Community Organizing Associate

About I AM ALS 

I AM ALS is a patient-centric movement revolutionizing how to end disease. The nonprofit provides critical support and resources to people with ALS, caregivers, and loved ones. We empower advocates to raise awareness and lead the movement against ALS in driving the development of cures. Founded in 2019 by husband and wife team Brian Wallach and Sandra Abrevaya, I AM ALS was born out of their desire to rewrite the ALS story for Brian and the tens of thousands of other people with ALS. 

About Community Organizing at I AM ALS

Our mission is to build and sustain a powerful grassroots movement to end ALS by organizing the community to dismantle the barriers that stand in the way of a cure. To grow this movement, we focus on transforming collective energy into institutional power, ensuring that I AM ALS remains a welcoming and supportive home that is equally goal-oriented. We achieve this through building community, structured volunteer team meetings, mobilization campaigns, and social and strategic educational programming designed to raise awareness and accomplish key wins along our path to a cure. 

At the heart of our work is the pursuit of systemic change—victories that transcend individual needs to fundamentally reshape the entire ALS landscape. We are not organizing for the sake of community-building alone; we are building a base of power specifically to drive reform. 

Responsibilities

The Community Organizing Associate will play a key role in growing and activating I AM ALS’s volunteer community. They will facilitate teams of volunteers to accomplish this mission and support volunteers in accomplishing goals as set forth by the strategic plan. In collaboration with and under the guidance of the Vice President of Community Organizing, this role will be responsible for: 

• Volunteer Recruitment, Retention, and Development: Develop and lead programs and initiatives that increase our pipeline of new volunteers, support effective signup and onboarding, and streamline volunteer appreciation. Identify and train volunteers for new opportunities. 
• Fostering a positive Community Team experience: Cultivate a welcoming, inclusive, and productive team and volunteer culture through hosting calls, providing helpful resources, collaborating with volunteer leads, bringing together ideas into cohesive tactics, and supporting implementation. 
• Stakeholder Engagement: Patiently and confidently collaborate with multiple stakeholders, including volunteers, to produce a culture of self-sustaining engagement and activation. Serve as a front-facing liaison for new and existing stakeholders exploring volunteer opportunities. 
• Empowering Community Leaders: Provide guidance to volunteers in developing and implementing events and programming that fit the community’s needs and wants and/or that provide social connection, cohesion, or celebration. Work with volunteer leaders to develop other volunteers’ ability to engage in multiple forms of advocacy and become leaders.
• Volunteer Activation: Work with the Community Organizing team and other I AM ALS staff members to activate volunteers and digital advocates for major campaigns. 
• Volunteer Program Administration: Manage the operational tasks associated with community teams, such as tracking KPIs, sending and managing meeting invites, managing listservs, and database management. 

Who You Are

A Movement-Builder and Strategic Organizer dedicated to building collective energy into institutional power. You bring a unique blend of the empathy required to foster a supportive, inclusive community culture and the strategic discipline needed to drive systemic reform.

You focus on the full lifecycle of volunteer engagement: from architecting recruitment pipelines and seamless onboarding systems to coaching advocates into high-impact leaders ready to tackle legislative and clinical barriers.

At your core, you believe that a grassroots movement is most effective when it is both a welcoming home for its members and a goal-oriented force for change. You are a collaborator who leads with patience and confidence, ready to empower the I AM ALS community to dismantle barriers and rewrite the story of the disease

To be successful in this role, you’ll need to have a combination of the following experience and qualifications: 

• 2+ years of professional work experience in volunteer management or related field
• Exceptional communication skills
• Interest in healthcare, clinical trials, and drug development required
• Effective listening skills and the ability to build rapport with individuals required
• Demonstrated strength in the following areas:
• Willingness to go above and beyond to be a team player in a fast-paced, startup environment
• Ability to work independently and productively in a virtual work environment
• Problem solver, able to find creative solutions when challenges arise
• Willingness to give and receive feedback, open to individual growth
• Personal ALS experience or knowledge a plus
• Spanish fluency a plus

Position Details

• Type: Full-time employee (40 hours per week). M-F working hours, with rare evening or weekend hours for major events or activities. Travel will be occasionally required.
• Location: Remote. Anywhere within the US, available eastern hours to correspond to the organization’s schedule.
• Salary: $50,000 - $65,000, dependent on both experience and location
• Benefits: Excellent benefits package including employer-paid health, dental, and vision plans; 401K with employer match; and unlimited PTO policy.

Our mission is to accelerate a cure for ALS by mobilizing collective power to drive urgent policy and systems change. Our employment decisions are based on I AM ALS’ goals, organizational needs and individual qualifications, without regard to a person’s race, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. We are building a bold, inclusive, and mission-driven team because solving ALS demands it, and we would welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds.

To Apply

Please submit your resume and replies to our application questions at our Application Form. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and accepted until the position is filled, but priority will be given to those who apply before June 1, 2026.