There are jobs — and then there are careers. The chance to do the kind of work that adds up to something meaningful. The opportunity to challenge yourself and learn new skills. That’s the kind of work you can expect to do at Two Ten. It takes an entire team united behind something big. Together, we work hard to provide emergency financial support, special services, and educational resources to footwear families in need. Sound interesting? Come join us.
Current Career Opportunities at Two Ten
Founded in 1939, Two Ten Footwear Foundation is the U.S. footwear industry’s charitable foundation serving the needs of 330,000 employees coast-to-coast. Two Ten provides more than $3,200,000 in emergency financial assistance and educational scholarships annually, immediate access to local human services, disaster relief and family support agencies, confidential judgment-free crisis counseling, online career resources, internships and mentorships.
Two Ten also organizes industry-wide professional networks including the Women in the Footwear Industry (WIFI), the footwear industry’s national women’s organization that actively connects and inspires the industry’s most influential women and next generation leaders through mentoring, educational seminars, networking and premier events.
Two Ten also promotes corporate social responsibility through Footwear Cares, a national community service campaign that engages footwear companies across the country and thousands of industry-volunteers in hundreds of local community improvement projects year-round.
Our 45 Board members are among the industry’s leading executives including: Caleres, New Balance, Skechers, Steve Madden Inc., Wolverine World Wide, Nordstrom, VF Corporation, Zappos and Foot Locker, to name a few.
History
ln the 1930’s Boston was the center of America’s shoe manufacturing industry. With the Great Depression, the industry and its people experienced severe job loss. At that time, 210 Lincoln Street was the home for 300 shoe companies. Every Wednesday afternoon the local footwear community would gather for “Leather Days” when samples were inspected.
One shoe person shared his personal trauma and his friends rallied by passing a hat around the room to take a collection. From this spontaneous expression of caring, a gift of $500 was provided by Abe Shapiro to create Two Ten Associates, the precursor to Two Ten Footwear Foundation.
Two Ten is the only industry-wide charitable foundation in the US, serving its own workforce – raising funds from footwear companies, industry leaders, and footwear employees to assist shoe people and their families at times of crisis.
The Position
The Associate Director, WIFI is a senior member of the Advancement team who will develop, drive and grow Two Ten’s most established and important professional engagement groups, Women in the Footwear Industry (WIFI). WIFI attracts and inspires the footwear industry’s most influential women and next generation leaders through its mentoring program, educational seminars, national and local events, and the annual industry-wide WIFI Impact Awards.
Reporting to the Managing Director of Advancement and based in our Waltham, Massachusetts headquarters, primary responsibilities will include, but not limited to:
- Management and oversight of the 4,000-member national Women in the Footwear Industry (WIFI) organization, including eleven regional WIFI chapters (Boston, NYC, Charlotte, St. Louis, Columbus, Seattle, Portland, Milwaukee, LA, Las Vegas, Montreal) including engaging and supporting chapter co-chairs and chapter events.
- Responsible for the planning, execution and growth of two highly-visible national events each year:
- WIFI Impact Awards
- Women Who Rock event in conjunction with Footwear News.
- Oversight of WIFI national advisors, WIFI national committee, and WIFI donor relationships.
- Oversight for and driving growth of the WIFI mentoring program.
- Proactively leading fundraising efforts to secure, and steward, one multi-annual title sponsor and a multiple of other corporate supporters, individual donors, event revenue and major gifts totaling a minimum of $200,000 per annum.
- Relationship development with mid-to-C-level executives across the industry.
- Partnering with marketing team to develop materials, collateral, content and toolkits to support all WIFI-related needs.
- Actively supporting key Two Ten events and activities as required, including the Annual Gala and Footwear Cares.
A typical day may include the following:
- Hosting a national “Lunch & Learn” webinar presentation for 100+ WIFI members with a guest speaker that you have pre-identified, approached and scheduled.
- Working with the WIFI committee to identify honorees for the annual WIFI Impact Awards, followed by building out a logistics, communications, and materials plan for the event.
- Completing travel plans for corporate visits, presentations, and meetings with WIFI volunteers and donors.
- Collaborating with Managing Director of Advancement on developing annual strategic plans and performance metrics for all WIFI activities.
This job might be for you if:
- You easily and naturally care about and engage with people. You love interacting and collaborating with people and have loads of innate savvy about getting business done in a way that deepens working relationships.
- You are a leader, builder and motivator. WIFI requires a strong leader who can juggle 15 balls in the air and show poise and focus while doing so. WIFI is a critical gateway for footwear-leaders to touch and engage with Two Ten.
- You get results. You love taking on difficult challenges and finding creative solutions, you like managing multiple projects at once, and in the process, you are patient, levelheaded and cool under pressure like a Saint. You like a fast-paced environment. You enjoy a diversity of job requirements. You want to make a meaningful difference in the world, and it doesn’t bother you that sometimes it requires your involvement before 9am and after 5pm.
- You are innately a “relationship-builder.” You are always focused on strengthening the organization’s brand and profile internally and externally by developing strong and meaningful relationships with donors to ensure they realize their philanthropic goals and love what the Foundation is doing.
- You communicate clearly. Your written work is exceptional, compelling and smart. You speak eloquently. You can speak to 150 people and nail it. You can explain just about anything to anybody and you’re very comfortable on the phone, working with your peers and team members, and communicating with Two Ten board members, industry supporters and executives at every level.
- You strive for excellence. You work hard and take ownership of what you do. You like independence and also thrive in a team-oriented environment. You ask for help when you need it. You are reliable, resilient and have superior organizational skills.
- You juggle. Some days you’ll be on the road speaking at a local WIFI chapter event. Other days you’ll be schmoozing at an industry event in NYC or Las Vegas.
- You laugh. We laugh a lot at Two Ten and we’re looking for a leader who can immediately bring a sense of humor, positive energy and dynamism to our team. We celebrate birthdays and eat birthday cake. We work hard and want to enjoy our workday and a strong positive culture.
- You travel well. The position requires regular travel to NYC and Las Vegas, with pre-planned trips to cities around the U.S. where key supporters, companies and/or prospects are located. We expect up to a 25% travel commitment over a year.
This is what we require:
- Minimum 10 years of direct high-level experience in development, project management, events, committee development and communications.
- Ability to raise a minimum of $200,000 annually including multi-annual corporate sponsorships, event revenue, individual major gifts and grants.
- Excellent leadership and management skills, as well as the ability to forge strong interpersonal relationships with industry leaders.
- Extraordinary high-level committee-building skills to facilitate and lead group discussions with Board members and key leaders.
- Exceptional oral and written presentation skills, to both small and large audiences, and to individuals at trade shows, benefits fairs, etc.
- Highly organized and able to corral, unify and direct groups / teams of people.
- Experienced and proficient at organizing and executing events of any size and scale.
- Commitment to and passion for Two Ten’s mission and ability to translate programs into compelling fundraising and cause-related initiatives and appeals.
- Active and motivational team-oriented support of our marketing and advancement teams’ efforts to build awareness, increase engagement, raise funds and meet the goals of the Foundation’s Strategic Plan.
- Comfortable and confident with technology, including utilizing video conferencing and virtual presentation tools and Two Ten’s CRM / database management system.
- Financially sharp and able to forecast, budget and reconcile expenses.
- Excellent team building skills to lead and mentor staff.
- Entrepreneurial and energetic spirit.
- Experience with Raiser’s Edge NXT, or other database management systems.
Two Ten Footwear Foundation is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status.
Two Ten Footwear Foundation offers competitive salaries and excellent benefits.
Searching for a new position in the footwear industry? Check out our recently launched job board by clicking here!
