Executive HR Governance & Policy Advisor to the Board

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Squirrel Space is a Portland (Oregon)-based charitable 501c3 org, just barely a year old, and founded by me, a neurodivergent female minority. We, the Board, and the Squirrel Space team, are deeply passionate and dedicated to raising awareness, allyship, and advocacy for the ADHD, AuDHD, and Autistic community, with inclusivity for all neurodivergence and neurotypes.

We run programming across the U.S. and keep expanding our inclusivity to grow our community, impact, and mission. Despite being a small organization, we provide essential support such as neuro-affirming coaching, care navigation, peer community, advocacy training, and transformational leadership.

Our mission is to create tools and resources for psychological safety, personal and professional growth, and advocacy, ensuring our community feels supported and empowered. Join us in transforming perceived disabilities into strategic differentiators (superpowers). By taking things one acorn at a time, we can transform the way we work, live, play, and socialize. ️

WHY WE EXIST

Roughly 1 billion people worldwide, about 15 million in the U.S., are neurodivergent. Most navigate work, home and public life without affirming support, community or access to care, and a single psych or neuro evaluation often costs $3,000+ because insurance often doesn't cover or get approved for a diagnosis. Research has now caught up to lived experience and we're here to advance global acceptance and understanding and support for Neurodivergence in schools, workplaces, homes and public hangouts.

Awareness isn't enough; equitable access is. We are the difference and the bridge between medical need & community care; connection and economic empowerment; personal growth and mental health with ongoing service and stewardship back to community and the environment (e.g. like, the stuff that really matters).

WHAT WE DO

Neuro-affirming coaching, blended and psychologically-informed wellbeing programs are our heart and soul; Corporate training & workshops are our way to integrate neurodivergence into workplaces for equitable access to employment and workplace supports.

Our proprietary Squirrel Steps program offers psychologically safety-informed self-discovery, neuro-affirming coaching, and care navigation that connects people with real solutions and supports within their budget and capacity. We’ve built a community of relationships through events like our Neurodiversity Celebration Week fireside chat, the Autism Walk, the August Bash, and the virtual Social Connections Summit. 100's are attending events, thousands are following us on social media because building with, on, and for neurodiverse learners and workplaces is the way of the future.

ROLE DESCRIPTION

This is a part-time remote role for an HR Advisor to the Board of Directors at Squirrel Space, a startup, hybrid and digitally led, with ️s working across countries. Now, before you picture someone policing PTO requests: this is not your traditional HR seat. HR, DEIB and inclusive governance and policy experience? We love it. But what we truly need is a culture fit, someone invested, heart and wallet, in changing how workplaces support neurodivergent people. That means policies, culture and the supports the world calls “accommodations.”

This is a doer’s seat. As our global team grows, we’re setting the standard for how an ND-affirming organization takes care of its people through life’s hardest seasons, like illness, grief and caregiving, while keeping the work moving. You won’t just weigh in. You’ll draft the policy, pressure-test the plan, sit in the hard conversation and help the board make the call. When a decision needs to be creative, sustainable and resource-smart, you’re the one who helps us find the path and walk it.

What we build here also shapes what we bring to the employers we train, so your work can ripple a little further than one team. It’s a volunteer role, about 2–3 focused hours a month for a 2-year term, with real influence on how we take care of our people. Along the way, you’ll help us lower the cost of equitable access to neuroaffirming care. Examples of ️’s include giving or getting an amount that’s personally meaningful to you, fundraising, or in-kind support.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Lived or professional experience with neurodivergence and real ties to the ND community (required)

• Experience with multinational, global workforces with complex staffing needs (required; oddly specific, i know)

• Hands-on experience shaping workplace policy, culture or governance, whether through HR, DEIB, a board, or leading a team. You’ve written the policy, not just read it.

• Inclusive and intersectional in how you think and how you show up

• A practical problem-solver who can find a creative, resource-smart path and help walk it

• Comfortable sitting in hard conversations with kindness and a steady hand

• A connector with a network and a voice that can help move people and organizations

• Unquestionable hunger for justice, compassion, and equality

• Proficient at reading vibes and people in a way that keeps the space psychologically safe for Squirrels

• Incredibly likeable (no jerks allowed. We’ve got the out)

• Coaching experience or credential (preferred)

• Legal background (a plus)

• Ability to work independently and remotely

EXAMPLES OF WHAT YOU’LL DO

• hang with cool people and learn a bunch of new stuff

• turn “we should really have a policy for that” into an actual people can use

• test-jump every plan like a ️ testing a branch before the leap

• be the lighthouse in hard conversations: steady, warm, and not going anywhere

• help the board pick the right branch when every path has tradeoffs

• build care into our team so whatever time zone a ️ calls home , life’s hard seasons don’t knock them out of the tree

• make asking for an accommodation as normal as asking for the wifi password

• be our to rooms and people we couldn’t reach alone

• help neuroaffirming care cost fewer acorns and reach more ️s

HOW WE CHOOSE

Finalists do a group interview with three board directors, then one-on-ones with our CCCO (Chief Coaching & Culture Officer), Board Treasurer, and Board Chair (hi ).

You don’t need to disclose a diagnosis or anything personal to apply. Come as you are.