Application Window Closes January 22, 2021; Interview Schedule Begins Week of February 1, 2021

The Center for Women & Enterprise is hiring a Director of the Eastern Massachusetts Women’s Business Center. The Director will craft and implement the vision of this long-standing organization to help aspiring & existing women business owners from across Eastern Massachusetts access the information and expert support they need to make informed decisions in their business journey.

About the Center for Women & Enterprise:

The Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) is an economic empowerment nonprofit founded in Boston in 1995 to lift up the women who lift up the world. CWE is home to the largest cluster of the partially- U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)-Funded Women’s Business Centers in the country, covering Eastern Massachusetts, Central Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. We believe that when women thrive economically, families and communities also thrive, creating a more equitable and inclusive economy. To do that, CWE offers business services – training, individual business counseling, and community connections – that help women start and grow their businesses. Since 1995, CWE’s Eastern Massachusetts Women’s Business Center has served 19,800 people, supported the creation of 20,700 jobs and helped entrepreneurs generate revenues of more than $600M.

Over 50% of CWE’s service footprint is focused on low-income communities in urban and rural areas whose access to such services have been extremely limited. While our focus is on serving the needs of those who identify as women, we serve all genders. CWE is also home to the Veterans Business Outreach Center of New England and is a regional certifier for the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

About Our Work Together:

As Director of the Eastern MA Women’s Business Center Director (WBC), you will oversee CWE’s flagship center for women’s business ownership. You will breathe new energy and new ideas into this well-established WBC, crafting & executing the vision for the Eastern Massachusetts Women’s Business Center that aligns with the organization’s three-year strategic plan. Reporting to CWE’s Senior Program Director, you will keep the WBC in excellent standing with funders and stakeholders, through strong communication, programmatic impact, and compliance. You and your center are the “catalyst for providing in-depth, substantive, outcome-oriented business services to women entrepreneurs, both nascent and established businesses, a representative number of which are socially and economically disadvantaged (SBA Office of Women’s Business Ownership, 2011).” You’re able to see the big picture and equally weigh the importance of federal grant compliance and being the face of CWE in a public entrepreneurial forum. You’ll be tuned in to the needs of Eastern Massachusetts’s small business owners to create relevant programs and counseling experiences that will empower business owners to affect substantial economic impact in their communities, as measured by successful business start-ups, job creation and retention, and increased company revenues. Working in close partnership with CWE’s VP of Strategic Partnerships, you’ll serve as the ‘talent’ when talking with local funders to tell about the great work of your center and provide thought leadership in the field of economic development and entrepreneurship education. You will expand and deepen programming partnerships with community and economic development organizations across Eastern Massachusetts. You will consistently have an eye for creating programs and relationships that allow the center to be more accessible, equitable, and supportive. You will work collaboratively with your colleagues across New England to ensure the entire organization is strong and able to implement best practices.

This job is for you if:

• You believe our world can only thrive when women have opportunities to explore & pursue entrepreneurship
• You have owned a small business and/or worked as a key member of a small business
• You have extensive social and professional networks in Eastern Massachusetts developed over at least 8 years of work as a business owner and/or leadership position with an entrepreneurial/economic development organization
•  You excel in the area of teambuilding and management

Your Team

• Advisory Board – you will recruit, manage, and cultivate an Advisory Board of community volunteers for your center.
• Program Directors – you’re joining a team of Program Directors from across the region. You’ll collaborate deeply with them, sharing best practices, troubleshooting, and pooling resources.
• Program Support Team – you oversee a staff of 2: your Program Coordinator, who carries out the daily operational & client experience tasks, and the temporary Project Manager for COVID Business Recovery, the office’s expert on programming & individual business counseling for COVID-specific business issues.
• Large Consultant Pool – You will build out and manage a team of Core Consultants and volunteers who deliver counseling & trainings to CWE clients. They have technical knowledge to compliment yours. You train them in best practices in working with women entrepreneurs and ensure each client has a timely, high quality and relevant experience each time they work with CWE. You’ll triage potential volunteers and find relevant opportunities to engage existing and new volunteers, with an eye for the value to clients.
• VP of Strategic Partnerships – you have a special relationship with the CWE VP of Strategic Partnerships to ensure both the Boston office and greater CWE regional organization is well-resourced. You’ll work with them to identify local funding prospects, develop and deliver presentations and build relationships with community leaders, influencers and funders. You’ll ensure that grant deliverables are exceeded, and that all information needed for reporting is submitted in a timely manner.
• Clients – Our focus is on early-stage businesses, underserved communities, and our personalized ‘meet you where you are’ approach. Your clients are aspiring entrepreneurs and high-growth existing business owners and everyone in between.

