Mihaela Sirițanu

Member Association: Volt Romania

Gender: Female

What strategy would you implement to recruit and retain highly specialised volunteers for the functional teams, for example in communications, policy, or data, over a full Board term? 

Specialised volunteers leave when their skills are wasted. They stay when their contribution matters. My strategy has three parts:
Recruit through purpose, not passion.
Skilled professionals are not motivated by general calls to volunteer. We recruit them with specific problems to solve, defined scope, and tangible outcomes — through professional networks and partner organisations, with role descriptions that read like real opportunities.
Retain through structure and recognition.
Specialists need clarity: defined responsibilities, responsive leadership, and autonomy to work professionally. We will introduce proper onboarding, regular check-ins, and visible recognition of contribution at European level. People stay where their work is seen.
Develop through the experience itself.
Volt offers something no employer can: exposure to real pan-European political campaigns and a continent-wide professional network. We will actively position volunteering with Volt as a genuine career development opportunity.
Retention is not an HR problem. It is a leadership responsibility.

Non-executive Board members must both support and challenge the executives. Describe a situation where you would publicly back the Co-Presidents, and one where you would publicly dissent. What guides your choice?

The Board works when non-executives are neither cheerleaders nor obstructionists. The guide is always the same: what serves Volt's mission and members, not personal loyalty or personal ambition.
When I would publicly back the Co-Presidents:
When a decision has been properly debated and carried by majority vote — regardless of how I voted — I will back it publicly. Democratic legitimacy matters. I will also actively support Co-Presidents acting within their clear mandate, particularly on swift political positioning: when Volt needs to respond quickly to a European political moment, the Co-Presidents should be able to speak with confidence knowing the Board stands behind them. Speed and coherence in political communication is a competitive advantage we cannot afford to lose.
When I would publicly dissent:
When a decision compromises financial integrity, undermines chapter trust, or concentrates power in ways that contradict our federalist values. Silence in those moments is not loyalty — it is complicity. If internal challenge has been exhausted and the decision stands, members deserve to know there was dissent and why.
What guides the choice:
One question: am I protecting the organisation or protecting a relationship? Accountability without courage is decoration.

What would you do if you believed the Board was making a decision that conflicted with Volt Europa's core values?

I would not stay silent, and I would not go straight to public dissent. There is a responsible sequence between those two extremes.
First, raise it inside the room.
Before any decision is finalised, I would name the conflict explicitly — not as an accusation but as a question the Board must answer: how does this align with our values? Sometimes decisions that appear to conflict with our values are poorly communicated, not poorly made. That deserves the chance to be clarified.
Second, propose an alternative.
Dissent without a constructive alternative is just noise. I would come with a concrete proposal for how the objective can be achieved without compromising what Volt stands for.
Third, escalate if necessary.
If the decision proceeds and I believe it genuinely contradicts Volt's core values, I would formally record my dissent, notify the relevant oversight bodies, and — if the matter is serious enough — bring it to the membership directly. Members are the ultimate accountability mechanism in a democratic organisation.
What I would not do is perform disagreement privately while maintaining public silence. That protects no one.Values are only real when they cost something to defend.