African Professionals Network (APNET)
Help us run the gala
The 16th Annual APNET Gala & Fundraiser needs about eight kinds of help across one Saturday evening. Pick the one that sounds like you.
Guests see one evening. Volunteers see the six hours before it.
Guests arrive at five. By then the tables are set, the marketplace is standing, the check-in list is printed and somebody knows where the microphones are. None of that happens by itself.
The gala is the one night of the year when the whole network is in one room: scholarship recipients and their families, award honorees, sponsors, founding members, people attending for the first time. It is also the night with the most moving parts, which is why volunteers are not a nice extra here. They are the difference between a smooth evening and a visibly strained one.
Shifts are short and specific. Most run three to four hours, and almost none of them require you to have done this before. If you have worked a gala, a conference or a wedding, you already know the rhythm. If you have not, you will be paired with someone who has.
Attending as a guest instead? Tickets, tables and sponsorships are separate from this page.
The essentials
Saturday, November 7, 2026
The program runs 5:00 to 9:30 PM.
DePaul Cristo Rey High School
3440 Central Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45225. Open in Maps. On-site parking is available.
What to wear
Setup and teardown: comfortable clothes and closed-toe shoes. Front of house: formal, African or international dress, the same as guests.
It earns a membership
Most shifts here run three hours or more, which clears APNET’s four hour annual threshold on its own. The volunteer page explains how service membership works.
Eight ways to be useful
Read these before you fill in the form. You will be asked which one you want.
Setup crew
Tables, linens, signage, the stage and the marketplace footprint. Physical work, finished before the first guest arrives.
Registration and check-in
The guest list, name badges, table assignments and programs. The first face every attendee sees, so warmth counts more than speed.
Ushers and hosts
Walk guests to their tables, point them toward the marketplace, and field the questions that come up all evening.
Marketplace support
Help vendors load in, cover a table while someone steps away, and keep foot traffic moving through the space.
Silent auction and raffle
Set out bid sheets and items, answer questions about lots, then close the bidding and hand off winners for checkout.
Program and stage runners
Cue award recipients and scholars, move microphones, hand off plaques, and line up the fashion showcase backstage.
Photography and social
Stills and short clips through the evening. Bring your own camera or shoot on a phone. Useful if you already post well.
Teardown crew
Breakdown, inventory and load-out after the program closes. The shift almost nobody signs up for, and the one that saves the most people.
Not sure which fits? Leave the role blank in the form and say so. We will suggest one based on when you can be there.
Put your name down
One form. Tell us who you are, which role appeals to you and when you can be there, and we will come back to you within two business days with a confirmed shift.
Event setup is on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 2:00 PM at DePaul Cristo Rey High School in Cincinnati. All volunteers must arrive at 2 PM to help.
Submitting this does not lock you into anything. If your availability changes, write to us and we will move you.
Form not appearing? It relies on a third party script that ad blockers sometimes catch. Email volunteer@myapnet.org with your name, phone number and preferred role and we will sign you up by hand.
From form to first shift
Sign up on this page
Fill in the form below. It records your details and your role and shift preferences straight into our volunteer system.
We confirm your shift
Someone from the team writes back within two business days with your assignment, a report time and who to find when you arrive.
Show up and work the room
Arrive at your report time. You will be briefed on site, paired with someone who has done it before, and pointed at the thing that needs doing.
Questions people ask first
Tap any to open.
Do I need to buy a ticket to volunteer?
No. Volunteers work the event rather than attend it as guests, so no ticket is required for the shift you cover. Whether you can stay for dinner afterward depends on your shift and on headcount, so ask when we confirm your assignment.
Can I sign up with a friend, or as a group?
Yes, and groups are genuinely useful for setup, teardown and marketplace support. Note the other names in the form, or email volunteer@myapnet.org and we will schedule you together.
Does this count toward my four hours?
It does. Nearly every shift on this page runs three hours or longer, so a single evening at the gala usually covers the annual minimum for a one year APNET membership on its own.
I have never done this before. Is that a problem?
Not at all, and most of the roles here need no experience. You will be briefed on arrival and paired with a returning volunteer. Say in the form that this is your first time and we will place you accordingly.
Can students or volunteers under 18 help?
Students are welcome and the gala is one of the better events for them. Volunteers under 18 need a parent or guardian present, or written consent on file beforehand, so please say so in the form.
Where do I park?
There is on-site parking at DePaul Cristo Rey High School. Volunteers on the setup and teardown shifts should arrive at the service entrance rather than the main doors, and we will send the details with your confirmation.
Something came up and I cannot make my shift.
Write to volunteer@myapnet.org as early as you can. Two weeks out we can fill a gap easily. Three hours out is much harder, so earlier is always better than apologetic.
The form on this page will not load for me.
The form is served by Bloomerang, our donor and volunteer database, so an ad blocker or a strict tracking-protection setting will sometimes stop it from appearing. Pausing the blocker for this page usually brings it back. If it does not, there is an email link directly beneath the form that does the same job.
One Saturday. One shift.
One evening and a room full of people who will never know your name but will feel the difference.
Interested in volunteering with APNET year round rather than just this night? See the volunteer page.