InterWorks doesn’t only prioritize their employees – we also prioritize the community. This is why our monthly onboarding sessions include a volunteering event that all new hires attend, along with any additional employees that would like to give back. This is a way to give back to the community as well as to inform the incoming employees about the values of InterWorks and the opportunities we offer. In fact, we encourage employees to take a break from work to go and volunteer!
How It All Started
Volunteering has a long history at InterWorks, but including as part of onboarding is a more recent development. According to Jessica Ross, Employee Experience Coordinator, in 2024, InterWorks was given the opportunity to volunteer at the Special Olympics here in Stillwater Oklahoma. However, the day of Special Olympics fell on our onboarding week. So, what did we do? Well, we invited them to come with us, and everyone had a blast. InterWorks has made sure to consistently have a volunteering event every month during our onboarding week since.
InterWorks Global Employee Experience Lead Kelsey Lee states that, “One of the reasons I came to work at InterWorks was the generosity I’d seen in the Stillwater community. That same spirit of giving shows up in how we volunteer, support each other and stay connected to the places we call home. It’s why we embedded volunteering into our onboarding week, because it’s part of who we are from day one.”
Choosing Organizations
InterWorks has volunteered with many different organizations over the years and we are always open to new opportunities. When InterWorks started to incorporate the new hires we had to find organizations that could fit within the onboarding schedule while still having enough time to help the community. InterWorks Employee Experience Coordinator Sara Pineda explained that, “When selecting volunteer opportunities, I try to keep a few options in rotation, since organizations’ availability can shift. We aim to build ongoing relationships with local groups, but sometimes scheduling changes require flexibility. This actually works in our favor, it encourages us to continually explore new organizations, learn about evolving community needs and find creative ways to support them.”
InterWorks values the time we get to spend with these organizations and, as Pineda mentioned, “The goal is always to choose opportunities that are meaningful, accessible to the team, and aligned with our values of service and community impact.”
The Volunteering Experience
Sara Pineda attends all the volunteering events to ensure everything runs smoothly and to further maintain the connection with the organizations. However, that isn’t the only reason she attends, “Volunteering during onboarding has honestly become one of my favorite parts of the process. It creates a meaningful opportunity to connect with new hires outside of the office environment and to learn more about who they are as people. In my experience, those shared moments of doing something kind for the community help break the ice, build trust and strengthen our sense of belonging early on. It also reinforces a key part of who we are as a company – that we care about more than just our work. Volunteering together gives everyone a chance to feel grateful, helpful and connected to a bigger cause, which sets a positive tone for their time at InterWorks”.
As much as InterWorkers love this event, our new hires have a similar experience! August Howell, one of our July new hires, stated that, “InterWorks making it apart of the onboarding experience was novel, and I would highly recommend that it continues.” Davis Winchester, a more recent new hire, said, “The community service I took part in during onboarding was a fantastic experience. It was a great way to get to know some of my coworkers and helped me feel like a part of the Stillwater team early on. It also felt like I was already accomplishing something meaningful for the new community I found myself in.”
InterWorks Gives Back
Volunteering is one of the ways that InterWorks gives back to the community, giving all the employees the opportunity to leave work and help out when needed. Incorporating a specific event for our onboarding groups became a way to show them the values we hold and the opportunities they have while working here. Giving back is always strongly encouraged, and we do our best to host ways for our employees to do just that! Whether it is giving blood, donations or putting in work to help the community, we value our opportunities to give back.
“Volunteering reminds us that our work doesn’t stop at our desks. When we give our time and talent to others, we strengthen the same communities that support us. That connection between people, purpose, and place is what truly defines InterWorks.”
– Behfar Jahanshahi, CEO
