Director of Special Events

Are you committed to advancing economic equity and connecting underrepresented talent to career opportunities using mentorship and professional networks? Are you ready to drive growth and scale impact in service of a meaningful mission?

About the Organization

StreetWise Partners is on a mission to drive career mobility and help build the workforce of today and tomorrow. For more than 25 years, we have expanded access to opportunity through high-impact mentoring, career coaching, and job placement, supporting over 25,000 adults on their path to meaningful employment. Our programs connect unemployed and underemployed adults in New York City and Washington, D.C. to life-changing career opportunities, while providing employers with access to a highly capable talent pool that reflects a broad range of backgrounds and experiences.

StreetWise Partners' one-year mentoring program delivers customized, individualized support to internship and job seekers. Through one-on-one mentorship, participants build professional skills, social capital, and an expansive network of advocates who open doors and support long-term career success. This role will play a critical part in driving programmatic and organizational success to support our continued growth and scale.

About the Role

StreetWise Partners seeks a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and results-driven Director of Special Events to lead the strategy, growth, and execution of the organization's established fundraising events portfolio, which consistently generates more than $1.3 million annually through signature events like the Annual Partnership Breakfast and Raising the Ante Poker Tournament. The Director of Special Events will develop and execute a 1–3 year growth strategy, bringing fresh ideas, innovative fundraising approaches, and an entrepreneurial mindset to an already strong event portfolio.

The ideal candidate is equal parts fundraiser, strategist, project manager, relationship builder, and volunteer leader. They recognize that successful events are not simply well-executed gatherings, but powerful tools for generating revenue, strengthening donor relationships, expanding networks, activating volunteers, and advancing organizational goals.

This position reports to the Chief Development Officer and has primary responsibility and accountability for event fundraising revenue and strategy. The Director of Special Events works closely with executive leadership, board members, and event committees and will supervise a part-time Contract Event Manager responsible for event logistics and vendor coordination, with dotted-line supervision of a Development Assistant who provides administrative support for fundraising events. This is a hybrid position based in New York City and requires regular in-person (sometimes in evenings) attendance at events and committee meetings. Occasional travel, including Washington, D.C., may be required.

Responsibilities

• Fundraising Strategy & Event Growth
  • Develop and execute a multi-year strategy to grow StreetWise Partners' fundraising event portfolio over the next 1–3 years.
  • Build upon the strong foundation of StreetWise Partners' existing events by introducing innovative fundraising, sponsorship, engagement, and stewardship strategies.
  • Identify and implement strategies to increase sponsorship revenue, attendee acquisition, donor retention, and onsite fundraising performance.
  • Personally cultivate, solicit, and steward sponsors in partnership with the development team, committees, and Board.
  • Develop stewardship strategies that convert event attendees, sponsors, and committee members into long-term donors and champions.
  • Analyze event performance data and fundraising metrics to maximize return on investment and inform future growth.
  • Research and implement emerging fundraising trends, technologies, and event experiences.
  • Assess opportunities for new fundraising events and potential expansion into Washington, D.C.
  • Develop and manage annual event budgets while identifying opportunities to improve net revenue.
  • Build systems and processes that support scalable event growth and reduce operational risk.
• Volunteer, Committee & Board Leadership
  • Recruit, onboard, develop, and lead event committees that serve as ambassadors for StreetWise Partners.
  • Inspire and equip committee members to activate their personal and professional networks to secure sponsorships, ticket sales, auction donations, and new supporters.
  • Partner with board members and volunteers to identify prospective sponsors, corporate partners, donors, committee members, honorees, and attendees.
  • Develop year-round engagement strategies that strengthen volunteer retention and cultivate future fundraising leaders.
  • Serve as a visible ambassador for StreetWise Partners at committee meetings, networking events, donor gatherings, and fundraising events.
• Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Collaborate closely with Corporate Engagement, Individual Giving, Development Operations, Marketing, Programs, and Executive Leadership to maximize fundraising opportunities generated through events.
  • Collaborate closely with Corporate Engagement and Individual Giving to convert event participants into deeper year-round supporters while identifying opportunities to engage existing corporate partners and donors as event sponsors, attendees, committee members, and honorees.
  • Ensure event storytelling, sponsorship messaging, and donor communications reflect StreetWise Partners' mission and strategic priorities.
  • Identify opportunities to deepen engagement by moving event participants into volunteering, mentoring, corporate partnerships, major giving, and other forms of support.
• Staff Leadership
  • Supervise the part-time Contract Event Manager, providing strategic direction, project oversight, and professional support while delegating responsibility for event logistics, vendor coordination, and onsite execution.
  • Provide day-to-day direction and oversight to the Development Assistant on event-related priorities through a dotted-line reporting relationship, in partnership with the Chief Development Officer.

Qualifications

Ideal Candidate

• Energized by the opportunity to inherit strong, successful events and elevate them to the next level.
• Brings creativity and fresh thinking while respecting and leveraging existing event strengths and traditions.
• Has a proven track record of increasing event revenue, sponsorship support, and attendee engagement.
• Thinks strategically about long-term fundraising growth beyond a single event cycle.
• Inspires volunteers and committee members to become passionate ambassadors and fundraisers.
• Excels at building relationships with board members, volunteers, corporate sponsors, donors, and senior executives.
• Understands how fundraising events fit within an organization's overall development strategy and donor pipeline.
• Balances high-level strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
• Brings an entrepreneurial mindset, strong initiative, and a continuous improvement orientation.

Competencies

• Strategic Fundraising
• Relationship Building & Influence
• Results Orientation
• Project & Operational Leadership
• Innovation & Growth Mindset

Preferred Qualifications

• 7–10 years of progressively responsible experience in fundraising events, nonprofit development, sponsorship sales, or related fields.
• Demonstrated success managing and growing revenue-generating fundraising events.
• Demonstrated success recruiting, motivating, and managing volunteers, committees, and fundraising ambassadors.
• Experience partnering with executive leadership and board members to achieve fundraising goals.
• Experience managing event budgets and measuring fundraising performance against revenue goals.
• Experience with CRM and event management systems (Salesforce preferred) and a strong aptitude for learning and leveraging new technologies to improve fundraising operations.

Minimum Qualifications

• Commitment to StreetWise Partners' mission of advancing economic mobility and opportunity.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Strong attention to detail, organizational skills, and follow-through.
• Ability to analyze performance metrics and translate data into actionable growth strategies.
• Proven experience securing and stewarding corporate sponsors.
• Willingness to work occasional evenings and weekends as required by event schedules.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package including 100% health care coverage for individuals.
• 4 weeks of paid vacation and a paid week off at the end of the year.
• Flexible work hours, select summer Fridays off, and a hybrid work schedule.

Pay

Salary range: $90,000–$110,000 annually. Most candidates can expect an offer in the middle of the range, with compensation determined by experience, skills, and internal equity.

Physical Environment

This position requires sedentary work. Work is performed in an office environment and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment and keyboards. Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity.