Entrepreneur Engagement Volunteer

Starting Date Sept 1, 2022 (Minimum 1 year, 5-7 hours/week)

*Organization Overview*

We believe that every person is capable of achieving self confidence, financial well-being, and a sense of belonging, while contributing to their community.

We focus on providing personalized support. Our mission is to empower people who face work and social barriers to cultivate community connections through entrepreneurship and self-advocacy opportunities.

We are not an organization that embodies traditional entrepreneurship. Nearly a quarter of residents in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) are striving to become entrepreneurs as an avenue for earning supplemental income, developing confidence, and most importantly, contributing back to their community – thus creating ripples of change.

We learned from our community that entrepreneurial success for many people is not always measured by traditional profit models. For Employ to Empower (ETE), entrepreneurial success is about pursuing one’s passion, developing a business, generating revenues, and as a result, reinforcing who they are, what their potential could be, and most importantly, how they feel about themselves. Self esteem, self worth, and confidence are the building blocks of change. At Employ to Empower, success is measured by the human experience, not by the growth of their business.

The Advocacy Pillar creates storytelling and self-advocacy opportunities for members of our program. Members of our program are entrepreneurs who experience barriers (homelessness, addiction, disability, mental illness) who live, work, or access services in the DTES.The opportunities consist of podcasts, annual talk show, educational workshops, and a docuseries. The goal: to educate the broader community with a diverse perspective- shifting the negative stigma about the DTES, and more importantly give individuals with lived experiences to speak on their own behalf.

*Position Description*

Title Description: Entrepreneur Engagement
Reporting To: Advocacy Lead
Location: In Person and Remote
Desired Start Date: Sept 1, 2022
Commitment: 1 year, 5-7 hours/week
Position Type: Volunteer

*Key Tasks*

– Meeting with different program entrepreneurs 1-on-1 to discuss feedback about the overall organization and individual pillars (i.e. what works, what doesn’t, what could be improved)
– Collect and organize key topics and concerns that program entrepreneurs would like to be discussed at monthly Peer Advisory Group (PAG) meeting
– Working closely with Advocacy Pillar Lead to discuss these key topics in relation to organizational changes
– Create a positive experience for program entrepreneurs by ensuring that their experiences, insight and perception are considered, heard, and validated. This position’s goal is to ensure our program entrepreneurs are a pivotal part of the decision making in the organization”

*Qualifications*

– Empathetic
– Ability to build rapport with a diverse population
– Ability to communicate effectively
– A positive upbeat attitude
– Familiarization with having a trauma-informed, barrier-informed and and intersectional lens

*Education & Experience*

– Experience in customer service

*Please note: the successful applicant will have to complete a criminal record check*

Application Procedure

E-mail cover letter and resume to communityoutreach@employtoempower.com