ENTREPRENEUR COMMUNITY LEAD

Status: Full-time, salaried position

Location: Remote (US-based required)

Compensation: $62,000 - $70,000 commensurate with experience, plus 20 days PTO and contribution to a health reimbursement account or 401k 

Initial term: February 2022 - December 2022

Extended term (funding & success dependent): January 2023 and beyond. This is a grant-funded,  limited-term exempt, salaried position, with the opportunity to extend on as additional funding is secured.

Application deadline: Applications for this position are now CLOSED.

SUMMARY

Cooperatives for a Better World (dba Start.coop) is wholly dedicated to building an economy that shares prosperity among the many, not just the few. We envision a US economy in which 25% of new businesses are cooperatives by 2030.

Our focus is on cultivating the next generation of transformative cooperative businesses at scale and we do this by:

  1. Growing the entrepreneur pipeline and strengthen the cooperative ecosystem

  2. Equipping cooperative entrepreneurs with the skills and tools for success

  3. Connecting cooperative businesses with the capital they need to thrive

Since our founding, we have accelerated 18 start-ups including The Driver’s Cooperative which recently became the US’s largest worker cooperative and Savvy Cooperative which was the first cooperative to receive VC funding, we have developed and spun out a $2m equity fund for shared ownership, we have raised over $1.2m in philanthropic funding, and have generated significant national press coverage. And we’re just getting started.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Help us envision, design, and develop tools and resources that entrepreneurs need to build thriving cooperative businesses. Since launching in 2019, the Start.coop alumni community has grown to include hundreds of entrepreneurs – including but not limited to the founders of our 18 alumni co-ops – all of whom are building cooperatives with ambitions of scale. Our flagship accelerator program has provided most of the fuel for these entrepreneurs’ ideas and business growth to-date, and now it’s time for us to significantly expand the supports and services we offer to the larger community.

The Entrepreneur Community Lead will serve as both the brains and brawn for a suite of new offerings that should provide practical and actionable value to all entrepreneurs, but particularly BIPOC entrepreneurs and all others who face systematic marginalization in the entrepreneurship community, the economy, and U.S. society writ-large. Some of the projects this person will lead include:

  • Building and sustaining the Start.coop accelerator alumni community

  • Designing and developing new connection and learning opportunities for our broader community of entrepreneurs

  • Designing and implementing The Dream Team, a new grant funded initiative to provide a suite of subsidized, fractional professional services to our accelerator teams and alumni 

  • Building and managing a multifaceted resource library that serves as a playbook for entrepreneurs building a cooperative startup with ambitions of scale

  • Securing and managing a suite of product and service discounts for our community

  • Organizing and managing community-wide events

  • Leading on external communications strategy and deployment (newsletter, social media, etc)

YOUR BACKGROUND

  • You demonstrate independence and initiative in bringing a strategic vision to life and thinking creatively about a broad range of approaches

  • You are proficient and experienced in using lean startup, human centered design and/or agile methodologies to test and build new projects, programs, and initiatives

  • You have exceptional analysis and project management skills

  • You are a meticulously organized self-starter with the ability to multitask and handle a wide variety of tasks while maintaining a sense of humor and delivering high quality work

  • You have practical experience in one or more of the following: BIPOC-owned startups, cooperative initiatives, entrepreneurship and business development, catalyzing new programs, participatory design, mutual aid or solidarity efforts

  • You enjoy problem-solving and challenges, able to act and react as necessary, even if limited information is available, not afraid to take charge of a situation

  • You are willing and able to advocate for yourself and others, and to take an active role in the shaping of new norms, policies and processes that embody the values of the Start.coop community

  • You are thoughtful and eager to learn new things, adept at designing your learning journey, and take agency in finding the resources, coaches and answers you need to master new subject matters, or new ways of working and collaborating

  • You possess deep cultural competence and have experience collaborating with diverse, international and/or intersectional communities, and have a demonstrated commitment to inclusive, equitable practices

  • You bring strong writing and communication skills

  • You’ve been there, done that in the world of remote work: you have experience and comfort working remotely and across different time zones with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders

OUR TEAM

We’re a small, remote and tightly-knit team. This role will involve working with the following people:

  • Start.coop’s Co-Directors, Greg Brodsky and Jessica Mason

  • Start.coop’s Accelerator & Operations Lead, Katie Michels

  • Our amazing alumni 

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY

Ours is a diverse community that values the unique perspectives and experiences each member brings to the table. We endeavor to create a community and space in which everyone, and particularly our BIPOC and LGBTQ community members, can show up as their true selves, and in which we can have brave, tough conversations in addition to the fun ones. Together, we engage in critical dialogue through conscious questioning and active listening, and we work to address systemic racism and the root causes of inequality.  We want our team to reflect the wide diversity of our community and we strongly encourage BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and candidates of different abilities to apply. 

BENEFITS

  • Remote work

  • Flexible hours

  • 20 days PTO per year

  • Contributions to a Health Reimbursement Account or 401k

APPLY

 Applications are closed. Subscribe to our newsletter for notifications on future opportunities.