Director, External Affairs

Director, External Affairs
Компания: Braven
Город: Birmingham
**Job Title:** Director, External Affairs
**Team:** Alabama Region
**Location**: Hybrid in either Montgomery or Birmingham, AL
**Employment Type:** Full-time
**FLSA Classification:** Exempt
**Start Date:** February or March 2027
### About Braven
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 [Jobs](https://impactreport.braven.org/) Report.
### About the Role
In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director, External Affairs. This role is critical to meeting the Alabama Region’s $9M fundraising goal in the first year. It involves cultivating and managing philanthropic and employer partnerships, supporting volunteer recruitment, engaging and helping to build the Alabama Regional Board, and advancing Braven’s brand. This role is on the Alabama Region team and reports directly to the Executive Director, Alabama Region.
### What You’ll Do
**Development (35%)**
* Support the Executive Director (ED) to establish the Alabama region’s fundraising strategy, and work with the ED and Braven’s development team to complete the Alabama region’s annual revenue game plan.
* Track the Alabama region’s revenue progress to goal and overall weighted pipeline; project-manage implementation of the Alabama region’s quarterly action plans and adjust as needed based on lessons learned.
* Support the ED in stewarding donor relationships with excellence; lead prep/follow-up, join most regional meetings, and own a portfolio of relationships.
* Partner with the ED 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 ED to secure and prepare for donor meetings by leading meeting prep and follow-up (e.g., drafting emails, creating agendas, and customizing meeting collateral).
* Strategize with the ED on how to engage donors through the funder pipeline 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.
**Employer Partnerships (EP) & Volunteer Recruitment (15%)**
* Partner with the ED to create the Alabama 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 Alabama region’s program needs, deeply understanding nuances and priorities, and advocating for shared-value solutions for Fellows and EPs.
* Manage a portfolio of ~5-10 Alabama 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, joining the ED or taking 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.
**Board Management (15%)**
* Support the ED in the recruitment of Alabama board members, including identifying and vetting board prospects, partnering with the central team on briefs, and developing cultivation and engagement plans.
* Prepare the ED for their 1:1 meetings/engagements - customize meeting collateral, lead meeting prep, and follow-up.
* Project manage all board meetings. 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.
**Operations (15%)**
* 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 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 Alabama’s program team and between the external affairs team.
**Steward Regional Relationships (10%)**
* Support ED in setting local strategy and project managing the ongoing cultivation and stewardship of all Alabama region stakeholders except schools.
* Project manage and execute 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 ED in stewarding and owning a portfolio of 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 partner and new site updates to understand the high-level strategy, Fellow recruitment, Memorandum of Understanding renewal context, and key relationships.
**Marketing & Communications (5%)**
* Partner with the central communications team to conduct research on and secure opportunities for the region to build brand visibility and awareness, including speaking opportunities, awards, and media.
* Collaborate with the ED and the central communications team on social media strategy and write/review drafts of content to post weekly.
* 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 ED to attend/speak at, prepare for, and follow up from conferences.
**Policy (5%)**
* Support the building of a local policy agenda and cultivation plans in conjunction with the ED and the Managing Director of Policy.
* Assist with meeting prep and follow-up for the ED.
* Assist with applications for public funding.
Other duties as assigned
### Total Rewards
Braven provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include:
* Discretionary time off in addition to org-wide holidays and 2 week-long shutdowns in July and December. There is an additional week-long shutdown for Regional Staff in the Spring. (This is a minimum of 20 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
* Monthly $75 reimbursement for cell phone or internet
* Access to funding for continued career development
**Compensation**
Braven offers opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly relative to one another, their qualifications, and their impact on the organization, and we take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; ins