“Mourad is constantly thinking of new and innovative ways to improve the Volunteer Team, including opportunities for his team to bond as a unit and brainstorm solutions together. This is all that much more impressive considering he lives halfway around the world and has never met any of us in person!” – Alyssa Gross DPA!’s Administration Vice President
That’s just the start of why Mourad Blokpoel is a DPA! Pawsome Person! Learn more about him below:
What does your role within DPA! involve? What do you oversee within the organization?
I’m currently the Assistant Director of Onboarding, so I track the onboarding of the incoming volunteers that join DPA! and work with the Volunteer Coordinators to bring in the people to help DPA! achieve our mission of making Dallas no-kill. I have calls and give trainings over the phone and via virtual meeting rooms. The fun part is that you get to talk with people who share the same interests which includes improving the animal welfare in Dallas.
What is your professional background?
I am currently studying for my Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resource Management. Next to that, for about a year and a half now, I have worked for an employment agency as an Assistant Recruiter. I make a lot of phone calls, fill shifts, and so on. I am also a Translator and Community Moderator for an avatar-based social media platform, which means that I translate their apps and web pages from English to Dutch. I host online contests and events to increase community engagement and of course, post translated announcements and answer and monitor any questions and topics posted on the community platforms. Before that, I worked in retail as a Sales Advisor for a German company specializing in fashion. I did that for almost 5 years.
How long have you been involved with the organization?
I started as a Volunteer Coordinator in October 2017. So, a little over a year I would say. I found DPA! through VolunteerMatch and applied from there!
What drives you to dedicate your time to DPA!?
I am doing it for a good cause. Before I joined DPA!, I realized that I had a lot of time on my hands. Like, a lot. So, I wanted to spend that time wisely and spend it on a great cause such as improving animal welfare. Plus, the people that I work with are truly amazing and I appreciate their help every day.
On average, how many hours per week do you volunteer?
This varies and I wouldn’t really know. Sometimes it could be 10 hours, sometimes 30 hours. The amount of hours per week truly depends on the amount of projects I have to work on.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself.
Some are aware of this already, but I do not live in Dallas or anywhere near the United States. I live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is crazy how the internet makes working remotely possible.
Be Pawsome like Mourad. Apply to be a Dallas Pets Alive! volunteer today!
