Partnerships & Growth Operations VA — Manual B2B Outreach + Sponsorships in Travel + Tech

Partnerships & Growth Operations VA — Manual B2B Outreach + Sponsorships Part-time | $150/month to start | Remote | Potential to grow I'm a product strategist, founder, community builder, and content creator building Afro Adventurer™, a travel-meets-tech platform connecting Black and Brown professionals, founders, engineers, creators, remote workers, investors, and globally minded professionals across the diaspora. I have 14K+ LinkedIn followers, an established professional community, recurring events, and relationships across technology, travel, diaspora, and entrepreneurship ecosystems. I'm looking for an extremely organized, proactive Partnerships & Growth Operations VA to help turn that existing audience, network, and brand into actual revenue. This is not a generic data-entry VA role. You'll help me build a targeted pipeline for: Corporate/event sponsorships Travel and technology brand partnerships Paid speaking opportunities Consulting and advisory opportunities Conference/community partnerships Strategic introductions Event sponsors Brand collaborations Potential B2B clients What you'll actually do 1. Build targeted prospect lists Research and identify approximately 20–30 high-quality prospects per working day/session, depending on available hours. Priority categories include: Travel technology Airlines and hospitality Fintech / remittance Remote-work companies SaaS / technology companies AI companies Developer tools Fortune 500 companies Corporate DEI/community teams Developer ecosystems Venture capital / startup ecosystems Diaspora-focused organizations Brands looking to reach Black/Brown professionals Companies interested in Africa/global expansion You'll use tools such as: Google LinkedIn Apollo's free tier Company websites Google Sheets ChatGPT / Claude We are intentionally keeping the technology stack lean. No expensive automation software is required. 2. Personalized B2B outreach You will send approximately 20–30 highly targeted emails/outreach messages per working day/session, depending on the weekly schedule. This is NOT mass spam. You'll use approved templates and personalize the opening/context based on: Their company Their role Current campaigns Their audience Relevant events Partnership opportunities Why Afro Adventurer is relevant to them You will use AI to accelerate research and personalization, but human judgment is required. 3. Sponsorship pipeline management Maintain one clean Google Sheet as our single source of truth. Track: Company Contact Title Email LinkedIn Industry Opportunity type Date contacted Follow-up date Current status Response Next action Meeting booked Proposal sent Deal value Notes Statuses should be kept extremely clean: Research → Ready → Pitched → Follow-up → Replied → Meeting → Proposal → Negotiation → Won → Declined → Nurture Nothing should fall through the cracks. 4. Inbox and follow-up support Monitor the designated partnership/business inbox. When someone responds positively, you will: Flag the opportunity Draft an appropriate response using my approved messaging Send media kit / partnership information when appropriate Provide my booking link Update the tracking sheet Notify me when my involvement is required For non-responses, you'll manage gentle follow-ups according to the agreed schedule. You are not authorized to negotiate major contracts or pricing without approval. Your job is to get qualified opportunities into my hands. 5. Research potential sponsors for events Afro Adventurer hosts experiences connecting technology, travel, entrepreneurship and diaspora communities. You'll help identify companies that could sponsor: Diaspora dinners Travel-tech events Founder events Networking experiences Community activations Conference side events Travel matchmaking experiences AI + travel experiences Global career events For example, we're interested in potential relationships with companies across travel, technology, financial services, hospitality and mobility. The goal isn't simply: "Will you sponsor my event?" It's: "What business objective could this partnership help you accomplish, and why is Afro Adventurer uniquely positioned to deliver it?" 6. Partnership research You'll occasionally research: Who manages partnerships at a company Who manages community Who handles sponsorships Who runs developer relations Who runs experiential marketing Who handles DEI/community investment Relevant conferences Existing sponsorships Relevant decision makers Warm introduction paths Finding the right person matters more than collecting hundreds of random emails. 7. Light content repurposing Occasionally, I'll send you: A voice memo A rough idea A video Notes from an event A messy draft You'll help turn it into: A clean LinkedIn post Partnership copy Email copy Outreach messaging A short newsletter section A simple event recap You should be comfortable using AI as a writing assistant, while preserving my voice. What I'm looking for You should be: Extremely organized You genuinely enjoy: Spreadsheets Checklists Follow-up dates Clean data Research Tracking pipelines Closing loops Proactive I don't want someone who waits for me to tell them what to do every day. If you discover: "This company just launched a global Africa initiative and looks like a perfect sponsor" I want you to flag it. A strong researcher You should be able to go beyond the first Google result and figure out: Who actually makes the decision? A strong communicator Your English should be excellent. You should be able to write concise, natural, professional outreach without sounding like AI-generated corporate spam. Comfortable with ambiguity This is a startup/founder environment. The process will evolve. You should enjoy figuring things out rather than needing every task perfectly defined. Tools We'll primarily use free/low-cost tools: Gmail Google Sheets Google Drive LinkedIn Apollo free tier ChatGPT Claude Google Search No expensive sales automation stack required. We are deliberately keeping overhead close to $0 while proving the model. What this role is NOT This is not: Cold-email blasting Mass spam Automated scraping A call-center job Commission-only sales A traditional executive assistant role A social media manager position Someone simply copying/pasting the same email 500 times Quality over volume. Compensation Starting budget: $150/month Approximately 15–20 hours/month, or roughly 4–5 hours/week. This is a paid ongoing part-time role, not an unpaid trial. We'll begin with an initial period to evaluate fit and results. If the relationship works well and the pipeline begins producing qualified opportunities, there is potential to expand: Hours Responsibilities Monthly compensation Performance incentives Partnership/sales responsibilities I am open to increasing compensation as the value and scope of the role increase. What success looks like You are successful if, after a month, I can look at my inbox and spreadsheet and say: "I finally don't have to think about this pipeline." More specifically: Qualified prospects are consistently being identified Outreach is actually happening Follow-ups aren't being forgotten The spreadsheet is accurate Positive responses are surfaced quickly Meetings are being booked Sponsorship conversations are entering the pipeline I spend my time on relationship-building, sales calls, content, events and closing, rather than administrative prospecting The ultimate goal is to help turn an existing 14K+ professional audience and community ecosystem into a real B2B revenue engine. To apply Please send: 1. Your organization system How would you manage a Google Sheet containing hundreds of prospects and make sure no follow-up gets forgotten? 2. Outreach example Write a 3-sentence cold email to a Head of Partnerships at a global travel-tech company explaining why they should consider sponsoring an Afro Adventurer event. 3. Research test Identify 3 companies you believe would be strong potential sponsors for Afro Adventurer and explain why each one is a fit. Don't just name the company. Tell me what business objective you think the partnership could serve. 4. AI workflow Briefly explain how you'd use ChatGPT or Claude to personalize outreach without making the emails sound robotic. 5. Availability Tell me: Hours available per week Time zone Preferred working hours Monthly rate When you can start 6. Optional but strongly preferred Send an example of a spreadsheet, CRM, outreach tracker, research project, or similar system you've personally managed. Important: I'm much more interested in someone who can demonstrate organization, judgment, resourcefulness and initiative than someone who simply has "VA" listed on their résumé. If you see a better way to structure this pipeline, tell me.