Careers

FOUNDING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW CHAPTER

Summary

One day soon, every city and town will have a civic institution to build and sustain the infrastructure for social connection and trust - a Chamber of Connection. We are seeking entrepreneurial civic leaders to start these chapters, independent nonprofit organizations that are the backbone for building social connection and trust in their community.

Call to Lead

Social connection and trust in the United States are breaking down, and there is no system responsible for rebuilding it.

1 in 2 Americans are at risk of low social connection (US Chamber of Connection, 2026), with direct impacts on health, economic outcomes, and civic trust. This breakdown is driven by structural shifts: the rise of social media and AI replacing in-person interaction, declining job stability and workplace community, and the erosion of civic institutions that once anchored connection.

The consequences are most acute during major life transitions (e.g. moving, job changes, parenthood, health challenges, and retirement) when people lose connection and lack clear pathways to rebuild it.

Despite significant investment across healthcare, workforce, and community programs, there is no coordinated system to help people build the relationships they need to thrive. Efforts are fragmented, unaligned, and not designed to reach people at critical moments.

This is a structural gap: we have built systems for health, education, and employment—but not for connection.

Leading Connection in Your City

As the Founding Executive Director of the Chamber of Connection in your city, you bring together leaders across sectors to develop a shared strategy to build the infrastructure necessary to begin to ensure social connection and community for all your fellow residents. You are the voice and lead advocate for social connection for the city, building awareness, supporting the leaders building connection in their communities and organizations, and establishing and growing funding for the field.

In your first year you will:

  • Launch the organization

    • Establish your organization with a governing board (this can also be done via incubation at an existing nonprofit or using a fiscal sponsor)

    • Raise the funds necessary to support your start-up budget

    • Introduce your brand and mission to the city

  • Establish the leadership and insights to guide your work

    • Build your Connection Council of institutional and community leaders across sectors in your city to steward social connection

    • Conduct a State of Connection study for your city to establish a baseline and guide the Connection Council’s focus;

  • Begin to deliver direct impact

    • Launch your signature campaign with the city, welcoming newcomers

    • Use the national infrastructure to introduce Community Builder Network, Welcome Committee, and Welcome Week platforms

  • Become part of a national movement

    • Join fellow chapter leaders in a peer learning community and at our annual conference

The Right Leader

Successful founding Executive Directors have contagious love for their city, are passionate about social connection, are entrepreneurial builders, and have strong trusted relationships with leaders across the city – from City Hall to universities to the nonprofit sector to philanthropy to employers to the arts.

They are most likely already doing this work at some scale and want to take a more systemic approach and be part of a national movement. This is their life’s work and with the Chamber of Connection they have the community and framework to maximize their impact on the place they love. 

About the US Chamber of Connection

The US Chamber of Connection is a nonprofit founded in 2024 to build the civic infrastructure for social connection. We bring leaders across sectors (e.g. business, government, healthcare, faith, nonprofits, and culture) into coordinated action to make connection a shared civic priority, much as the Chamber of Commerce has aligned leaders around economic growth for a century. Connection must be designed into every major policy and investment decision in our cities and across the country.

Following a successful pilot in Seattle, the organization is now entering a scaling phase—launching our first affiliate chapters in new cities (SF Bay Area, San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore), expanding national partnerships, and building the backbone to support leaders across the country.

The US Chamber of Connection was founded and led by Aaron Hurst. He previously founded Taproot Foundation, pioneering the field of pro bono service, and was in the first cohort funded by Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation and an early Ashoka Fellow. He later founded Imperative, a venture-backed company focused on purpose at work, and is the author of The Purpose Economy. His work has been featured in major outlets including The New York Times and Harvard Business Review.

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