Community Engagement Associate
StartOut · TELECOMMUTE · Posted Jul 7, 2026
Apply on company site Track it in JobSkout
About StartOut
StartOut is the largest national non-profit championing scalable LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. Our mission is to increase opportunity and success for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. Our vision is a world where all entrepreneurs can thrive on a level playing field.
Founded in 2009, StartOut is a global community of over 18,000 members that works at the exciting intersection of entrepreneurship and the LGBTQ+ and allies community. StartOut’s services, network, and ecosystem are game-changing and life-changing for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who need resources to build their businesses. According to the StartOut Index, of $2.1T in venture funding to U.S. start-ups, less than 0.5% went to openly LGBTQ+ founders. StartOut exists to level the playing field with our suite of programs and events, including:
Founder’s Program
StartOut Growth Lab
StartOut Spark Lab
StartOut Con
StartOut Awards
Demo Day
Mentorship Program
Investor Portal & Access to Capital Program
Education workshops
100 virtual and in-person events annually, nationwide
StartOut is committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within StartOut, and within the greater LGBTQ+ and entrepreneurial communities. This includes inclusive hiring practices and an organizational commitment to equitable and inclusive conduct, outlined in our Code of Conduct .
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.
About the Role
As the Community Engagement Manager (6-Month Fixed-Term Contractor), you will champion and manage StartOut’s core infrastructure for regional and virtual community mobilization. You will lead, recruit, and inspire a network of over 80 local and topical Leadership Council members (volunteers), while collaborating closely with corporate sponsors and community partners. Your mission is to foster a deeply connected ecosystem and support the execution of 65+ impactful events annually that empower LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.
Key Responsibilities
Community Volunteer Support & Leadership Councils
Lifecycle Management: Recruit, onboard, and offboard diverse Leadership Council Chairs across all new and existing regional chapters, ensuring strict alignment with StartOut’s annual strategic growth goals.
Volunteer Enablement: Empower Council Chairs by providing ongoing outreach strategies, recruitment tools, code of conduct oversight, and localized volunteer engagement support.
Program Planning & Design: Guide Council Chairs in architecting high-value local events that expand the StartOut founder footprint.
Training & Governance: Deliver comprehensive annual training sessions covering board responsibilities, meeting facilitation, and event excellence.
Data & Diversity Tracking: Conduct monthly audits of volunteer and board compositions, translating findings into quarterly actionable insights on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Operational Infrastructure: Equip leaders with localized event-planning kits, templates, and best-practice playbooks. Act as the primary point of contact for urgent or emergency regional council requests.
Event Logistics & Performance Management
End-to-End Execution: Drive cross-departmental logistics for community events, managing venues, vendor relationships, KPI monitoring (attendee data) speaker/judge sourcing, registration pipelines, in-kind contributions, fundraising and local budgets.
Performance Metrics: Continually evaluate event-level KPIs, lead generation rates, and conversion metrics to provide optimization recommendations for future programmatic cycles.
Inclusive Design: Ensure all community initiatives actively reflect, represent, and celebrate diverse intersections of LGBTQ+ founders.
Feedback Loops: Oversee post-event debrief sessions, aggregate partner feedback, and compile formal post-mortem reports to drive iterative improvements.