Community Engagement Specialist
Designer Fund is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage tech companies using design to improve health, sustainability, or prosperity for people. It backs founding teams, particularly those with design backgrounds, across sectors like fintech, healthcare, climate tech, and developer tools.
About Designer Fund
Designer Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in tech companies leveraging design to drive positive outcomes in health, sustainability, and financial prosperity. Its portfolio spans a wide range of sectors including financial infrastructure (Stripe), preventative health (Omada), collaborative tools (Notion), developer tools (Netlify), product management (Linear), payroll and benefits (Gusto), design tools (Framer), and healthcare infrastructure (Commure), among dozens of other companies across fintech, climate tech, healthcare, EdTech, and AI. The firm also runs 'Designer Founders,' a community and platform highlighting designers who have gone on to found and lead companies, reflecting its focus on backing design-driven founders and design-centric startups from early stages through growth and acquisition.
Skills
About the Role
You will lead community engagement efforts for a high-visibility transit network relaunch in Mobile, AL, combining relationship-driven community work with a milestone-driven launch playbook. You'll own the full engagement plan from pre-launch outreach through post-launch follow-up, working closely with riders, caregivers, community organizations, and city leadership to ensure messaging is careful, inclusive, and credible. This is a contract role requiring full-time in-person presence in Mobile, AL.
Requirements
- 5+ years in community engagement, advocacy, public affairs, or nonprofit partnership roles, or equivalent consulting experience in public-facing programs
- Proven success building trust with community organizations, especially disability, senior, and equity-focused stakeholders
- Comfortable in politically sensitive environments
- Experience facilitating trainings, focus groups, and partner meetings
- Track record delivering measurable outreach outcomes
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Self-directed on a part-time contract, able to manage own plan, trackers, and invoices
- Mobile, AL / Gulf South experience or demonstrated ability to work credibly in a mid-size Southern city strongly preferred
- Valid driver's license and reliable transportation for regular field work required
Responsibilities
- Own and execute the community engagement plan for the network redesign, including rebranding and network changes
- Build trusted relationships with community organizations, advocates, and local leaders
- Recruit champion partner organizations and lead train-the-trainer sessions
- Drive distribution of digital and print education toolkits across Mobile
- Plan and lead community events, tabling, and on-the-ground outreach at transit hubs, hospitals, colleges, and senior-serving locations
- Facilitate rider focus groups and listening sessions and translate insights into recommendations
- Design and deliver accessibility-, paratransit-, and senior-focused education sessions
- Distribute rider- and organization-facing materials such as FAQs, one-pagers, and toolkits
- Support municipal and partner briefings with talking points and pre-read materials
- Flag community concerns and recommend ways to address them before they escalate
- Serve as the senior local point of contact for community questions and concerns
- Mentor a field intern on outreach tracking, event support, and weekly feedback capture
- Provide regular written updates on outreach progress, feedback themes, and risks