Community Engagement Associate

Reading Partners is changing the education landscape. We are a leader in working to solve the literacy crisis in our country by leveraging community volunteers in under-resourced schools. Our diverse and expansive volunteer base provides one-on-one tutoring to students twice weekly, and our program is proven to help children master the reading fundamentals they need to unlock their potential as successful, happy and confident readers in school and in life. Our people are our heartbeat and our greatest resource; we are all passionately rallied around our mission to help children become lifelong learners by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction that works. Join our stellar team leading the charge to deepen our impact and expand our service. Watch this video to learn more about Reading Partners.

The high level:

The Community Engagement Associate (CEA) is part of an energetic team of relationship builders working together to leverage Reading Partners’ mission in the community. The Community Engagement Associate’s main role is to support all volunteer recruitment, retention, training, and celebration efforts for the region. Reporting directly to the Community Engagement Manager, the Community Engagement Associate cultivates and manages partnerships that contribute to the overall volunteer recruitment goals for the region. The Community Engagement Associate leads and supports a variety of other volunteer recruitment and initiatives including event planning, community visits, outreach calls, and more. The Community Engagement Associate is relationship-focused, is goal-oriented, and is excited by both higher-level and on-the-ground work.

What you’ll do:

Work collaboratively with volunteers and internal team members to contribute to the region successfully reaching or exceeding volunteer recruitment

• Lead the cultivation and management of a portfolio of partnerships by developing and leveraging relationships with individual community members and local groups

• Serve as the Community Engagement lead for regional social media and volunteer communications to help build a strong volunteer pipeline and community

• Work with the Community Engagement team to develop and execute a plan for recruiting diverse volunteers via outreach, events, tabling, etc

• Cultivate online presence via social media campaigns, and digital communications strategies for tutors and ACMs

Execute a comprehensive Community Engagement strategy to train and retain volunteers and AmeriCorps members.

• Collaborate with the regional leadership team, including the Community Engagement manager, program director and program managers, to develop and communicate to volunteers ongoing volunteer trainings and events

• Support volunteer coordinators (AmeriCorps members) in leading tutor orientations for new volunteers and in assisting volunteers through the onboarding process as needed

• Assist the Community Engagement manager in the onboarding and training of new AmeriCorps members, especially volunteer coordinators.

• Utilize Salesforce to track, analyze, and storytell with data

Positively impact all aspects of the volunteer experience.

• Communicating effectively with the program team to create a smooth transition of volunteers from recruitment and onboarding to active tutoring ensuring a 40% conversion rate of interested volunteers

• Remaining open to receive feedback from volunteers and consistently evaluate ways to improve volunteer support in onboarding and ongoing trainings to maintain a 90% volunteer satisfaction rate

• Retaining at least 40% of tutors each year through strong relationship building and engagement

• Working with the rest of the Community Engagement team to create and implement a schedule of tutor recognition touchpoints

Other duties as needed.

How you’ll do it:

Leadership & Management:

• Demonstrate a genuine interest in coaching, inspiring, and developing emerging professionals toward goals. Demonstrate an ability to provide clear guidance and goals, to delegate, and to provide growth opportunities while supporting progress along the way. Be able to recruit, hire, onboard, and deliver high-quality training to AmeriCorps members and volunteers. Support our emerging national network of Community Engagement staff.

Relationship Development & Collaboration:

• Leverage existing relationships and build new transformational relationships in the community. Establish highly collaborative cross-functional relationships, and work effectively with all internal stakeholders for both organizational fundraising and program delivery. Celebrate wins with all stakeholders.

Communication:

• Externally, demonstrate the ability to genuinely promote Reading Partners and our mission through a variety of strategies. Provide excellent customer service to partners and volunteers. Have a high level of comfort with public speaking and with crafting mass communications. Be able to differentiate communication depending upon your audience.

• Internally, set up strong systems for communication and messaging, tailor communication to audiences, and contextualize messaging. Demonstrate a strong aptitude for effective communication, remotely and in person, with direct reports, school stakeholders, and other Reading Partners staff. Be able to conduct difficult conversations with grace and ease.

Project Management:

• Create innovative solutions in the face of competition for resources, time, etc., with a high degree of adaptability and flexibility. Anticipate challenges and/or questions, and proactively execute solutions. Understand larger strategic priorities and make measurable progress against these larger goals. Be able to make quick, sound, and on-the-fly decisions that consider all stakeholders. See the bigger picture and also drill down to smaller details to connect the dots.

About you!

You’ll be successful in this role if you:

• Have up to 2 years of progressive experience in customer service, marketing, client management, community organizing, or a similar field.

• Demonstrate knowledge of the Minnesota education landscape and broader community

• Have direct management experience of volunteers, interns and/or emerging professionals

• Have experience and or familiarity with social media platforms

• Have database management experience and high level of comfort with MS Office, Google Apps, or Salesforce

• Have some degree of comfort with Act On, Canva and other marketing tools

• Have access to reliable transportation to travel within the Twin Cities metro area on a daily basis

• Have flexibility and adaptability in work style and work schedule, including some night and weekend time

• Demonstrate a deep belief in our mission, commitment to race, equity, diversity and inclusion (REDI), and root your work in our core values

• Ability to prove eligibility to work legally in the U.S.

Bonus Points if you:

• Hold a Bachelor’s degree in non-profit management, marketing, public policy and/or related fields

• Have experience working in the launch phase of projects or programs

• Have experience with grassroots initiatives

• Are familiar with educational policy or context in Minnesota

• Are an AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or other national service alum/alumna

What we offer:

Reading Partners’ compensation and benefits programs are designed to attract, motivate, engage, and retain top talent to propel our mission forward. We aim to set salaries based on objective, external, high-quality market data. Our salaries are adjusted for candidates in different geographic regions. We do our very best to ensure that we’re bringing our best offer - therefore, we do not engage in salary negotiations.

• This is a full-time, non-exempt, hourly position. The pay range for this position is $22.82 - $26.85 per hour.

• We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, flex spending accounts, generous paid time off, commuter benefits, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and currently a 403(b) match option.

• Professional development reimbursement fund up to $1,000 per year.

• Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO) benefits for regular employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week.

• We offer an exciting and dynamic culture, and we commit to investing in and supporting our amazing people to grow their careers with us.

The other things you need to know:

• This role is a hybrid role.

• Travel: This position travels regularly throughout the Twin Cities and may include occasional travel to Southern Minnesota.

What’s Next?

If you’re interested in joining our Reading Partners team, please submit the following application materials to our online job posting:

• A cover letter describing your interest in Reading Partners and how your past experience has prepared you for this role. Please include your salary needs.

• Resume

At Reading Partners we respect and honor the diversity in our workforce, and we are an Equal Opportunity Employer.