Senior Associate, Convening (Remote)

World Education Services•New York, NY

5d•Remote

About The Position

As a member of the Community Power team, reporting to the Lead, Ecosystem Partnerships & Convening, the Senior Associate, Convening supports the planning and delivery of convening and capacity sharing activities that bring partners together around shared goals and collective action, increasing partners’ access to networks and enhanced connectivity and social capital, and supports partners capacity enhancement needs. This role focuses on turning convening strategies into well-organized, high-quality experiences that support collaboration and coordination across partners. It also plays a key “sensing” role, gathering partner feedback and insights from convenings to help improve future approaches and ensure activities remain relevant and responsive to partner needs. This role contributes to strengthening collective action by supporting innovative and inclusive convening approaches that help align partners and move shared priorities forward. Finally, this role contributes to the internal Philanthropy and Community operational coordination and supports the WES’ internal convening and learning activities related to the Community Power work.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, such as community development, social sciences, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
4+ years of experience supporting events, convenings, or community-based initiatives
Experience supporting multi-stakeholder convenings or cross-sector partnerships.
Experience working with immigrant-led and serving, grassroots, or community-based organizations.
Experience supporting the planning and delivery of workshops, convenings, or learning events.
Exposure to the immigration systems, immigrants' employment sector, systems change, collective impact, or collaborative initiatives.
Demonstrated skills using group engagement methods.
Strong organizational and coordination skills, with attention to detail and follow-through.
Ability to build positive, respectful relationships with diverse partners.
Strong communication skills (written and verbal).
Ability to gather and synthesize feedback from participants and stakeholders.
Experience using feedback to improve programs, events, or engagement approaches.
Ability to work collaboratively across teams and manage multiple priorities.
Commitment to equity, inclusion, and community-centered approaches.
Experience designing or adapting agendas, facilitation guides, or convening frameworks
Ability to work in fast-paced, evolving environments with a strong learning orientation

Nice To Haves

Exposure to systems change, collective impact, or collaborative initiatives
Experience working across multiple geographies or diverse partner groups.
Competence with common collaboration and project tools and virtual convening platforms (e.g., Teams, Zoom, Miro/Mural) to support planning and coordinated delivery.

Responsibilities

Coordinate with the Co-Lead Ecosystem Partnership and Initiative Lead to align convening activities with goals and broader priorities.
Ensure consistent follow-through after convenings (notes, next steps, partner communication).
Set the meeting agendas for cross-team sharing and learning forums and reporting routines so that insights feed into learning and strategy adjustment cycles.
Contribute to crosscutting work in the US and Canada by surfacing comparative work, opportunities for shared partner engagements or connections where initiatives or learnings overlap.
Support the Co-Lead Ecosystem Partnerships and Initiative Lead engagement with external vendors and consultants and lead the coordination of this work.
Provide internal administrative and operational support to the Philanthropy and Community team and support special projects and cross-team efforts as needed.
Engage with partners before, during, and after convenings to support participation and gather feedback.
Follow equitable convening and capacity sharing practices to ensure convenings and capacity enhancement are inclusive, accessible, and responsive to partner needs.
Track key partner engagement touchpoints in shared systems for visibility and to inform partner stewardship efforts.
Maintain visibility into progress, risks, dependencies, and resource needs across multiple partners, and initiatives and provide timely status updates to their team and key stakeholders.
Support the planning and delivery of convenings, roundtables, partner gatherings, and capacity sharing activities, including planning and logistics with guidance from the Co-Lead and in collaboration with relevant WES teams.
Translate convening strategies into clear agendas, activities, and run-of-show documents.
Provide coordination and facilitation support to ensure smooth delivery and strong participant experience.
Capture insights and feedback from convenings and partner interactions.
Identify patterns, gaps, and opportunities to improve convening approaches.
Share clear, actionable insights with the team to inform future agendas and convening strategies.
Support thought leadership by gathering and synthesizing insights from convenings and partner engagement to inform improvements and contribute to external learning and knowledge sharing.
Support the development and refinement of convening and capacity sharing tools (e.g., agendas, facilitation guides, templates).
Help test and apply new and innovative convening approaches based on partner needs.