Program Associate

About StartOut

StartOut is the leading national non-profit focused on supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. StartOut’s mission is to accelerate the growth of the LGBTQ+ community to drive its economic empowerment, building a world where every LGBTQ+ entrepreneur has equal access to lead, succeed, and shape the workforce of the future.

Founded in 2009, StartOut is a global community of over 25K members and is the largest organization supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. We serve all growth entrepreneurs of the LGBTQ+ community regardless of ethnicity, identity, or gender. Our membership is diverse in gender, race, identity, geographic location, and industries. To level the playing field and have measurable impact, we offer a highly subsidized suite of very successful programs to founders, including our investor portal, the StartOut Growth Lab (our 6-month accelerator), a mentorship program with over 1,000 matches to date, expert office hours, virtual and in-person events nationwide, and community building. 

StartOut is committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging both within our own organization and within the LGBTQ+ and entrepreneurial communities. This includes inclusive hiring practices, an organizational commitment to equitable and inclusive conduct (outlined in our Code of Conduct,) and initiatives and programs to increase equitable outcomes, especially for female-identified, BIPOC and Trans/GNC community members. 

Additionally, StartOut is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants of any race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, neurotype, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status. In order to promote and support diversity at every level, this policy also applies to internal promotions, training, opportunities for advancement, terminations, outside vendors, members and customers, service clients, use of contractors and consultants, and dealings with the general public. 

About the Role

As part of a small but highly effective team you will advance the economic empowerment of the LGBTQ+ community. As a StartOut Program Associate, you will work closely with the Manager, Access to Capital on our Access to Capital initiatives,  and with the Director of Programs on the Founder Onboarding and Experience initiatives bringing greater access to our suite of successful programs by our Founder Members Community.  

You will also collaborate with the rest of our Programs team to provide general support to our founders through the onboarding process to StartOut programs. You will oversee a founder’s experience throughout the process, ensuring founders receive the necessary updates and resources to remain engaged and satisfied.

In brief, you are in charge of the overall happiness and satisfaction of a diverse group of founder members. 

A Day in the Life

You will split your time between two functional areas:

1. Helping Founder Members succeed in their fundraising journey; connecting our founder members and growth entrepreneurs to the most relevant source of capital/ funding (VCs, angel investors, accelerators, CDFIs, crowdfunding platforms, and any other funding source that may be beneficial to our community). You will collaborate with and report to the Manager, Access to Capital.
2. Overseeing the founder onboarding process; reviewing applications, conducting onboarding sessions, and ensuring the process is inclusive, supportive, and efficient. This also includes responding to founder applicant inquiries as they come in. You will liaise with the entire Programs Team and report directly to the Director of Programs.

Specific Responsibilities

Founder Onboarding Management

• Review founders' applications as they come in and onboard new founder members 
• Ensure that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals/objectives are metKeep our founder members happy by delivering quality and customized customer support
• Support our program verticals by ensuring that the Founder Onboarding process meets the minimum requirements for participation in all programs and support services
• Administer surveys to track founder satisfaction and impact
• Manage and maintain healthy relationships with external partners (corporate sponsors, referral partners) as needed
• Keep our community of founder members up to date with resources and opportunities
• Support the rest of the program team as needed
• Administer the first line of support for founders (email triaging)
• Coordinate Founder Orientation and other engagement, networking, and support events
• Generate reports to support corporate sponsorship deliverables and tasks
• Coordinate the Founder Scholarship Program

Access to Capital Founder Management

• Keep our community of founder members up to date about capital resources and funding opportunities
• Follow up with founder members on their fundraising development and success and track program performance and impact
• Answer fundraising-related questions/requests from founder members in a timely manner
• Source and identify relevant founders to support the Access to Capital Program Manager in sending curated deal flow to our community of investors
• Support the Access to Capital Program Manager with developing new initiatives to increase the investment readiness of our founders and identify new tools to increase matching efficiency
• Gather newly approved founders to be showcased in the monthly Investor Report
• Support our DEI goals by seeking out and amplifying BIPOC Founders in our community to navigate additional barriers to access in fundraising.
• Support Impact Tracking initiatives pertaining to Founder fundraising by sending out 3 and 6-month check-in survey

Requirements

• You are passionate about equal opportunities for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
• You have 2+ years of experience as a Program or Project Manager. 
• You are a relationship builder. 
• You are knowledgeable of the VC funding industry/ecosystem.
• You are very familiar with the startup/ entrepreneurship world. 
• You are comfortable working with large data sets and are not afraid of spreadsheets.
• You are detail-oriented and organized - you love making order from chaos and take great pleasure in helping others tie up loose ends. 
• You are a self-starter who thrives in ambiguous environments - when you don’t know what to do next, you know how to leverage online resources, and can do a little sleuthing through shared resources as a first step, but recognize when to ask for help to ensure maximum efficiency.
• You prioritize deadlines and are an effective communicator - you can keep yourself organized and deliver on time. When you sense a delay, you are quick to flag it and communicate roadblocks. Nothing falls through the cracks on your watch.
• You are committed to diversity, equity & inclusion – you see the world through an intersectional lens.
• You’re tech-savvy and enjoy learning new systems to improve efficiency.
• Bonus Points: you have experience using Salesforce or other CRM software experience.  

This is a fully remote position but requires occasional travel for meetings, events, and team retreats, approximately 1-2x per year. Candidates from anywhere in the contiguous US are encouraged to apply. StartOut is unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time.

Status: Non-exempt

Reports to: Program Manager, Access to Capital

Benefits

• $50,000 - $55,000 annually depending on experience
• $3,000 annual bonus depending on team and individual KPI performance
• Unlimited time off 
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Work from home equipment & professional development stipends