Director, External Affairs

Braven • Chicago, IL

22h • $92,000 - $114,900 • Onsite

About The Position

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program. We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students, followed by support that lasts through graduation. Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream. To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Impact report.

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director, External Affairs to play a pivotal role in growing our Chicago corporate and philanthropic fundraising through partnering closely with Braven’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief External Affairs Officer, and the Chicago program team. This role will be responsible for cultivating new prospective partners and stewarding existing philanthropic and employer partnerships, supporting volunteer recruitment, engaging with and helping to build the Chicago Board, engaging the local Investor Committee, and advancing Braven’s brand.

This role is on the External Affairs team and reports directly to the Chief External Affairs Officer.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree
• 5 – 7 years of related work experience in development, corporate partnerships, or high-stakes relationship management.
• Ability to work in-person in Chicago (IL) at least 3 days per week
• Ability to work in the evening for Braven related events and programming.
• Travel once/year to Braven’s All Team Retreat.
• Authorized to work in the U.S. Braven doesn’t offer employment visa sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

• Proven ability to strategically identify, build, and develop relationships, with a strong aptitude for influencing others.
• Strong project management, strategic planning, and organizational skills, with a proven ability to collaborate effectively across lines of difference.
• Problem-solving mindset with adaptability in complex environments.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Track record of meeting or exceeding ambitious goals.
• Proficiency in Google Suite and Salesforce.
• Demonstrated commitment to building strong and welcoming cultures that help to develop others.
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values.
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and has prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the CEO, Chief External Affairs Officer, and Braven’s development team to establish the Chicago region’s fundraising strategy and complete the annual revenue game plan.
• Track the Chicago region’s revenue progress to goal and overall weighted pipeline; project manage the implementation of the Chicago region’s quarterly action plans and adjust as needed based on lessons learned.
• Steward donor relationships with excellence; leading prep/follow-up, joining most regional meetings, and owning a portfolio of relationships.
• Partner with the Chief External Affairs Officer and Braven’s development team to identify, vet, and cultivate new prospects; conduct research on priority prospects and create individualized cultivation plans.
• Strategize with the Chief External Affairs Officer on how to engage donors through the Moves Management stages and project manage the execution of next steps, from making an ask to securing a commitment and stewarding relationships effectively to win a renewal.
• Review grant application and report drafts, and support the central development team in submitting high-quality narratives/data on time.
• Partner with the national employer partnerships team to create the Chicago region’s Employer Partnership (EP) strategy for revenue, volunteer, and program opportunities – identifying EP prospects, building a pipeline, researching, and creating engagement plans.
• Serve as a conduit of information about the Chicago region’s program needs, deeply understanding nuances and priorities, and advocating for shared-value solutions for Fellows and EPs.
• Manage a portfolio of ~10-20 Chicago region local EPs, recruiting volunteers, preparing meetings, sourcing opportunities, and co-hosting events.
• Collaborate with the central EP team on local contacts for EPs in the national portfolio and take the lead with the central EP director in meetings.
• Support in-person events at EPs for Fellows.
• Support volunteer recruitment through in-person info sessions, tabling, and personal outreach with national and local partners.
• Partner with the CEO and Chief External Affairs Officer in stewarding current board members, including identifying and vetting board prospects, partnering with the central team on briefs, and developing cultivation and engagement plans.
• Prepare and join the CEO and Chief External Affairs Officer’s 1:1 meetings/engagements with current board members, customize meeting collateral, lead meeting prep, and follow-up.
• Project manage all board meetings and lead content planning.
• Collaborate and coordinate across teams on the draft of the management memo, run of show, deck, pre- and post-follow-up emails, and note-taking during meetings.
• Create action plans for the quarter, month, and week to achieve goals across workstreams, adapting and adjusting when we’re not hitting shared goals.
• Ensure systems are accurate with external stakeholder information (e.g., Salesforce, Asana/Jira, Confluence).
• Ensure strong preparation and follow-up for all internal and external meetings.
• Attend key program events (e.g., Learning Lab 1, Mock Interviews, Capstone Challenge Kickoff, Capstone Challenge Presentations) and ensure a strong flow of information with Chicago’s program team and between the external affairs team.
• Partner with Chief External Affairs Officer and the on local strategy and project manage the ongoing cultivation and stewardship of all Chicago region stakeholders except schools.
• Project manage and execute on national cultivation cross-functional campaigns (e.g., jobs report, impact report, holiday campaign).
• Co-plan and execute external affairs-focused events such as site visits, lunch and learns, treks, and jobs/impact report events.
• Support the CEO and Chief External Affairs Officer in stewarding and owning a portfolio of local community influencers.
• Develop relationships with champion Fellows / Post Accelerator Fellows and volunteers, and prepare/ train them to represent Braven to external audiences.
• Monitor higher education partners and new site updates to understand the high-level strategy, Fellow recruitment, Memorandum of Understanding renewal context, and key relationships.
• Partner with the central communications team to conduct research and secure opportunities for the region to build brand visibility and awareness, including speaking engagements, awards, and media coverage.
• Partner with the central communications team on the Jobs Report and Impact Report processes – review draft content, project manage photo shoots with Fellows, prepare stakeholder list, and draft notes for personalized outreach.
• Support efforts for the Chicago program leadership to attend/speak at, prepare for, and follow up from conferences.
• Collaborate with the Chicago Program team and the central communications team on social media strategy and write/review drafts of content to post weekly.
• Partner with the central policy team to build a local policy agenda and cultivation plans.
• Assist with applications for public funding.
• Assist with meeting prep and follow-up for Braven’s CEO and Chief External Affairs Officer.
• Attend policy-related events as needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time.
• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• Braven supports your path to parenthood and beyond with $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level