Community Impact Associate

Reports To: Community Impact Consultants

Location: Detroit, Michigan / Hybrid

Position Type: Independent Contractor – Project Based

Initial Contract Term: 1 Year

Rate: $25.00 per hour up to 1,920 hours, Max Pay $48,000

The Community Impact Associate is an early-career professional who supports The Ownership Initiative's work designing, improving, and launching homeownership programs while developing deeper expertise in housing finance and program development.

This role is designed for someone who has foundational experience or exposure to mortgage lending, banking, housing, real estate, or financial services and is ready to build upon that experience.

The Associate will work closely with experienced industry professionals and receive significant guidance, mentorship, and hands-on training. Through real client assignments, the Associate will learn how mortgages, scaled grants programs, lenders, government agencies, nonprofits, and other partners work together to move millions into community.

This is a developmental professional position similar to a fellowship, but Associates are expected to contribute meaningfully to client projects while building the knowledge and judgment necessary to take on greater responsibility.

• Support projects under the direction of more experienced team members.
• Assist with developing program materials, procedures, checklists, process maps, presentations, and other client deliverables.
• Research mortgage products, down payment assistance programs, homeownership initiatives, and housing finance practices.
• Gather, organize, and summarize information from lenders, government agencies, and program partners.
• Research information needed to support housing program design and implementation.
• Maintain project files, trackers, timelines, and supporting documentation.

• Assist with testing new program processes and identifying potential issues.
• Track questions, challenges, and follow-up items during program implementation.
• Participate in meetings with lenders, government agencies, nonprofits, housing counselors, developers, and other clients or partners.
• Prepare agendas, meeting notes, summaries, and follow-up materials.
• Track commitments and next steps resulting from meetings.

The Ownership Initiative is looking for someone with a strong foundation, curiosity, and capacity to deliver service with high accountability.

The ideal Associate may have worked inside a bank, credit union, CDFI, housing organization, or another financial services environment and has begun developing an understanding of how lending works.

The Associate should be interested in learning what happens beyond an individual transaction and wants to learn how housing programs are administered to create scaled community impact.

The ideal candidate will have approximately two years of professional experience, preferably with some exposure to financial services or housing policy.

A college degree may be helpful but is not required when a candidate has relevant professional experience and demonstrates the ability to succeed in the position.

Successful candidates should demonstrate:

• Foundational understanding of banking, lending, housing, or financial services
• Strong attention to detail
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to organize information and manage assignments
• Ability to conduct research and summarize findings
• Comfort working with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
• Willingness to ask questions and receive feedback
• Ability to learn complex financial concepts
• Professionalism when interacting with clients and partners
• Curiosity about how financial and housing systems work

During the term, a successful Community Impact Associate will demonstrate increasing ability to:

• Understand the mortgage process and terminology
• Understand how housing assistance interacts with mortgage financing
• Produce accurate, professional work with decreasing levels of supervision
• Conduct research independently
• Identify questions and potential problems rather than simply completing assigned tasks
• Communicate professionally with clients and partners
• Manage assigned responsibilities and deadlines
• Apply lessons from one project to another
• Exercise increasingly strong professional judgment.