Community Engagement Coordinator

About Giving Kitchen Twelve years ago, one fight for one life became a movement.

When chef Ryan Hidinger was diagnosed with stage-four cancer in 2012, Atlanta’s restaurant community did what this industry does best. They showed up. The fundraisers, the meals, the fierce and tender generosity of people who feed everyone else first, all of it poured toward one of their own. That outpouring sparked a belief that still drives us today: people need people, and no one in food service should face crisis alone.

Today, Giving Kitchen stands with food service workers when crisis hits. The servers, line cooks, bartenders, dishwashers, and hosts who make our celebrations possible are there for the holiday gatherings, the late-night comfort meals, and the coffee that starts the day. When illness, injury, or disaster knocks a life sideways, we are there for them, with emergency financial assistance and a Stability Network of resources that helps them find their footing again.

We have served more than 40,000 food service workers and awarded over $17 million in assistance, and we are only getting started. Our work has earned the James Beard Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, a place on Fast Company’s Brands That Matter, and a perfect 100 of 100 from Charity Navigator. We are building a national movement, and there is room at our table for everyone who wants to be part of it.

Volunteers are the backbone of that movement. They staff events, champion our cause in communities across the country, and help us reach more food service workers every year. Come help us build the program that makes their work possible.

Four values shape everything we do, and every one of them ends the same way: with gratitude. Because we are grateful to do this work.

We invite everyone to our table with kindness and hospitality. We center mutual trust, the pursuit of dignity, and the courage to ask for help— with gratitude.

We are hungry to support our industry and boldly pursue impact with curiosity, creativity, and with gratitude.

You can trust us to do the right thing. We say what we do and do what we say with gratitude.

We are present as we serve with humility and optimism, steeped in joy. We embrace the revelry and resilience rooted in our origin with gratitude.

If you read those four values and felt something, keep reading.

Job Title: Community Engagement Coordinator

Reports To: Senior Director of Community Engagement

FTE: Full Time, Exempt

Location: Atlanta headquarters (onsite four days per week), with regular travel to support regional and national volunteer activity

Volunteers extend our reach into every community we serve. They are the hands that staff our events, the voices that champion food service workers, and the neighbors who show up when it matters most. As Giving Kitchen grows into a national movement, we need a leader who can build the infrastructure to support that growth—starting with a deep understanding of where we are today and a clear eye toward where we are going.

This role is designed to grow with us. In your first year, you will learn our existing event volunteer systems inside and out, deploy them for two major events, and partner with our Community Engagement Manager to build and launch the GK Advocate program—a new initiative tied to our partnership platform that will deepen community engagement and expand our reach. You will also help us evaluate and implement new volunteer management systems that set us up for the next chapter.

Beginning in 2027, this role will evolve into building and scaling a national volunteer program— designing the infrastructure, pathways, and partnerships that carry Giving Kitchen’s mission further than it has ever gone.

This is a seat for someone who is energized by both the doing and the building. You can run a flawless event and design the system that makes the next one even better. You are equally comfortable learning someone else’s playbook and eventually writing your own.

This is not just a job. For the right person, it is the chance to grow alongside a movement—and to…