Events Director (Remote/Greater Raleigh, North Carolina region preferred)

Position Title: Events Director, Welcoming Neighbors Network

Location: Remote, with preference given to candidates in the greater Raleigh, North Carolina region// Some required travel (approximately four to six times per year)

Reports to: Senior Director of Network & Capacity-Building– Welcoming Neighbors Network

Hours per week (average): 40

Overtime Status: Exempt

Salary Range: $95,840.00 - $119,800.00

Preferred Start Date: February 9, 2026

Welcoming Neighbors Network (WNN) seeks a hyper-organized, experienced, and dynamic Events Manager to help plan national and regional events that bring together pro-housing advocates for relationship-building, shared learning, and collective strategizing.

Through coalition-building, community organizing, policy development, and grassroots lobbying, Welcoming Neighbors Network member organizations advocate to legalize abundant housing options, lower the cost of housing, reduce the displacement of marginalized communities, and ensure all Americans can find safe, stable housing that fits their needs and budgets. As a national network, WNN members come together to hone strategies, support one another, share lessons, replicate successes, avoid mistakes, and tackle challenges creatively.

Responsibilities include:

• Provide full-spectrum event-planning support for the annual YIMBYtown conference (“YIMBYtown”)
  • Provide project-management support to local host organization(s) of the YIMBYtown conference, the national two to three-day pro-housing conference that brings together more than 1,000 grassroots organizers and advocates, academics, electeds, etc.
  • Ensure all workstreams of YIMBYtown event-planning are assigned to an individual/organization, provide ongoing support and accountability to those those managing different workstreams, and take leadership of workstreams when host(s) requests you to do so
  • Provide logistical support for YIMBYtown (venue, catering, registration day-of coordination, etc.)
  • Ensure that YIMBYtown’s programming is engaging to a wide variety of interests and learning styles, and relevant to pro-housing activists from across the country, empowering the hosts to imbue it with their own local flavor and bringing together stakeholders from across the country to guide the more general content
  • Ensure cohesive branding and narrative around YIMBYtown, working closely with local host organization(s) and WNN key stakeholders to craft and promote a clear story about the convening throughout all public promotion (press outreach, social media content, regular email newsletters, etc.)
  • Help develop fundraising materials for host organization(s) and capture event highlights for future fundraising opportunities
  • Be accountable to and collaborate closely with the local host organization(s) and planning team
• Support the institutionalization and replicability of YIMBYtown and other events that bring together pro-housing advocates
  • Document, organize, and share best practices, lessons learned, feedback from past events and recommendations for future events, operations processes, materials and templates, etc.
  • Ensure transferability of event communications and technology platforms, contact lists, etc.,
  • Ensure that event debriefs occur and that takeaways are captured and shared with relevant stakeholders
  • Provide onboarding to new YIMBYtown hosts to ground them in the existing history and materials and support them to hit the ground running
• Provide logistical and other event-planning support for WNN regional gatherings
  • In coordination with local host organization(s), manage logistics for WNN’s in-person regional gatherings which bring together 30-75 pro-housing advocates in a given region
  • Develop and execute standardized operations processes, including disbursement of financial assistance for travel
  • Be accountable to and collaborate closely with the local host organization(s) and planning team
• Provide ad hoc support for other virtual and in-person WNN events
  • Provide logistical and other planning support for in-person network trainings and convenings, including organizing trainings
  • Provide occasional technology support on virtual trainings and gatherings
• Implement practices, policies, and guidelines to ensure that events are equitable, inclusive, and accessible
  • Work with WNNN Equity Working Group to build out and refine guidelines for hosting equitable, welcoming, and inclusive events
  • Identify and help carry out logistical, financial, and other event-planning measures that can help events be more diverse, welcoming, and accessible
  • Incorporate feedback related to accessibility
• (Plus other related responsibilities as needed)

Qualifications:

• Zeal for our organizational goals and strategies, including:
  • Passing ambitious pro-housing policy to end exclusionary zoning and create more abundant and affordable housing options in communities across the country
  • Supporting local advocates to run powerful campaigns, and
  • Cultivating strong, creative, trusting coalitions
• Significant experience organizing midsized and large in-person events, ideally including events where most planning was done remotely from out-of-town and/or events that bring people together across the country
• Significant experience leading the management of logistics for events, including the venue, catering, invoicing, etc.
• Experience managing event budgets, preferably six-figure budgets or higher
• Comfort managing event technologies and communications
• Significant experience with volunteer management and day–of coordination
• Ability to be accountable to and take leadership from a planning team
• Commitment to racial justice and equity work, including a track record of helping make events broadly welcoming and accessible
• Dedication to building relational, inclusive, empowering organizations that lean into collaboration, play well with others, and value outcomes over credit.
• Strong interpersonal abilities, with a willingness to cross boundaries and build relationships with people of diverse backgrounds
• Exceptional attention to detail, super organized, great time management, systems-thinking, and proactive in follow-up
• Dynamic problem solving skills
• Comfortable with technology and ability to quickly learn to use new tech tools
• Ability to travel to cities across the country four to six times per year for up to five days per trip

