Community Partnerships Manager

Community Partnerships Manager 

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation

There’s work and there’s your life’s work. 

Your life’s work ignites a spark that fuels your passion. Your life’s work grabs you by your soul and won’t let go. You are an impact maker.

People join The Harwood Institute to create real, lasting change. The Institute is part of a long tradition of small, catalytic organizations throughout American history that have worked to strengthen and advance our society to create a more hopeful future for all. The Institute works to create breakthroughs on how to address societal challenges and strengthen civic culture. 

We’re looking for a passionate and persistent individual to drive and manage initiatives that unleash the potential of communities. You will be a critical part of our national strategy to demonstrate how Americans can bridge divides, create a culture of shared responsibility, and make community a common enterprise. You will work closely with local partners across the country, Rich Harwood, Institute team members, and Harwood Certified Coaches to implement project strategy, build strong relationships, and keep the work on track.  

You will join an organization with a proven 35 year history of actively confronting and tackling complex, systemic issues in communities and creating real hope. When tragedy strikes, like the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, we are on the ground helping communities move from trauma and despair to healing and hope. Today, a core part of our national strategy is working with various communities across the country—including DeSoto County, FL; Alamance County, NC; Owensboro, KY; Selma, AL; Richmond, VA; and others. This role is a key orchestrator of that deep community work. 

You are a builder. You are driven by creating impact. You are collaborative and entrepreneurial, and you get excited to figure things out. You make things work, love engaging people, enjoy problem solving, and place a premium on making things happen. You may have worked for a nonprofit, a startup, a political campaign, or a consulting firm. You take the initiative, lead teams, break through the noise, and get results. 

If this sounds like you, let’s explore working together.

Responsibilities

• Work deeply with a targeted number of communities, equipping them with the support they need to activate an effective community-driven change initiative 
• Operate as the producer of community initiatives, managing different elements of work to ensure movement and progress while staying focused on what’s relevant to the Institute and what we seek to achieve 
• Interact daily with local project coordinators from partner organizations to: Manage and implement initiative objectives, deliverables, timelines and budgets from project kickoff to transition; Drive action and provide guidance on network-building, teams, communications, events and project sustainability
• Work collaboratively with the Institute’s Head Coach to catalyze and monitor progress of Institute coaches as they work with local action teams
• Nurture a network of local coordinators from across the country through quarterly convenings and regular communications
• Coordinate planning and logistics of Public Innovators Labs, workspaces, webinars, and other events
• Develop deep subject matter expertise in The Harwood Approach to drive aligned momentum

Demonstrated Candidate Characteristics

• Strong decision maker, relationship builder, strategizer, project manager, organizer and scout
• Clear, direct written and verbal communicator
• Open to learning and adapting to a new approach 
• Able to toggle between the big picture and details, navigate both the strategic and tactical 
• Culturally aware and sensitive 
• Keen interest in and a basic understanding of community change 
• Able to juggle multiple responsibilities and deliverables at once 
• Attuned to political dimensions and dynamics
• Comfortable saying no, giving and receiving direct feedback, working with others to course-correct or make adjustments  
• Confident speaking with leaders, relatable speaking with community members
• Demonstrated success operationalizing and implementing strategy
• Experience managing and organizing people, supporting other people in achieving their work
• Demonstrated ability to expeditiously develop subject matter expertise for mission-driven work

Terms

• Full-time position
• Should be able to work in the Institute’s Bethesda, MD, Office; hybrid and remote work arrangements can be discussed in interviews 

To Apply

If you want to be a difference-maker, email your resume and statement of interest to  management@theharwoodinstitute.org. We are looking to hire the right individual as soon as possible. 

The Harwood Institute has a strong commitment to building a culturally diverse and inclusive team. We encourage women and minorities to apply. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.

About The Harwood Institute

The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that equips people, organizations, communities, and networks with the tools to bridge divides, build capacity, and tackle shared challenges. The Harwood Institute’s work is rooted in a philosophy of Civic Faith and the practice of Turning Outward. Founded in 1988, the Institute’s approach has spread to all 50 states across the US and 40 countries around the world.

About Richard C. Harwood 

Richard C. Harwood, President and Founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, is an innovator, author, and speaker. For nearly four decades, he has devoted his career to revitalizing the nation’s hardest-hit communities, transforming the world’s largest organizations, and reconnecting institutions like school districts and newsrooms to society. He has been recruited to solve some of the most difficult problems of our time. For example, in Newtown, Connecticut, after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Rich led the process for the community to collectively decide the fate of the school building.

His innovative Turning Outward practice—by which communities can tackle shared problems, create a culture of shared responsibility, and deepen civic faith—has spread to all 50 states and 40 countries worldwide. The Harwood School makes this time-tested, high-impact approach accessible to everyone, everywhere. Rich is also working deeply with iconic communities nationwide to prove Americans have the will and ability to come together, amid our real divides, and build communities that work for all of us. 

An inspiring and sought-after speaker, Rich regularly keynotes major conferences and events. He has appeared in numerous national media outlets and is the bestselling author of nine books, including his recent manifesto The New Civic Path: Restoring Our Belief in One Another and Our Nation. Now, Rich is crisscrossing the country on his Campaign for the New Civic Path to reveal a practical and more hopeful way to transform our communities and the country.