May

Volunteer Spotlight: Alka Bhatnagar

Michael Rubin introduces us to Alka Bhatnagar, who is sharing the experience of a multi-faceted career as a volunteer at the Smithsonian Castle, the American History Museum, and as a volunteer-in-training at the Natural History Museum.

It was 1989 when Alka Bhatnagar and her family made their first visit to the Smithsonian. As many first-time visitors probably do, Alka dreamed of one day finding a way to work at this wondrous place, a vision she shared with her husband on that family trip. After an incredible career, Alka realized her dream when she joined the proud ranks of Smithsonian volunteers.

Originally from India, Alka and her husband immigrated to the United States with their daughter Melissa in 1982. He had a Rotary scholarship to study in the U.S., and the family landed in Rhode Island. Now retired, her husband’s career took him from electrical engineering to computer engineering to banking.

Alka herself has advanced education in many fields, including degrees in microbiology, genetics, business administration, and library science. From 1983 to 2010, she worked at a range of libraries, always serving in public-facing roles. In 2010, she joined the U.S. State Department as a foreign service officer. Eventually, Alka became a Regional Public Engagement Specialist. During her time in this role she had responsibilities covering 27 countries in three regions (Europe, Far East Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa). She visited nearly 170 cities throughout those regions, doing outreach through talks, presentations, and other engagement using physical and online platforms.

Without a doubt, one of her favorite assignments in that role was when she and her teams in Washington, D.C, South Korea, Ethiopia, and Kenya collaborated with the Smithsonian’s Office of International Relations. Together, they designed American Centers in their respective countries to showcase American values and promote U.S. foreign policy through soft diplomacy. Having visited Spark!Lab (whose mission is in part is to create, collaborate and explore), at the National Museum of American History on her own, Alka was inspired to promote creativity and ingenuity in these centers, rather than let them merely be places of knowledge consumption.

Alka Bhatnagar stands in front of a vase of roses

Alka Bhatnagar poses for a picture during an ambassador shift at the Smithsonian Castle. (Photo courtesy of Courtesy of the Office of Visitor Services and Volunteer Management (OVS), 2020)

Once retired, Alka was free to pursue her dream of working at the Smithsonian, in the role of volunteer. The Castle is very fortunate that she took an interest in our ambassador program.

The Castle Ambassador program has been around for several years, but in 2019 it was reinvigorated with expanded roles and a surge of new and excited volunteers, of which Alka is one. A Castle Ambassador is a little bit of everything. Not tied to an information desk, ambassadors rove all the public spaces, both inside the building and outside near its entrances and gardens. Ambassadors meet our visitors where they are. They can answer many of the same visit-planning questions as an information desk volunteer does. They also know the story of James Smithson and much about the Castle itself. While not docents (they do not give tours), ambassadors are able to engage with visitors about our fascinating history and beginnings. They have more casual conversations with visitors that can last a little longer and be a little more personal. In 2019, we also trained our ambassadors to cover the Castle information desk as well as the Smithsonian call center. This means ambassadors can help at a busy information desk or answer public questions over the phone when extra help is needed.

For Alka, the pleasure and purpose that she finds in volunteering is reminiscent of what she found in her professional career: helping people connect with the opportunity to discover and learn. She finds her best interactions are with visitors she meets at the interactive map tables in the Castle’s Great Hall. Alka enjoys telling them about the myriad of opportunities they have in visiting the Smithsonian. On one occasion a visitor pleaded that she become his group’s guide during their entire visit!

Of course, we at the Castle are not the only ones to benefit from her commitment to the Smithsonian. She also volunteers alongside her youngest daughter Leena with the ambassador program at the National Museum of American History.

Additionally, she has begun training to volunteer at the National Museum of Natural History in the Hall of Human Origins, bringing her back full circle to her early studies in microbiology and genetics. It is this commitment that she spends some of her free time focusing on these days while the Smithsonian is closed, along with almost everything else. Fortunately, the required training continues online.

Alka’s family is spending this time together. Older daughter, Melissa, lives in Florida and is the director of patient safety for a health IT company. Younger daughter, Leena, is an international economist for the Treasury Department here in D.C. But today, both daughters are home along with Alka and their dad. Online classes, checking in with friends and family, and enjoying walks around the neighborhood will have to do until Alka can return to the Smithsonian and its visitors, who so benefit from her as she fulfills her own dreams.