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FBB Local Leader Interest Form

Interested in helping bring FBB to your corner of Massachusetts?

We're looking for people who live outside of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville and would like to help bring Friends Beyond Boston to their own local communities.

One of FBB's main purposes is creating opportunities to connect and build community in areas where there are fewer local options than in the Boston area. Local Leaders help us expand that mission by creating events and connections in their own communities and surrounding areas.

We have many FBB members who live in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, and they've always been welcome in the community. If you live in one of these areas, you can still get involved as a member-led contributor or event organizer. The Local Leader role, however, is specifically focused on helping us build community beyond these areas.

1. Heylo name (or real name if not yet on Heylo)

2. Email address

3. Where are you located?
Town/city in Massachusetts

Your Local Area

4. What area would you be interested in helping build community in?
This could be your town/city and surrounding communities.

Building a local community

Local Leaders are not expected to cover a large geographic area. The goal is to build a consistent local community, which starts with establishing a home base in one area and creating regular opportunities for people to connect there.

Consistency matters. When people return to the same place/area regularly, they begin to recognize each other, become familiar with the community, and gradually build relationships. It also gives Local Leaders the opportunity to develop relationships with local venues and businesses over time, which can grow into reciprocal community partnerships.

Your events can include nearby surrounding towns, but the regular focus should generally stay within about a 30-minute drive of your home base. As the community becomes established, there may be opportunities to occasionally plan something farther out, generally within an hour's drive.

The focus is on building depth in one local area rather than spreading events across multiple towns. People are busy, and making it easy for the same people to attend regularly is what helps a community grow.

5. What kinds of things would you like to see happen in your area?
Select all that interest you.

Other:

Your Interest in Being a Local Leader

6. Have you organized or hosted events before?

A
B
C

7. What does being a Local Leader look like to you?
Local Leaders help build an active FBB community in their area by creating regular opportunities for members to connect. This would generally mean helping make something happen at least once a month, though exactly what that looks like can vary by area.

What part of this appeals to you most?

Support & Resources

As a Local Leader, you won't be building your local community completely on your own. You'll have the support and resources of Friends Beyond Boston behind you, including:

Free FBB membership for as long as you're actively serving as a Local Leader.
Access to the private FBB Community Team, where you can coordinate, ask questions, share ideas, and stay connected with the rest of the team.
The ability to create FBB events for your local community through our existing platform.
Access to templates and examples I've developed over the years for things like member situations and parts of our event descriptions, which you can use as a starting point when needed.
Promotion for your FBB events through at least eight external channels that I use to help get our events in front of people.
Mentorship and guidance from my 9+ years of experience building FBB.
If you run into something I don't have an answer for myself, I also have a network of more experienced community organizers I can turn to for additional advice and guidance.

The goal is to give you the tools, support, and existing platform to build something meaningful in your community without having to start completely from scratch.

Local Leader commitment

We ask Local Leaders for an initial 3-month commitment, during which you'll organize at least one FBB event per month in your local area.

After 3 months, you can choose to continue or step down.

✅ Why? This helps create consistency, momentum, and reliability as we're building a community in a new area, while still keeping the role flexible and sustainable.

This is not a forever commitment, life changes, schedules shift, and we understand that. If at any point you feel you can no longer commit during a cycle, communication is what matters most.

A
B

What happens next?

Before submitting your application, please take a little time to familiarize yourself with Friends Beyond Boston, our mission, and what we're building as a member-led community.

You can learn more about FBB and our purpose on our website, and inside the group in the Community Resources chat.

After you submit the form, I'll review your responses and, if it looks like the Local Leader role could be a good fit, I'll reach out to schedule a Zoom conversation.

The conversation is a chance for us to get to know each other, talk more about your ideas for bringing FBB to your area, and make sure we're on the same page about what the role involves and what you're looking for.

Because Local Leaders represent Friends Beyond Boston in their communities, I want to take the time to get to know each person before deciding whether the role is a good fit.

Submitting an application does not automatically mean you'll be accepted as a Local Leader.

I look forward to connecting, learning more about your ideas, and answering any questions you have. 😊

Thanks for your interest in becoming an FBB Local Leader! 🖐🏽