Community Network Builder

The Institute for Engagement & Negotiation (IEN) at the University of Virginia seeks a motivated and collaborative Community Network Builder to strengthen regional economic opportunity in Virginia’s Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. This position is funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund to support Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula communities becoming more competitive and coordinated in securing state and federal resources for their long‑term resilience.

The role will engage localities, non‑profits, businesses, and thought leaders in the region to identify overlapping priorities and surface cross‑jurisdictional opportunities, ultimately resulting in the selection of one to two key economic opportunity areas for targeted collaboration, specifically core infrastructure investments such as housing and workforce development.

Key Regional Priorities

• Responsive to the lived realities of rural families
• Capable of application across different regional financial ecosystems
• Capable of leveraging state and federal resources for sustainable impact

Position Responsibilities Research, Strategy, and Project Development

• Identify regional economic opportunity priorities and assess feasibility of collaborative initiatives.
• Conduct capital scans and feasibility studies to align local, philanthropic, and federal/state funding streams (“capital stacking”).
• Design pilot projects in areas such as housing, workforce pipelines, and small business development.
• Develop prioritization frameworks and metrics for evaluating and scaling regional initiatives.
• Track project implementation and outcomes, producing quarterly learning memos and progress dashboards.

Community Engagement and Facilitation

• Build trusted, inclusive relationships across governments, nonprofits, businesses, and residents.
• Convene regional forums, workshops, and advisory committees to align priorities and surface opportunities.
• Facilitate community visioning and structured “data walks” to connect insights with investment strategies.
• Mobilize community participation in project rollout and continuous learning processes.

Capacity and Resource Development

• Provide coaching and training for local partners on data interpretation, visualization, and storytelling.
• Support grant writing, proposal development, and strategic resource alignment.
• Serve as a technical assistance hub to strengthen regional data infrastructure and project design capacity.
• Collaborate with partners such as the River Counties Community Foundation and explore participation in initiatives like the Federal Reserve Bank’s Rural Investment Collaborative.

Knowledge and Skills Rural Development

• Experience with the dynamics of rural communities, either lived or professional.
• Understand the assets, challenges, and cultural context that shape under-resourced regions.

Strategic Resource Development

• Experienced in grant writing and proposal development to secure funding.
• Design program plans that align with funder priorities.
• Craft compelling, data-informed cases that expand funding pipelines and partnerships.

Data Collection, Analysis & Synthesis

• Skilled in data analysis and synthesis of qualitative and quantitative inputs.
• Proficiency with GIS, Excel, and visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI).
• Experience developing evaluation frameworks and performance metrics.
• Experience working with rural or disaggregated datasets.

Relationship & Coalition Building

• Builds and sustains trusted relationships across government, nonprofit, business, and civic sectors.
• Strong facilitation and communication skills; able to adapt style to diverse audiences.
• Commitment to presence and accessibility across rural communities.
• Approaches work with humility and a service mindset.
• Reliable, responsive, and visible; able to navigate both formal and informal settings.

Strategy – Planning & Implementation

• Skilled at building coalitions, facilitating consensus, and advancing shared goals.
• Ability to convert vision into actionable strategies with clear timelines and outcomes.
• Anticipates needs, aligns actions with long-term outcomes, and manages multiple priorities.
• Strong documentation and reporting skills to capture and share learning.

Problem-Solving and…