outside of meetings: 2–4 hours per month
- Project is expected to last three months
APWA Committee: Small Cities and Rural Communities
Project Description: A central resource for leaders in small cities/rural communities. The resource will have templates, training links, advocacy resources, etc.
Role of the Volunteer: Provide a needs assessment of their agency and provide resources/templates that their agency finds valuable.
Ideal Volunteer: Public works leader of an agency that serves a population of 50,000 or less.
Number of Volunteers Needed: 10
Time Commitment: 10 hours
To volunteer for the Stormwater Credential Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), use this form.
APWA Committee: Water Resources Management and Certified Stormwater Manager (CSM) Certification Council
Project Description: APWA is seeking volunteers for a new stormwater microcredential program. The program will consist of four microcredentials that can be taken separately or stacked toward the Certified Stormwater Manager (CSM) designation. A microcredential is a short, focused learning experience that focuses on a specific skill, task, or knowledge area.
Role of the Volunteer: We are seeking subject matter experts to contribute to the development of educational materials or to exam item writing for each microcredential. Work will occur throughout 2026 and 2027. As we prepare to begin work on each individual microcredential, we will reach out to interested individuals with details on volunteer expectations and anticipated time commitment to confirm continued interest in participating.
Ideal Volunteer: The ideal volunteer for this project includes stormwater professionals in the public and private sectors who coordinate and implement stormwater management programs for or in partnership with city, county, state, tribal, or federal agencies, or other institutions or organizations with stormwater management programs.
APWA Committee: Water Resources Management
Project Description: This project is an update of the 311-page APWA Stormwater Management Manual. The Stormwater Management Manual is designed for stormwater managers and those seeking the new APWA stormwater credential, as well as those wishing to gain an overview of programs and practices. This manual addresses the technical knowledge stormwater managers need to make meaningful water quality improvement. It covers old and new stormwater management techniques, management of new development and redevelopment, funding and financing, and political and social factors of stormwater management programs. This manual was last updated in 2020. Content updates include both text and graphics.
Role of the Volunteer: Revisions completed by volunteers may include one or a combination of:
- Writing new sections
- Writing entire new chapters
- Deleting old content
- Making minor corrections to sentences
- Adding new terminology throughout the document
- Adding or updating case studies
- Replacing or updating linked references and resources
Authors do not need to address formatting, grammar edits, formatting citations, layout, or image placement.
There is also a need for a volunteer to be a cold-eye reviewer. This volunteer will read the first draft of the updated publication to provide fresh and objective feedback. It also provides an opportunity for a member to get involved with the project without the more intensive commitment of authorship.
Ideal Volunteer: The ideal volunteer for this project is a stormwater professional working for an agency or a consultant. Volunteers with experience in operations and maintenance, engineering, construction, and management are being sought. Experience in one or more of the following areas is required: regulatory aspects, operations and maintenance, green infrastructure, and other stormwater topics.
Number of Volunteers Needed: 10
Time Commitment:
- Attend virtual meetings generally at least once per month
- Initial meeting is often used to brainstorm content and develop an outline
- Meetings will continue so authors can report on their writing progress and bring awareness to any challenges or questions they are facing.
- Time outside of meetings: 5–10 hours per month
- Project is expected to last six months
APWA Committee: Technology
Project Description: The Technology Committee contributes a monthly article to the APWA Reporter magazine and would love to feature authors outside of the committee. Each edition of the APWA Reporter focuses on a different technical area in public works, and the articles should highlight how technology intersects with each of those areas.
Role of the Volunteer: Volunteers can write an article or submit a topic idea for an article.
Ideal Volunteer: The ideal volunteer is interested in sharing:
- Case studies on technology implementation
- Tips and tricks for technology adoption in public works
- Emerging trends in technology
- Challenges and successes in technology innovation
Number of Volunteers Needed: 10
Time Commitment: No meetings are required for this volunteer opportunity unless the author or committee requests one. Articles must be between 800–1,000 words and should take no more than a few hours to complete, and meet the guidelines found here.