Executive Assistant for The Kenyon Review

The Kenyon Review is a small nonprofit literary arts organization dedicated to fostering creativity, community, and literary excellence. We publish a quarterly literary journal, host online and residential workshops, and work collaboratively with a dedicated board of trustees to achieve our mission.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Support

• Provide comprehensive administrative support to the Editor, including calendar management, correspondence, and travel arrangements.

• Prepare reports, presentations, and documents for leadership and board use.

• Monitor and prioritize incoming communications, responding on behalf of leadership when appropriate.

Operational Support

• Provide extensive administrative support for the Director of Youth Programs, Director of the Writers Workshops and Special Projects Administrator in preparation for and during execution of residential and online programs.

• Assist in managing the organization's administrative tasks, including file management and database updates.

• Support the Production Manager and Operations Manager with data entry related to information systems, subscriptions tracking, and mailings.

Board Management and Liaison Duties

• Serve as the primary point of contact and liaison between the organization and the board of trustees.

• Administer the OnBoard software platform.

• Prepare board materials and Trustee reports, including compiling board kits ahead of Board of Trustees meetings.

• Coordinate board meetings, including scheduling, preparing agendas, printing and distributing materials, and recording minutes.

• Manage board communications, ensuring timely and accurate updates on organizational activities and decisions.

• Support board committees with logistics, document preparation, and follow-up on action items.

Development & Grants

• Work closely with the Editor, Special Projects Administrator, and Operations Manager to draft grant proposals and reports; research and identify new potential funding sources.

• Gather and organize documentation needed to support grant reporting.

• Assist in donor communications, including drafting thank-you letters and maintaining donor records.

Conferences, Events & Outreach

• Coordinate conference registration, travel arrangements, booth logistics, and scheduling — including for the annual AWP conference — in partnership with the Production Manager.

• Conduct market research for outreach and audience development to support contests, special features, guest-edited folios, and fellowship applications.

• Support the KR Reading Series and help host visiting writers during campus visits.

• Coordinate outreach, promotional logistics, and administrative planning for issue launch events and other organization-affiliated events.

Communications and Outreach

• Maintain an updated calendar of events and deadlines for the organization.

• Assist with website updates, newsletter and event promotion, and outreach efforts to literary communities as needed.

• Maintain marketing materials files, including photographs, photograph permissions waivers, contest winners, workshop participant feedback and testimonial documents

Organizational & Strategic Support

• Assist the Editor in short- and long-term strategic organizational planning (shared with the Production Manager).

• Other duties as assigned by the Editor 

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree required.

• At least 2–4 years of experience in administrative, executive assistant, or nonprofit support roles.

• Experience working with trustees or senior leadership preferred.

• Grant writing, fundraising, or donor-development experience preferred.

• Event or conference planning experience a p