Volunteers

Volunteer opportunities

Becoming an OMCA volunteer is easy!

Volunteering at OMCA gives you a chance to get more involved with the museum you love. We are always recruiting enthusiastic volunteers to assist with school groups, events, office work, and more.

Volunteer Info Sessions are offered several times a year. During Info Sessions, we discuss the various types of volunteer opportunities available to you, as well as next steps for getting involved! If you are unable to make the Info Session, we suggest creating an account on our Shiftboard volunteer site. Once you have registered and your application has been approved, you will receive email notices of upcoming volunteer opportunities.

Questions? Email us at [email protected].

Ways to
Volunteer

Visitor Engagement and Welcome Team Volunteer

OMCA Welcome Team helps promote OMCA’s mission by providing a friendly, warm welcome to all visitors. Through training sessions, events, and new friendships, they develop a rewarding personal relationship with the Museum.

What are the benefits of joining the Welcome Team?

Besides feeling great about giving back, helping others, and supporting a museum you love, volunteers also get these more tangible benefits during the course of their volunteer commitment:

Free admission to the Museum and special exhibitions.
Special curator tours of new exhibitions and other informative and fun training sessions.
Invitation to the White Elephant Sale staff shopping days.
Special 10% discount in the OMCA Store; 15% discount in the Café on the day of your shift.

An OMCA Welcome Team Volunteer will be expected to:

Move throughout the Museum being welcoming, helpful, and friendly to all visitors of various ages and ethnicities.
Stay knowledgeable of current Museum exhibitions and events, and be able to connect visitors to offerings they are seeking.
Direct visitors to ticketing, galleries, OMCA Store, Museum Café, and other amenities within the Museum as needed.
Enjoy offering general information about OMCA, the building, and its collection to guests to enhance their visit.
Assist with info desks, line management and crowd control as needed.
Consider joining the Museum as a member so you can enhance your participation even more with a invitations to exhibition openings and member hours, and more.

Minimum Commitment:

Two shifts per month, for six months. Weekly shifts encouraged.

Requirements:

Ability to move around the Museum comfortably for up to three hours at a time.
An interest in engaging with a diverse public and cultivating a space of connection and learning.
Attend required orientation prior to volunteering, and attend follow-up training sessions as required.
Ability to adhere to best practices, as set forth in the Volunteer Handbook.
Speak fluent English; fluency in other languages a plus!
Access to email and a computer (All scheduling done online; computer training is available at the Oakland Public Library)

To participate, please register using the button below.

Become a welcome team Member

Public Program Activity Volunteer

Public Program Activity Volunteers help advance the museum’s mission of being a welcoming gathering place. Through hands-on activity volunteering, they help visitors build community and find connections through California art, history, and natural sciences through our public programs.

A Public Program Activity Volunteer will be expected to:

Assist OMCA staff with hands-on activities during onsite public programs and events for families and general visitors of all ages.

Help prepare materials and workshop spaces and assist with clean-up during and after activities.

Enjoy working with multigenerational families, including young children

Be a welcoming and enthusiastic representative of OMCA, with inclusive communication skills