Director of Membership

Priority Deadline: March 16

About the Asian American Resource Workshop: The Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) is a political home for pan-Asian communities in Greater Boston. We are a member-led organization committed to building grassroots power through political education, creative expression, and issue-based and neighborhood organizing. AARW is a dynamic team that works together with our membership to organize around issues that impact our communities’ everyday lives through an anti-displacement framework.

About the position: The Director of Membership is a full-time role focused on developing and implementing a basebuilding strategy that will cohere AARW’s multi-generational member base to build towards shared political vision, and cultivating the skills of our members that builds grassroots power for our organization and movements. While engaging AARW’s organizational members across programs and campaign areas, the Director will develop and test organizing strategies that sharpens and advances AARW’s basebuilding to cultivate the skills and leadership of our membership base to become member-leaders and to engage in our key campaigns.

Key Responsibilities:

Membership Engagement and Basebuilding (60%)

  • Develop and implement a membership engagement strategy rooted in grassroots organizing and movement building that coheres AARW’s members across programs and issue areas that truly builds people power

  • Co-create and lead a new organizing training for 12-15 base members to cultivate their leadership in our key anti-displacement organizing areas, political analysis, and organizing skills [*org priority for 2026]

  • Consolidate and cohere AARW’s leadership and political education curriculum across programs that engages our members in aligning towards a shared political vision,anti-displacement framework, and builds member’s leadership skills

  • Plan and lead in-person membership meetings (currently operating on a monthly basis), create structure for member orientations/onboarding, special events, and spaces

  • Conduct routine 1-on-1s with new and current members within our base for deeper relational building and to inform the arc of engagement for members

  • Manage systems for tracking and updating membership and leadership development information into databases and drives

Organizational Program and Campaigns (20%)

  • Strategize and engage membership base in priority anti-displacement campaigns fo housing justice and deportation defense, especially in coordination with the Director of Organizing and other membership organizers

  • Effectively represent AARW in coalition spaces across the Asian American community locally, regionally, and nationally

  • Regularly engage and mobilize AARW members on strategy, direction, and decisions in key coalitions, with an orientation towards building member participation and leadership in these spaces

  • In partnership with other AARW organizers, conduct collective outreach, engagement, and programming to further our priority program and campaign goals

Organizational Leadership (20%)

  • Supervise and manage select full-time staff (no more than 2 FTEs at any time) and part-time interns; provide ongoing time to check in, mentor, and develop organizers so they can excel in their professional and personal goals

  • Attend Leadership Circle meetings to be in thought partnership with the Co-Executive Directors and other mid-level Directors in shaping AARW’s organizational culture (i.e. development and feedback on organizational systems, structures, team dynamics, organizational priorities, etc.)

  • Support Co-Executive Directors, and at times lead, grassroots fundraising efforts and grantmaking for special projects, including: drafting applications, participating in interviews and relationship building with funders, managing the project or program, data and story collecting, and completing required reporting

  • As a grassroots organization, all staff are expected to support with rapid response needs, and administrative tasks as needed

Preferred Qualifications:

  • The ideal candidate will have experience in grassroots organizing, and a demonstrated commitment to engaging and building with working-class Asian communities in efforts to strengthen organizational bases that contribute to our collective power building for organization and movements. We will prioritize candidates with these preferred skills and traits:

  • Demonstrated commitment to social justice, movement building in Asian American communities, and solidarity with oppressed communities

  • At least 5-7 years of experience in community organizing and building the leadership of working-class, base members’ organizing skills and political consciousnesses

  • At least 3-5 years of experience supervising full-time staff

  • Demonstrated ability to mentor and support newer organizers, give and receive feedback, and move through interpersonal and organizational conflict in generative ways

  • Experience organizing in working-class Asian communities who are across the political spectrum, with an orientation in moving our communities towards a shared political vision

  • Experience in developing and facilitating political education and skills-building workshops rooted in shared political vision, especially through a popular education model

  • Experience in developing strategies to engage organizational bases that cultivates leadership and builds collective grassroots power

  • Proactive, action-oriented, and flexible with attention to detail

  • Strong ability to prioritize, hold multiple projects at once, and independently manage time and schedule

  • Positive track record of working in a team setting and giving and receiving multi-directional feedback

Bonus Qualifications (preferred but not required):

  • Experience and knowledge in either of AARW’s current priority organizing issues: immigrant deportation defense (especially in the Southeast Asian community) and/or housing justice and tenant organizing

  • Familiarity with the Greater Boston organizing ecosystem and Massachusetts political landscape

  • Experience stewarding all aspects of grant-funded projects, from application to reporting

Position Salary and Benefits: This is a full-time, exempt position that will report to the Co-Executive Director with a starting salary of $71,000 for 2026. The role will require flexible work hours, including nights and weekends, and some local and national travel. Our staff is operating a hybrid model, coming to our Fields Corner, Dorchester-based office at least twice per week.

AARW offers competitive benefits including: health insurance reimbursement, 401(k) retirement plan with employer match, 4 weeks of vacation, 2 weeks of sick time, numerous paid holidays and typically 3 weeks of org-wide closures per year, a wellness and tech fund, and a strong commitment to training and professional development opportunities. AARW also offers staff 3 months of paid sabbatical leave after 5 years of employment.

How to Apply: Please submit a resume and cover letter detailing your qualifications to hiring@aarw.org with the subject line “Director of Membership Application”. Priority deadline is March 16, 2026. The ideal candidate will begin in June 2026. We will accept applications until the position is filled. We strongly encourage people of color, women and gender non-conforming people, queer people, working-class people, people with disabilities, undocumented people, and people who have intersecting identities to apply.

EEO Statement: AARW is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization committed to equal employment opportunity (EEO). We will not discriminate against staff or applicants for employment on any legally-recognized basis [“protected class”] including, but not limited to: race, color, religion, genetic information, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, age, disability, citizenship status, uniform service member status, or any other protected class under federal, state, or local law.