In the past few months, I have been visiting Cohousing communities in Boulder, the East Bay, Portland and the Puget Sound region. Though our neighborhoods have lower than average foreclosure rates, and homes tend to hold their value in a declining market, cohousing communities still feel the impacts of a struggling economy and country.

THE OPPORTUNITY: Operations Manager

Support the Executive Director at the Cohousing Association of the United States, a small nonprofit that is building a better society one neighborhood at a time. We are seeking a part-time operations manager to be a part of the growth of Coho/US.

RESPONSIBILITIES

This position reports directly to the Executive Director and will encompasses a variety of responsibilities. Examples of common tasks include:

Bookkeeping (working with Executive Director, Board Treasurer, and accountant)

• process expense reports; file receipts; prepare reimbursement forms, write checks
• enter income and expenses and reconcile entries with bank statements
• prepare forms for state and federal registrations
• create monthly financial reports
• collect and summarize project expenses and inventory costs

This is one of the few conferences that I attend annually where I wear more than one or two hats. At most conferences I’m an attendee and frequently I’m a presenter. However, at this conference I also wear the hat of National Board Member, professional (cohousing architect – aka “expert”), and cohouser (member of a forming cohousing group). While it is not uncommon to have these other identities at other conferences, they are not repeatedly highlighted throughout those conferences in the same way.