Your Daily Work Will Entail:

• Establishing, implementing, and maintaining operational protocol and systems that increase your efficiency & effectiveness.
• Managing your high-performing team through innovative leadership models that empower and perform.
• Working directly with clients through individual business counseling and instruction. You’ll do this in partnership with the Core Counselor team you build.
• Managing your center’s budget to ensure that expenses are in line with local and organizational strategy.
• Communicating with funders, specifically the SBA, about impact metrics.
• Engaging with lots of people in the Eastern Massachusetts entrepreneurial ecosystem to get the pulse on programs and finding ways to partner, to better leverage resources and impact.
• Creating and teaching innovative programs in entrepreneurship and small business ownership, and business financial strategy.
• Ensuring your team is maintaining excellent data collection methods and getting familiar yourself with the CWE client relationship management system.
• Creating and maintaining a rich network of consultants, instructors, and resources that benefit CWE clients.
• Meeting with your WBC colleagues from across the region to share best practices, workshop client issues, and problem-solve.
• Speaking on state, regional, and national webinars/panels on the needs of women entrepreneurs and best practices in serving entrepreneurs.
• Helping a client package their financials to approach an investor or lender.
• Drafting partnership agreements and tracking, referrals and outcomes with community partners to better serve entrepreneurs in diverse communities.
• Writing reports about the outputs & outcomes in your center.
• Meeting with the Grants Director & VP of Strategic Partnerships to craft a compelling story to attract funders, then maintaining excellent records to accurately report upon metrics.
• Building your local advisory board, with an eye for filling gaps in networks, skills, and resources.
• Getting very familiar with federal grants compliance documents like Notice of Awards, Project Guides, and other complicated documents.
• Serving on a committee and participating on brain trusts of the Association of Women’s Business Centers to further the collective impact of the work of the Women’s Business Centers across the country.

Special Projects You Might Work On:

• Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility training & organizational implementation
• Regional research on women’s entrepreneurship
• Data quality strategy & analysis
• Creating more inclusive, feminist, accessible entrepreneurship curricula
• Regional branding efforts
• Professional development opportunities in everything from technical business topics to new approaches to entrepreneurship

You’re a great fit for this job if:

• You believe in the power of women to change the economy (and world!) and are ready to shout it from the rooftops.
• You’re well versed in the needs of emerging entrepreneurs and growth-stage businesses.
• You’re excellent with people and relationships come easy to you. You make connections between people & resources, and know how to bring them together.
• You’re bringing your large network across Eastern Massachusetts with you.
• You are deeply embedded in the entrepreneurial development ecosystem, economic development and are ready to help this fast-moving organization usher in a new way of doing business.
• You have experience in small business ownership and entrepreneurship and organizational leadership.
• You have experience teaching various business-related topics and have some experience teaching/presenting online.
• You can adjust your energy levels to create a welcoming, friendly, and approachable experience for all people. You’re adept at talking with people at all stages of business literacy and across a vast array of personality types and backgrounds.
• You love public speaking.
• You speak a language in addition to English.
• You’re in your element working a room and are equally skilled in talking with a brand-new entrepreneur as with donors & philanthropic organizations.
• You have a sophisticated knowledge of best practices in building an advisory board, creating a diverse stakeholder network, and transformative leadership.
• You really know how to listen. You can read between the lines and help people get clearer about their needs even if they don’t come to you with clarity.
• You’re an excellent communicator across media: verbal (phone), email, mass communications, social.
• You can respond quickly and keep track of lots of moving parts, both internally and externally. Relationships can get complicated!
• You are self-motivated and love a dynamic working environment where every day is a little different.
• You have a sense of humor and are adaptable. You’re ready to jump in and help stabilize this office, ensuring sustainability for the office, our mission, and our value to Eastern Massachusetts’s entrepreneurs.