Description Ms. Foundation for Women has a long history as a convener, bringing people together to advance gender and racial justice. As the organization rolls out a new strategic direction to meet the cultural and political moment, convening will become an even more important pillar of our work. That includes fundraising and cultivation events for donors, convenings with grantee partners, and a growing slate of events that bring together leaders from across sectors, including philanthropy, business, government, media, culture and organizing.
At their best, Ms. events are places where people come together to connect, strategize, and leave ready to act and engage. The Events Manager makes that happen by building experiences that are well run, welcoming, and true to our values.
The Events Manager reports to the Communications Lead and works collaboratively across Development, Programs and Operations to plan and execute institutional events, ranging from webinars to our marquee Women of Vision Awards.
While the Events Manager is responsible for coordinating event production, timelines, logistics, vendors, and execution, each department retains ownership of its respective event strategy, content, objectives, and final approvals.
The Events Manager serves as the central point of coordination, ensuring events are executed efficiently, align with institutional priorities, and reflect the Foundation's mission and values.
Strategy and Partnerships - Partner with departmental leads to translate approved event strategies and objectives into comprehensive production plans, timelines, budgets, and successful event execution Grow Ms. Foundation's event audiences beyond donors and grantees to engage leaders in business, government, entertainment, media and culture
- Build co-hosted events with peer funders, coalitions and institutions
- Measure events against pre-determined metrics and share lessons learned
Production - Lead end-to-end production of marquee events, including the annual Women of Vision Awards, and serve as staff lead on event days
- Plan smaller gatherings in partnership with Development and Programs, including donor salons, briefings, site visits, grantee convenings, cross-sector councils, and more
- Support internal events such as staff retreats and board meetings, plus special projects as needed
- Lead event working groups, run of show, site visits and rehearsals
- Create event-day staffing plans, including recruitment and training of volunteers
- Run virtual and hybrid events, including webinar platforms, in coordination with IT
- Ensure events are turnkey and efficient by using a rolling 12-month events calendar and reusable planning tools in Asana
Operations and Logistics - Manage budgets, venues, vendors and contracts, including hotel blocks and travel
- Coordinate logistics for talent, honorees and speakers with Communications and consultants
- Choose ticketing, registration and giving platforms in collaboration with Development and Operations
- Partner with Communications on promotion, branded materials, and swag
Inclusion and Values - Build in accessibility and inclusion practices, including ASL and CART, interpretation, accessible venues, quiet spaces, and dietary needs
- Design for equity of participation; for example: travel stipends, honoraria and childcare, etc.
- Vet venues, sponsors, partners and vendors against our values; favor women-owned, BIPOC-owned, union and local businesses where possible
- Plan for safety and security for high-profile and public events
Who You Are - A clear, personal commitment to gender and racial justice and to the Foundation's mission and vision
- Demonstrated accountability to our values of integrity, trust and respect, interconnectedness, and social justice in your work, relationships and decisions
- An understanding of how power, access and representation show up in events
- Comfort holding the line on values with sponsors, partners and vendors, with tact and good humor
- The ability to build trusted relationships with grantee partners, donors, peer funders, corporate and public-sector partners, volunteers and colleagues
Position Requirements Experience - At least 5 years of event planning and production, including complex virtual, hybrid and in-person events
- Experience with audiences beyond a single sector, for example convenings or summits that bring together leaders from philanthropy, business, government, media or culture; background in nonprofit, foundation, civic, cultural or mission-driven corporate settings is welcome
- Primary responsibility for event budgets, venue selection, contracting and vendor management, program design, catering, A/V, sponsorship, guest and honoree logistics, in-room calls to action, staffing and volunteers
- Experience managing co-hosted or partner events with shared ownership
- A track record of producing distinctive experiences within budget, working creatively with vendors and colleagues
- Experience with internal events such as staff retreats, stakeholder convenings and board meetings
Skills - Strong negotiation skills that achieve ambitious goals within budget
- Excellent project management; the ability to prioritize and lead many projects at once with a clear eye for detail
- Clear written and verbal communication
- Working knowledge of accessibility and inclusive event practice
- Calm, practical problem-solving and the flexibility to adjust as priorities and timelines shift
- Scrupulous attention to detail, sound judgment, discretion and the ability to keep confidence
- Tact and diplomacy with a wide range of participants and stakeholders
- A collaborative approach and openness to feedback
- Familiarity with Raiser's Edge, Asana, Slack, and registration and webinar platforms is a plus, not a requirement
- Ability to travel up to 30% and work evenings and weekends around events
How to applyInstead of a cover letter, please send your resume along with answers to the three questions below (less than 250 words each) to Eventsmanager@ms.foundation.org Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the role is filled.
- Why does the Ms. Foundation's mission matter to you personally, and how has it shown up in your work so far?
- Walk us through the steps you take to make an event accessible and welcoming to people with different needs, such as disability, language, cost or caregiving. Give an example where you got it right, and one where you learned something the hard way.
- Tell us about an event you helped shape from initial vision through execution that required collaboration across multiple departments or stakeholders. What was your role in aligning priorities, navigating competing perspectives, and ensuring a successful outcome?
Compensation 90k-100k
This position is currently accepting applications. 
