Programming Manager, Deep Democracy Circle

We are looking for an energetic, creative colleague aligned with our culture, mission, and shared leadership structure to join our efforts to promote Good Work through workshops, facilitation, coaching and tailored offerings.

The Deep Democracy Circle is the team responsible for furthering GWI’s mission through building partnerships, hosting public programs, and providing tailored services to organizations and community initiatives. We design, convene, and facilitate conversations, workshops, cohort programs, and events, all aiming to inspire relationship-building, transformational learning, and collective action.

Our goal is to equip people and organizations with the tools, skills, and support they need to: navigate conflict; share power, leadership and decision-making; and practice democratic collaboration. Our work takes many forms and is built on a foundation of curiosity, empathy, humility, and care.

Your Role with GWI

We’re seeking someone to join our team and contribute their experience, energy, skills, and leadership to the Deep Democracy Circle as a facilitator, program manager, and relation-builder. This new full-time role will divide their time between program implementation and facilitation (35%), program design and management (30%), community outreach and communications (30%), and supporting the fundraising efforts of the organization (5%).

The Deep Democracy Circle currently has 4 members who collaborate to design and deliver all of GWI’s programming. As GWI’s work has grown and with new programming in development, we are seeking additional support to be able to meet the demand. This role will begin by focusing on our core public workshops and a new cohort program, launching in 2026. As you gain experience with our approach to sharing leadership and our content on democratizing the workplace, you will eventually also support the work we offer to organizational partners, including tailored workshops and coaching support. At this time, this is not a role that we are designing to serve in other areas of our organization, including our General Circle (our 4-member governance body). For more on our shared leadership model, you can check out our blog series Sharing Power.

Are you our person?

Is this you? You feel excited by the prospect of facilitating and holding space for others. You find joy bringing people into the work of shared leadership, Just Transition, and conflict resilience. You are an excellent communicator, both written and verbal, who thrives on sharing a powerful message. You are creative in how you connect with others, from local collaborators to national partners.

Literacy and experience in the following areas is key:

• Facilitation
• Community Building
• Program Design
• Curriculum Development
• Marketing and Communications
• Civic Engagement
• Social Justice

Your Experience

We are looking for someone who has experience in and a passion for collaborative environments and the art of facilitation. This could show up as interactive teaching styles, cooperative leadership, participating in community initiatives, conflict resilience or mediation training, or, of course, in pursuing the practice of facilitation. We value a range of qualifications and life experiences that hone the skills of a great facilitator.

We have identified the following essential and preferred qualifications:

Essential

• Experience in facilitation and holding space for others to achieve shared purpose.
• Ability to enthusiastically lead and deliver on projects operating on multiple, parallel timelines, with resourcefulness and planning acumen.
• Ability to communicate proactively and effectively with internal and external stakeholders, with excellent writing skills and a flair for public speaking.
• A track record of building relationships with a diverse group of community members, local organizations, government entities, and/or other leaders, in support of a mission-driven organization or initiatives.
• Flexible, open, and willing to roll up sleeves and get things done.
• Located in the Hudson Valley.
• Comfort using online platforms - GWI uses Slack, Google Workspace, Zoom, and Asana to manage work and collaborate within our team.
• A great sense of humor!

Preferred

• Strong connection to communities and initiatives in the Hudson Valley region
• Bilingual, especially in English/Spanish
• Experience in conflict resilience and/or NVC (non-violent communication)
• Experience in program design and development, including fundraising

Compensation

This is a full-time salaried exempt position that is eligible for benefits, including health, short-term and long-term disability insurance fully paid by Good Work Institute (GWI); dental insurance partially paid by GWI; and vision and FSA plans available to workers who elect to pay for them. GWI policies include paid vacation and sick time off designed around reciprocity: generous leave available to responsible workers whose work often requires flexibility in schedules, with required availability for daytime meetings, and occasional evening or weekend commitments.

Compensation for this role will be calculated according to Good Work Institute’s board-approved compensation policy, which accounts for experience and worker need. The proposed range of annual compensation for this full-time position is between $65,000 and $75,000.

How to Apply

Please submit your resume and a letter of interest detailing your experience and connection to the mission of the Good Work Institute to work@goodworkinstitute.org. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. We anticipate contacting candidates to schedule any follow-up conversations within two weeks of receiving an application. We will prioritize taking next steps with applicants who clearly convey the ways they have been involved in or aware of the work of the Good Work Institute or highly aligned initiatives - stories welcome!

Timeline: Applications are rolling, with the hope to bring on our new colleague in January 2026.

The Good Work Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We wholly comply with the equal treatment of all employees and applicants for employment without unlawful discrimination as to an individual’s perceived or actual race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship status, gender, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, partnership status, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, or veteran status in all employment decisions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading, transfer, layoff and termination and all other terms and conditions of employment.

How We Work

The Good Work Institute (GWI) is a worker self-directed nonprofit, which is a democratic, shared leadership model that allows significant flexibility and supports strong collaboration. Our General Circle, the organizational unit tasked with overseeing our work, is currently made up of 4 Worker Trustees, with a combined 28 years of experience working within GWI. Our internal structure and operations are as much a part of our mission as our program work, and as such we value and cultivate a culture of care and community.

Our working style as an organization is playful and collaborative, and Workers are self-motivated and operate with a high degree of both autonomy and interdependence. We believe that our new colleague will share these values and approach, while also bringing an openness to learning and adapting to the GWI way of work!

About GWI

The Good Work Institute exists to build and amplify the collective power of people to reject systems of oppression and extraction and create regenerative, just, and life-affirming communities.

Our work is guided by these five principles of Just Transition:

• Relocalizing economic power
• Driving racial justice and social equity
• Democratizing communities, wealth and work
• Advancing ecological repair
• Retaining and restoring cultural diversity

Our work is grounded in collaboration, care, and connection. We hold reverence for the Earth as our shared home and we align with the definition of economy as “managing our shared home.” We believe in the transformative potential of being deeply connected to our places, so we focus regionally, in and around the Mahicantuck Valley, also known as the Hudson Valley of NY.

Our Focus:

Can we imagine an economy centered on caring about our needs and the needs of our shared home, the earth? The root meaning of “economy” is “management of home”: how we organize our relationships in a place to take care of the place and each other.

The Good Work Institute focuses on democratizing communities, wealth and work by fostering:

• Participation: practicing deep democracy to have voice and influence in decisions affecting our lives and communities
• Resilience: developing collaborative communication skills to navigate inevitable tension and conflict in our working relationships
• Belonging: acknowledging unequal societal power relations and taking action aligned with actively creating conditions of belonging and inclusion

goodworkinstitute.org

This is a full-time salaried exempt position that is eligible for benefits, including health, short-term and long-term disability insurance fully paid by Good Work Institute (GWI); dental insurance partially paid by GWI; and vision and FSA plans available to workers who elect to pay for them. GWI policies include paid vacation and sick time off designed around reciprocity: generous leave available to responsible workers whose work often requires flexibility in schedules, with required availability for daytime meetings, and occasional evening or weekend commitments.

BONUS: Bilingual, especially in English/Spanish