Assistant Director- Young Black Male Grassroots Consortium Initiative

Overview

Intro/Program Description: Goddard Riverside (GR) is a well-established Manhattan community-based agency and one of New York City’s leading human service organizations. Goddard serves the basic needs of children, youth and families, homeless people, and older adults across Manhattan. The GR Options Center supports New Yorkers to enroll in and complete college by counseling teens and adults, through the Options Institute, training school and community professionals. Options has supported young people to enroll in college since 1985, provided professional development since 2005, and helped college students to persist in college since 2012. Options currently serves over 2,000 people a year.

 

Purpose of Position: GR Options Center YBMGI is an exciting program developed to enhance postsecondary outcomes for Black male youth. This Emergent Strategy work will utilize a Collective Impact Model to organize grassroots community stakeholders along with young people to pivot, intervene and interrupt the status quo on behalf of Black boys’ education. Insights, touchpoints, and messaging discovered in the Options-led grassroots consortium will be utilized by Goddard, participating organizations, and stakeholders to pilot measurable capacity building projects for closing the equity gaps for Black boys in NYC. In addition to supporting the Options Director by co/spearheading a grassroots consortium and working community groups, the Assistant Director will also be responsible for direct services, expanding pipelines, building connections, and supporting the collective systems-change work for Black boys resulting in greater college and workforce readiness enrollment. Duties will entail working with and organizing community partnerships, problem solving, influencing, public speaking/presentations, curriculum development, compiling and developing data into information and moving that information to create influence and value, and working with the prison/parole to work/education system.

Schedule: Monday through Friday, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

 

Goddard Riverside and Isaacs Center follow the CDC and NYS recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and are now requiring all new hires to be vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they have a qualified exemption. 

 

Roles, Responsibilities, and Essential Duties

• Coordinate and execute the vision established for the Black Male Grassroots Initiative
• Establish first meeting of the BMG Consortium and subsequent consortium convenings based on the strategic priorities identified in planning phase
• Engage experts in the Black male education/research space as thought partners with the goal of surfacing best practices and informing the work of the consortium 
• Build partnerships and effective relationships with stakeholders, CBOs, families, admissions counselors and other referral partners to advocate for Black male students and assist them in reaching their goals 
• Build internal/program, agency and community capacity to achieve measurable results in closing the equity gap for young Black men 
• Organize and facilitate follow-up grassroots stakeholder’s meetings for collecting and unpacking data 
• Document learnings to inform the next phase of Options’ work with Black males – pilot project 
• Support the implementation of Options-led Goddard Riverside/Stanley Isaacs Black male pilot projects 
• Facilitate group and individual sessions with young Black men at each stakeholder’s site
• Spearhead Options prison-to-school (college) pipeline 
• Recruit formerly incarcerated college students to provide college success support
• Maintain a caseload of 5-10 formerly incarcerated college students 
• Build partnerships and effective relationships with anti-carceral organizations and grassroots, career services, housing, financial aid offices, academic scholarship and fellowship, re-entry college administrative, and other offices to advocate for formerly incarcerated students and assist them in reaching their goals
• Stay current on the latest trends in college re-entry programs and anti-carceral grassroots organizing
• Stay current on the latest trends in college access & success and workforce development education 
• Develop and implement curricula and resources for workshops and events on topics of relevance to first-generation college students and their families 
• Provide intensive one-on-one Postsecondary readiness (college, workforce) advisement with boys of color, high school students, young adults, and adults 
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• Coordinate and chaperone college tours 
• Demonstrate commitment to learning and professional development, community building, and advocacy as strategies for social change 
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• Track, evaluate, and report on initiative data, program performance for ongoing program effectiveness, improvement and growth 
• Other duties as required

 

Qualifications/Educational Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required 
• Minimum 4 years combined experience working, interning, or volunteering with postsecondary education or advising work with young people of diverse backgrounds, or comparable experience
• Experience counseling in an urban, multicultural setting is a plus 
• Knowledge of U.S. higher education system, especially New York City and State, including CUNY, SUNY, and support programs 
• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain relationships with community, stakeholders, CBOs, and support staff 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills 
• Educational event planning is a plus 
• High attention to details and meeting deadlines, especially regarding paperwork and data tracking 
• Able to work independently and in a team environment
• Valid NYS driver’s license preferred
• Experience in Microsoft Office and comfortable using technologyExperience cultivating and maintaining collaborative community partnerships with grassroots organizations, career-readiness offices, and academic institutions
• Must be mission-oriented with an outgoing personality
• Strong interest in workforce
• Ability to capably manage multiple projects
• A service-minded “will figure it out” working style
• Ability to carry out tasks on their own and ask for support when needed
• Knowledge of and interest in personal and leadership development
• Must demonstrate a proactive approach to problem-solving

 

Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

• IT skills – data evaluation/analysis using relevant computer application
• Critical thinking; able to analyze process information from multiple formats and integrate it into usable information
• Strong customer service orientation
• Sound judgment and discretion about protecting the privacy of participants
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively
• Ability to prioritize
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Familiarity with the college access and success counseling processes a plus
• Demonstrate adaptability and openness to shifting priorities, needs of stakeholders, and organizational changes

Computer Skills:

• Experience with database management and database software applications
• Must be proficient with Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pivot Tables a plus), with strong Excel skills
• Experience with Google Docs, Spreadsheets
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Physical Requirements

• Heavy computer use
• Packing, lifting and moving of supplies is required; ability to lift up to 30 lbs.
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Work Environment

• Office work, including heavy phone and computer use combined with frequent off-site community engagement, workshops, training, etc.
• Candidates must be available to work remotely and must have full WIFI capabilities when working remotely

 

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of duties and responsibilities that will be required of this position and title and shall not be construed as a declaration of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employees may be requested to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description. This job description does not constitute an employment agreement between the employer and employee and is subject to change by the employer. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.