Awards Associate

The American Association of University Women (AAUW), a gender equity advocacy organization, is one of the nation’s leading voices promoting equity and education for women and girls and empowering them to reach their highest potential. What began in 1881 as a group of 17 like-minded women has grown into a powerful grassroots network with more than 100,000 members, advocates, and more than 450 college and university partners across the United States. The Policy & Member Advocacy team works to advance policy on gender equity in education, women’s economic security, and civil and reproductive rights.

Summary Description: The Awards Associate provides critical programmatic and administrative support to AAUW fellowship and grant programs. These programs are focused on championing women’s advancement in STEM and other fields in which they are underrepresented, promoting equitable access to opportunities for academic advancement for women from demographically and/or geographically underrepresented backgrounds, and reducing the disproportionate burden of student debt on women. The Awards Associate will support the full awards lifecycle of AAUW’s programs, foster community building and engagement of AAUW’s diverse stakeholders, and contribute to systems administration and other projects and initiatives.

This position reports to a Senior Program Officer.

Essential Duties:

Programmatic & Administrative Support

• Review both fellowship and grant applications, as well as provide support to other staff on the same
• Identify potential review panelists and support the panelist recruitment and appointment process. Contribute to the development of orientation materials and the planning, coordination and facilitation of panel meetings.
• Conduct detailed final analyses and verifications of awardee eligibility, issue award agreements and assist with the disbursement of both fellowship stipends and grant funds.
• Provide guidance and support to international fellowship recipients on required tax forms and program requirements, working in coordination with AAUW’s Finance Team and other senior Fellowships and Grants Staff, as appropriate.
• Facilitate mid-year and final awardee report submissions; Log and review mid-year and final reports; craft summary reports and coordinate reporting data collection and dissemination.
• Ensure programmatic and award compliance with donor requirements, as applicable; Support the matching of fellowship sponsors with awardees and organizational communications on the same by working in partnership with the Advancement Team and other Fellowships and Grants Staff.
• Compile and update statistics on applicants and fellows/grantees annually, or as needed

Community Building & Engagement

• Provide high-touch customer service to AAUW’s diverse external stakeholders and lead and/or contribute to strategic communication initiatives or products in support of the same.
• Participate in the development of community-building strategies among awardees, as well as between awardees and AAUW; Support and foster uniform community engagement approaches in concert with the Alumnae Programs Team; Provide staff/logistical support and/or participate in fellows’ events and other AAUW activities.
• Stay abreast of AAUW alumnae programs, offerings and initiatives and coordinate closely with the Alumnae Programs Team to assist with the seamless transition of fellowship awardees to the alumnae community.

Systems Administration

• Elevate recommendations and/or challenges regarding fellowship and grants management workflows in AAUW’s customer relationship management (CRM) system and other technology improvements, including testing and troubleshooting, documentation and training.
• Ensure the integrity of award management data by leveraging strong record maintenance practices in support of applicants, awardees, review panelists, and other AAUW community members.

The Awards Associate may also participate in committees or workgroups, intermittently supporting other AAUW program initiatives and/or perform other related or comparable duties as required and assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, with a demonstrated ability to exercise good judgement, discretion and confidentiality.
• Outstanding attention to detail and accuracy.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including presentation skills and meeting facilitation abilities
• A flexible thinker and contributor, including an ability to toggle seamlessly between detailed, independent work and collaborative, team-wide initiatives or priorities; as well as appropriately prioritize (and re-prioritize) as needed to keep apace with changing needs and priorities.
• Ability to quickly grasp new concepts and adapt to evolving technologies or processes.
• Robust customer service skills in support of diverse stakeholders from an array of backgrounds such as distinguished scholars, international and domestic students, nonprofit organizations and association members.
• Proficient in Microsoft Suite
• A degree holder with at least one year of professional experience is preferred.

Compensation and Location:

The hourly rate for this position is $25.28- $27.18 (commensurate with experience) and it is offered along with a competitive benefits package. This is an in-office position based in Washington, DC. with the option of working remotely up to three days per week. Find all AAUW employee benefits at https://www.aauw.org/about/careers/.