Executive Fellow

Who We Are

Engineers Without Borders USA exists to help build thriving communities around the world. We build a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs. We celebrate the joy that comes when communities get safe water flowing for the first time, light that now shines where it was dark, and bridges and pathways that connect to new opportunities.

Our team is committed to community engineering to make a meaningful, lasting, and positive difference that elevates the leadership and autonomy of our partner communities. We are part of an equitable, global network of organizations that focus on community engineering to promote social justice.

We mobilize thousands of volunteers every year to respond to underserved and overburdened communities' engineering needs.

The Executive Fellow position is an opportunity for recent graduates with EWB-USA volunteer experience to delve deep into the workings of a non-profit organization. As an Executive Fellow, you will be uniquely positioned at the intersection of EWB-USA’s leadership, volunteers, departmental staff, and all corners of EWB-USA’s network. You will spend a year working closely with EWB-USA’s Board of Directors and Leadership Team, tuning your ear to the mechanism of non-profit organizational leadership and key functions of non-profit work.

EWB-USA’s key function areas include program delivery, fundraising & communications, operations, and finance and accounting.

The Executive Fellow is a unique position and opportunity to work directly with the CEO. While the role is heavy on administration, the Executive Fellow benefits by working closely with leadership, and participating in non-profit operations. Specific goals for this position include:

• Inspire an emerging leader interested in humanitarian engineering and provide them with direct experience within the operations of EWB-USA
• Provide logistic and organizational assistance to the Board of Directors and Leadership Team of EWB-USA
• Contribute a volunteer perspective to the strategic and operational initiatives of EWB-USA
• Make a unique and value-adding contribution to building EWB-USA through either a significant project in one area or opportunities to participate in multiple smaller projects and key function areas.

Overall duties for the position are listed below.

• Board of Directors Liaison (40%)
  • Organize and facilitate the work of the EWB-USA Board of Directors including board meetings, board committee support, orientation, recruitment, and assessment.
• Assistant to the CEO (20%)
  • Completes a variety of administrative duties for the CEO including submitting expense reports, assisting with planning efforts for CEO travel, general scheduling support, and other tasks as assigned by the CEO
• Project Activities (40%)
  • Under the guidance of the CEO, develop and implement an individual project that will contribute to building and improving EWB-USA. This project will overlap with the Executive Fellow’s interest/passion and organizational needs or improvements that the leadership is eager to implement.
  • Example of a past project:
    Improve annual data collection on chapters via a baseline analysis, development of a web-based tool, and basic data decomposition in order to enable staff to make data-based decisions and close communications gaps.
  • Depending on the organizational needs, the Executive Fellow may also choose to participate in multiple smaller projects across key function areas.

This position is at the discretion of the CEO and is designed to assist the leadership team of EWB-USA. It is also designed to be a professional growth experience for the Executive Fellow. Here is how this is made possible:

• The Executive Fellow is a position that engages with all departments. This provides the Executive Fellow with access to cross-functional challenges, and is a phenomenal opportunity to learn to collaborate with staff and balance competing priorities.
• The Executive Fellow interacts with the Board of Directors and CEO and is therefore part of one of the most important relationships in an organization. By…