Role Summary:

Reporting to the Director of Business Advising, Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF) is seeking a Economic Mobility Corps Fellow to join our Business Advising team. The fellow will support the business advising team by providing direct support to small business owners who are seeking to start or grow their business to connect them with resources and networks. This will include providing support to small business owners who are seeking capital for their business and want to better understand their options and the process to seek support. The ideal candidate is an individual eager to start their career in financial counseling and education; the ideal candidate should be willing to develop skills in relationship management, credit readiness and small business support, and enjoys working in a fast-paced work culture with ample opportunity to build and shape initiatives from the ground up. This person can be based anywhere in the U.S. Occasional domestic work travel possible. 

The Business Advising and Education Department’s main responsibilities are to provide high-quality learning opportunities to entrepreneurs to help them better prepare for entrepreneurship: assessing their strengths and weaknesses, helping them refine their goals, providing them support and guidance on their entrepreneurial journey, connecting them with external partners and resources that can support their success, and maintaining engagement to assess their progress over time.

Interested applicants can learn more about this program from our managing partner LISC by visiting: https://www.lisc.org/our-stories/story/lisc-announces-46-cdfi-partners-economic-mobility-corps/

The Person:

Highly qualified candidates will share AOF’s commitment to small business and financial inclusion and will embody the organization’s core values. In addition, they will bring a broad range of skills and experience including, but not limited to:

• Strong organizational, writing, and oral communications skills; and possess a high attention to detail
• Familiarity with community development, financial services, banking/lending terminology including understanding financial planning basics
• Have an interest in finance and/or financial education
• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills, with the demonstrated ability to engage and influence others. Success in conveying credibility, and confidence when engaging external audiences. 
• Knowledge base in one or more of the following areas: personal and business financials, sales and marketing, business planning, or other topic that would be helpful for small business owners.
• An entrepreneurial mindset, self-motivated, flexible, creative, comfortable in a fast-paced work culture.
• Desire and ability to work with a diverse group of people, particularly those living in low-income distressed neighborhoods
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment
• Commitment to community development and the organization’s mission of empowering under-served entrepreneurs.
• Evidence of sound judgment, discretion, and highest ethical standards.

Responsibilities:

Client Services:

• Provide counseling and educational services to entrepreneurs on a range of topics, including credit management, personal finance, and other relevant topics to prepare individuals in their entrepreneurship journey.
• Assist with the creation of microentrepreneur support curriculum and related training material for this population. 
• Support development and execution of educational trainings/webinars, both virtual and in-person as appropriate.
• Build long-term relationships with the population we serve

Marketing:

• Assist Business Engagement Specialist in outreach to entrepreneurs, and partners in the entrepreneurial support ecosystem to reach our target audience (LMI, BIPOC, etc.)
• Prepare and disseminate information regarding the services provided by AOF
• Participate in outreach activities (newsletters, events, etc.) 
• Support in the creation of outreach materials (marketing, newsletters, stories, articles, etc. 

Team Support:

• Work with the Business Advising team to support current initiatives, programming, and other grant opportunities.

Administrative: 

• Assist in preparing required reports for internal purposes and for external reporting purposes 

AOF is seeking to fill one position to focus on outreach and activities on the East Coast and one to focus on outreach and activities on the West Coast.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in marketing, finance, sales, business, or related Field (or within a year of receiving this degree)

Prior experience financial planning and/or sales fields preferred, but not required. 

Knowledge of insurance/financial services industry preferred, but not required 

Written and verbal fluency in English required, (Spanish, Mandarin or Vietnamese language skills are a plus)