Executive Assistant

The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is a distinguished and dynamic organization at the forefront of advancing the understanding and appreciation of human cultures, past and present. Established in 1902, the AAA has played a pivotal role in shaping the field of anthropology, serving as a hub for scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts dedicated to exploring the diversity of human societies.

Our mission is to promote scholarly research, foster intellectual exchange, and advocate for the importance of anthropology in addressing global challenges. The AAA is committed to supporting anthropologists in their pursuit of knowledge, facilitating collaboration across diverse subfields, and promoting the ethical practice of anthropology.

The Executive Assistant is a high-trust role that keeps AAA's two senior leaders, the Executive Director and the Deputy Executive Director, prepared, on schedule and followed up as they lead the Association and represent it to the board, donors, partners, media and the public. The role prepares briefings and talking points, takes notes and tracks follow-ups, coordinates board and donor relationships, and serves as the first point of contact for the executive office.

• Manage the calendars and email inboxes of both executives, balancing board, donor, partner, staff and public commitments, and protect time for strategic work.
• Track deadlines and commitments for both executives and raise conflicts or gaps early.
• Coordinate travel and logistics for meetings, speaking engagements, conferences and Association events.
• Draft and edit correspondence on behalf of both executives and serve as a discreet first point of contact for the executive office.

• Coordinate logistics and agenda preparation for leadership and staff meetings.
• Prepare daily and weekly meeting materials and track action items, ensuring timely follow-up and completion.
• Prepare and collect meeting materials and track action items from weekly staff meetings, leadership meetings and other meetings as assigned.
• Attend key meetings to take notes and capture decisions and commitments.
• Own follow-up tracking until each item is closed and send each executive a weekly list of open items.

• Prepare a concise briefing before each significant engagement: who will be there, the relationship history, open issues and what the executive wants to accomplish.
• Maintain a relationship log so context carries from one meeting to the next.
• Draft talking points, remarks and speaker notes for presentations, panels, interviews and events, working with communications staff.
• Monitor news and developments relevant to upcoming engagements, including higher education, research funding, and anthropology’s role in AI and technology.
• Manage speaking invitations: intake, recommendation, scheduling, and preparation.
• Support the AAA President in their work of the association including meeting preparation, external communication and follow up tracking, and other duties as assigned.

• Schedule cultivation, solicitation and stewardship meetings for the executives’ donor relationships, and prepare a donor briefing for each.
• Draft personalized acknowledgments, thank-you notes and stewardship updates for executive signature, within set timelines.
• Enter contact reports and next steps in the donor database after each meeting, and flag donors who are overdue for contact.
• Coordinate donor recognition and invitations to the Annual Meeting and other events.
• Work with the Senior Manager, Growth & Revenue, who owns the donor database and development operations, so records stay…