Pay and benefits: This is a full-time, remote work position. Occasional travel around the U.S. - an estimated four to six times per year - is expected. The salary range is $95,840.00 - $119,800.00 (depending on experience), with a comprehensive benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees (and their families). Employees are able to enroll in 401k retirement plan and are eligible for an employer match. Employees are also eligible for pre-tax transportation benefits. Employees will receive up to 180 hours of annual vacation time (accrued at 5 hours per pay period, totaling 120 hours per year, with up to 60 eligible to roll over), 80 hours of health leave, up to 2 days of casual leave, and 20 hours of volunteer leave annually. Employees will also receive 15 paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Employees are eligible for 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave after 90 days of employment.

About Welcoming Neighbors Network:

The Welcoming Neighbors Network (WNN) is America’s only national network of independent state and local pro-housing advocacy organizations. Comprising 60 member organizations across 32 states – plus a prospective member and partner network extending further still – Welcoming Neighbors Network powers the most effective pro-housing organizations and policy campaigns in the country.

WNN member organizations were driving forces behind landmark statewide pro-housing policy victories to create more abundant and affordable homes in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawai’i, Massachusetts, Maryland, Montana, Oregon, and Washington state, and citywide victories in Minneapolis, Charlotte, Portland, Cambridge, Anchorage, and Austin. These policies promise to translate into untold thousands of homes for middle class, working class, and low-income Americans in integrated, amenity-rich, climate-friendly communities.

The Welcoming Neighbors Network is a hub for local pro-housing groups and leaders to connect with one another across state lines. WNN documents and shares organizational and campaign resources, based on the successes and learning from across the membership. WNN also helps on-the-ground members and partners build capacity and power by providing access to their national relationships and economies of scale.

WNN facilitates collaboration and peer-support of network members across the country and targets resources to maximize campaign impact. We embrace incremental victories on the way to transformative goals and we incorporate a wide variety of allies to navigate different political contexts to achieve policy goals.

Welcoming Neighbors Network commits to building an organization that empowers the leadership of directly impacted communities, especially Black, Indigenous, Asian American, Latine, immigrant, and low-income or working class communities. WNN prioritizes policy priorities that improve social and economic outcomes for historically oppressed communities, especially communities of color.

Equal Opportunity Hiring Statement

Welcoming Neighbors Network is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. Welcoming Neighbors Network’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religion, marital status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, pregnancy, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected under federal, state, or local law.

How to Apply

Apply here: https://welcoming-neighbors-network.breezy.hr/p/fc5d2b4c32bf

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and the position will be considered open until filled. If you have any questions, contact: julia at welcomingneighbors.us

E-Verify

Welcoming Neighbors Network participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with employees’ Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the United States. Job candidates and employees authorized to work may not be discriminated against on the basis of national origin or citizenship status.

Work Sponsorship

Welcoming Neighbors Network does not currently have the capacity to serve as a work sponsor. As such, to be considered for this role, applicants must have authorization to work in the United States and be without the need for work sponsorship now or in the future.

Artificial Intelligence

Regarding the use of AI: We understand that AI is a tool that is growing in popularity and is widely available. While we do not prohibit the use of AI in polishing your written materials in your application, please ensure that your work expresses your original thoughts and accurately reflects your abilities, skills, knowledge, and problem-solving capabilities. We want to get a feel for you! We maintain the right to disqualify any candidate who we feel has plagiarized and/or misrepresented their skills via the misuse of AI generators and other tools. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out for clarification.

This is a full-time, remote work position. Occasional travel around the U.S. - an estimated four to six times per year - is expected. The salary range is $95,840.00 - $119,800.00 (depending on experience), with a comprehensive benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees (and their families). Employees are able to enroll in 401k retirement plan and are eligible for an employer match. Employees are also eligible for pre-tax transportation benefits. Employees will receive up to 180 hours of annual vacation time (accrued at 5 hours per pay period, totaling 120 hours per year, with up to 60 eligible to roll over), 80 hours of health leave, up to 2 days of casual leave, and 20 hours of volunteer leave annually. Employees will also receive 15 paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Employees are eligible for 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave after 90 days of employment.

English fluency