Volunteer

Give back. Grow leaders.

Volunteering with Out for Undergrad is a powerful way to invest in the next generation of LGBTQ2IA+ leaders while deepening your own connection to community, purpose, and impact. O4U is committed to offering deep, skill based volunteering opportunities to make a meaningful difference! When you give back to O4U, you help create access, confidence, and opportunity for students navigating the career landscape. In addition to supporting the O4U community, volunteers gain meaningful leadership experience, expand their networks, and get the chance to see the direct impact of their time and talents.

Pitch Your Company to Sponsor

Commitment: 30-minutes

Impact: Introduces students to affirming work environments and funds conferences and programs for LGBTQ2IA+ students

Perfect for: Workplace advocates

Help introduce O4U to your company and champion sponsorship opportunities. This can include making an internal introduction, sharing sponsorship materials, or helping navigate your company’s approval process. Your advocacy directly fuels scholarships, programming, and student experiences, plus highlights your company as an affirming place for the next generation of LGBTQ2IA+ students to work. Learn more about becoming a sponsor here.

Local Conference Volunteer

Commitment: 2-3 days (typically Friday-Saturday)

Impact: Ensures a smooth, welcoming, and affirming conference experience

Perfect for: Logistical go-getters in conference locations

From registration and way-finding to mic running and troubleshooting, you’ll help create an environment where students feel supported and celebrated. It’s a fast-paced, deeply rewarding way to see O4U’s impact in real time. In 2026, O4U will host conferences in New York City and St. Paul, MN.

Mentor for the On-Going Mentorship Program

Commitment: 6 1:1 mentor meetings and 3 community events during a 3-month cohort

Impact: Shine a light in a student’s life as they navigate key career decisions

Perfect for: Relationship builders

As a mentor, you’ll be paired with a student for ongoing conversations around career exploration, identity, and professional growth. This role is about care and showing up as a trusted sounding board during moments that matter. Mentors get to build significant relationships with students to make an impact. Learn more about our Mentor Program here.

Conference Team Director

Commitment: 1 year of intensive volunteering (~5 hours per week)

Impact: Shapes the entire conference experience for LGBTQ2IA+ students, sponsors, and volunteers

Perfect for: Organized leaders who enjoy project management, teamwork, and big-picture thinking

Conference Director teams work throughout the year to design and deliver O4U’s flagship conferences. Team members collaborate from ideation to delivery, gaining deep leadership experience while helping bring a complex, high-impact event to life. Team members apply for and focus on specific topic areas that we call pillars: admissions, programming, sponsorship, and logistics. Being on a Conference Director Team allows you to make a mission-critical impact while building deep relationships with fellow leaders who care. Applications typically open at the end of the calendar year.

Strategic Operations Team Member

Commitment: 3-year term (~5-10 hours per month)

Impact: Strengthens O4U’s long-term sustainability and organizational effectiveness

Perfect for: Dedicated professionals with experience in strategy, operations, or systems thinking

The Strategic Operations Teams (SOT) supports O4U at the organizational level, working on initiatives that improve how the organization lives out our mission, functions, and grows. Current SOTs include Admissions, Alumni & Special Events, Brand & Digital Content, Mentoring, Learning Community, Travel & Logistics, Strategic Partnerships, and project-based work. Serving on a SO Team is an opportunity to apply your professional expertise to help ensure O4U can continue delivering impact at scale. Applications open on a rolling basis.

"O4U is not a typical conference - it’s not something that happens and then it’s over. It is a movement and a community, the latter which is especially important now. To me, O4U is a movement of people that genuinely wants students (as well as mentors, volunteers, and sponsors) to succeed personally and professionally. As both a former student participant and now a volunteer, I see the importance of having a space where you can be authentic, make an impact, and build a career that aligns with your beliefs. I volunteer because someone believed in me and I want to pass that belief forward."

- Anne Lam, Conference Team Director
"Volunteering for O4U has given me the opportunity to give back in a truly meaningful way. I feel like I'm leveraging my strengths to really making a difference in the lives of LGBTQ2IA+ students. And O4U has helped me grow! The leadership skills I've learned here have helped me at work and in my personal life. Most of all, I love the community volunteering with O4U has given me."

- Olivia Beres, Strategic Operations Team Member