The Project Assistant for the North American Summit on Collaborating with Wildlife (CW Summit) is a vital part of the Wildlife Restoration Foundation (WRF) team, working directly with the WRF President, managers and coordinators to maximize results in terms of registrations, presenters, content, funds raised, operational efficiency, and new partnerships. The CW Summit is a project of the WRF Collaborating with Wildlife Program which focuses on meeting the needs of native wildlife in North America as human communities expand across and impact essential habitats on land and in freshwater and marine environments.

The CW Summit is a large-scale, multi-sector professional convening designed as a milepost in the long game of ensuring human actions provision for, support, adapt to, and value native wildlife, particularly as human development occurs around or trammels habitat neighboring protected areas. Hosted by WRF and the Oceans & Wildlife Institute (OWI), the CW Summit is taking place at the Hilliard Center in Corpus Christi, Texas on February 2-4, 2027, with an OWI field trip to the Port of Corpus Christi Wildlife Rescue Operations Center on February 5.

The Summit is not a conference but uses a process of exploring Models & Methodologies (M&Ms) of “Collaborating with Wildlife,” a term that we and our partners have coined to recognize and address native wildlife needs, in advance. Our team is identifying and soliciting M&Ms from across many sectors of human endeavor—conservation, government, Tribes/First Nations, ranching, farming, zoos and aquariums, engineering, construction, transportation, and more—then engaging experienced practitioners and researchers to present their M&Ms in Workgroup Dialogues at the Summit. In the Workgroups, dialogists will discover CW best practices that can be replicated or adapted in multiple places and species. Panel Dialogues with full-group participation will strive to diagnose the innovations needed to overcome barriers to M&M implementation and identify resources and new partners that ensure success. The Summit aims to enrich the more technical content with special features—historical accounts, photography and film, art, language, and cultural expressions that inspire humans to meet wildlife needs so that four pillars of human action (Supporting, Provisioning, Adapting, and Valuing) bolster native wildlife populations and assure they can thrive in a common pursuit of ecological regeneration.

The successful candidate for the CW Summit Project Assistant position will be able to understand and make a strong case for Collaborating with Wildlife to any potential participant, no matter the sector.

The CW Project Assistant will serve as a volunteer for a one month trial period with an opportunity to earn a small stipend based on performance in registrant recruitment thereafter. Successful Project Assistants will have the opportunity to be considered for the on-site team, with expenses covered. This role is intended for a highly competent, reliable and personable professional with experience, confidence, and self-motivation and exceptional degree of productivity found amongst others on the WRF leadership team and meet both goals of the PM position without prompting as committed also to the mission of the WRF Collaborating with Wildlife Program itself.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree at a minimum; Master’s or graduate work in related subject ideal
• 2–3 years of experience planning and executing large-scale events, conferences, or multi-day programs
• Strong organizational and time management skills, with demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams and deadlines and to work independently and proactively, and always responsive to the Exec Team
• Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities, with proven aptitude for managing teams well
• Proficiency in event management software and tools; experience with Whova, Wix, Slack, Mailchimp, and Google Workspace is ideal
• Demonstrated commitment to working with a nonprofit, mission-driven organization
• Passion for wildlife and the meeting of their needs, with experience working with parks and gateway communities a plus