Executive Assistant to the CEO
Arlington, VA
Global Leadership Team Office /
Full-Time /
On-site
Ashoka is a global organization that has pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship and supports the world’s leading changemakers. We are looking for a highly organized, proactive, and systems-minded Executive Assistant to partner closely with our CEO and Executive Office.
This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment and brings both the meticulousness of an administrator and the foresight of a strategic collaborator. You will play a central role in ensuring the CEO’s time, communications, and decision-making are aligned with organizational priorities and carried out with excellence
What You'll Do:
- Strategic Calendar and Priority Management
- Own and manage the CEO’s complex calendar with precision and care—balancing long-term planning, mission-critical engagements, and real-time needs.
- Anticipate scheduling demands and provide thoughtful recommendations for prioritization based on organizational rhythms and strategic initiatives.
- Lead coordination of internal and external meetings, ensuring the CEO and relevant partners are prepared and aligned.
- Collaborate with the Executive Administrator to manage high-priority scheduling requests and potential conflicts.
- Actively contribute to monthly Executive Office planning sessions, helping forecast capacity needs and shaping strategic priorities for the CEO’s schedule.
- Executive Communications Support
- Serve as a critical filter for the CEO’s daily correspondence—reviewing email traffic, identifying priorities, and escalating timely issues with discernment.
- Prepare and deliver a daily package of materials for the CEO that highlights urgent communications, strategic documents, and upcoming decision points.
- Ensure every touchpoint—from internal memos to external emails—reflects the professionalism and thoughtfulness of the Executive Office.
- Team Coordination and Document Oversight
- Provide oversight and day-to-day coordination for the Correspondence Team (Lead and Associate) in partnership with the Deputy Administrator.
- Monitor the status of memos and materials requiring the CEO’s attention and ensure their timely delivery.
- Conduct regular reviews with the Correspondence Lead to track high-priority communications and maintain high standards of quality and alignment with the CEO’s directives.
- Be available to proof, refine, or support the development of memos and materials as needed.
- Leadership Meeting Planning and Execution
- Co-lead development of the agenda for Ashoka’s weekly global leadership meeting, collaborating with senior members of the Executive Office.
- Provide logistical and technical support during meetings, and ensure follow-up materials (e.g., chat transcripts and recordings) are uploaded and accessible.
- Continuously build your understanding of Ashoka’s mission and initiatives by actively engaging in internal trainings and knowledge-sharing opportunities.
What You Bring:
- You are a systems thinker who thrives on organizing complexity and spotting patterns across moving parts.
- You approach your work with a service mindset—discreet, professional, and proactive in supporting leaders behind the scenes.
- You enjoy problem-solving independently and bring a high level of judgment, reliability, and attention to detail.
- You’re energized by contributing to a mission-driven organization and take pride in creating clarity and structure that helps others succeed.
- Prior experience in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment is preferred.
- Overtime may be required during peak planning periods and other high-demand times.
Core Criteria
- Entrepreneurial Quality: Compelled to take creative initiative and ownership (e.g. founding an organization or company, starting a movement, or re-shaping the work of an existing organization). Demonstrates relentless and realistic how-to-thinking and passion for seeing their ideas come to life.
- Understanding and Belief in the Everyone a Changemaker: Understands and believes the Everyone a Changemaker vision at a gut level. To be able to innately ‘get’ this, candidates should have a broad and inquisitive intellectual and a thinking pattern that connects the dots between historical trends and current social context.
- Emotional and Social Intelligence: Ability to work efficiently and respectfully in teams, putting organizational/team goal first (personal glory second).
- Ethical Fiber: Exceptionally strong ethical behavior. Is self-reflective and has strong empathy skills. Trustworthy.
- Self-Definition: The person expects that changing the world in big ways and on a continental scale is what he/she will do in life.
About Ashoka:
Ashoka is the world’s largest community of leading social entrepreneurs, having pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship over 40 years ago. We support a robust network of more than 4,000 Ashoka Fellows in 90 countries who have successfully implemented systems-changing solutions to human and environmental problems globally. By learning from and collaborating with our Fellows and other social entrepreneurs, Ashoka identifies patterns and key levers to help society gain a new framework for living in the world as a changemaker.
Our current work is centered around the "Everyone a Changemaker" (EACH) movement, which stems from our belief that everyone has the potential and responsibility to make positive change in an ever-changing world. We continue to grow a global movement of social entrepreneurship, recognizing that the rate of change is accelerating and our problems are growing faster than our solutions.
