The Georgia Association for Volunteer Administration today announced the retirement of longtime board member, treasurer and founding member James P. Marshall Jr., signaling the end of an extraordinary 40-year tenure dedicated to championing the volunteer engagement profession throughout the state of Georgia.
Since the early 1980s, Marshall has been a cornerstone of the volunteer engagement community and a proud advocate for volunteerism.
His career, characterized by unwavering advocacy and strategic leadership, helped transform how organizations across the state recruit, retain and support the volunteers essential to Georgia’s nonprofit and public service sectors.
Throughout his four decades of service, Marshall was instrumental in GAVA’s growth, serving as a mentor to generations of volunteer administrators. His work helped establish rigorous professional standards for the field and fostered a culture of recognition and excellence for volunteerism in Georgia.
“James P. Marshall Jr. represents the very best of our profession,” said Tim Suda, vice president of GAVA. “For 40 years, he has been a tireless advocate for the power of service. His legacy isn’t just in the policies he helped shape or the strategic initiatives he led; it is in the countless volunteer managers he coached, the organizations he stabilized and the millions of volunteer hours that have been mobilized under his quiet, effective guidance. We are profoundly grateful for his wisdom and his friendship.”
Marshall’s professional journey is most notably defined by his tenure as executive director of the Georgia Commission for Service and Volunteerism, housed within the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. In that role, he oversaw the administration of statewide service programs, including AmeriCorps, and served as a primary advisor on how the public and private sectors could leverage volunteer power to address community needs.
In addition to his work with GAVA, Marshall served as president of the Council of Volunteer Administrators of Metropolitan Atlanta from 1985-86, helping build the regional networks that today support thousands of volunteer managers.
Marshall is equally well known in his home community of Eatonton. His passion for history and preservation led him to serve as president of the Eatonton-Putnam County Historical Society. In that role, he has been described as a “catalyst for education,” leading efforts to preserve the historic resources of Putnam County and welcoming organizations like the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation to the area.
Marshall is also a historical preservationist whose involvement dates back to the 1970s, when he was a key contributor to the inventory and nomination of the Eatonton Historic District for the National Register of Historic Places.
Marshall previously received the Governor’s Awards in the Humanities, sponsored by Georgia Humanities.
Marshall’s retirement comes at a time when GAVA continues to expand its reach and digital capabilities. The association plans to honor his contributions by developing the James P. Marshall Jr. Archives — a repository of historical documents, presentations, reports and information related to volunteerism and volunteer engagement in Georgia and beyond.
For more information about GAVA or to share a message of gratitude for Marshall, visit the Georgia Association for Volunteer Administration.
The Georgia Association for Volunteer Administration is the premier professional association for those who manage, lead, and promote volunteer engagement. Through networking, professional development, and advocacy, GAVA connects volunteer administrators across the state, providing the tools and resources necessary to build sustainable and impactful volunteer programs.