Overview
About NYLAG:
Founded in 1990, NYLAG is a leading civil legal services organization combatting economic, racial, and social injustice by advocating for people experiencing poverty or in crisis. Our services include comprehensive, free civil legal services, financial empowerment, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community partnerships. NYLAG exists because wealth should not determine who has access to justice. We aim to disrupt systemic racism by serving individuals and families whose legal and financial crises are often rooted in racial inequality. NYLAG goes to where the need is, providing services in more than 150 community sites (e.g. courts, hospitals, libraries) and on our Mobile Legal Help Center. During COVID-19, most of our services are virtual to keep our community safe. NYLAG’s staff of 300 impacted the lives of nearly 90,000 people last year.
Mission:
New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) uses the power of the law to help New Yorkers experiencing poverty or in crisis combat economic, racial, and social injustice. We address emerging and urgent needs with comprehensive, free civil legal services, financial empowerment, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and community partnerships. We aim to disrupt systemic racism by serving clients, whose legal and financial crises are often rooted in racial inequality.
Values that guide us
- We reduce the effects of poverty by providing high quality, effective civil legal services.
- We strive to serve individuals and communities through a race equity lens to counteract systemic racism.
- We work to create a welcoming and inclusive work environment that reflects the communities we serve.
- We achieve systemic change through class actions, impact litigation and by advocating for just laws and policies.
- We partner with our clients to help them transform their lives and strengthen their communities.
- We address our clients’ multiple legal needs by collaborating across our practice areas.
- We are at the forefront of identifying and understanding New Yorkers’ most pressing legal needs, rapidly adapting to meet these needs with innovative programs and partnerships.
- We assess need broadly, recognizing that need is not a function of income alone.
- We collaborate with community organizations and engage pro bono attorneys and volunteers to serve a greater number of people with unmet civil legal needs.
- We teach and train the next generation of legal service professionals.
Job description
NYLAG’s Financial Empowerment and Advocacy Unit (FEAU) was established in 2009 and serves a wide range of clients. FEAU provides services at NYLAG’s office and community-based intake sites throughout New York City, Long Island and Westchester, including via our work with the Office of Financial Empowerment, UJA Federation of NY, and the Human Resources Administration.
The financial counselor will work on a new three-year project that aims to counsel, coach, educate, protect, and empower low to moderate income New Yorkers and their families in Staten Island. The financial counselor will provide one-on-one assistance to help clients access formal banking relationships, establish and rebuild credit, organize their finances through budgeting, managing and reducing their debt, establishing savings, securing benefits, and understanding taxes to meet their short- and long-term financial goals. The counselor in this position will also help clients locate additional resources, such as, public benefits information, referrals to other nonprofit organizations and general advocacy information.
Duties and Responsibilities
Direct services:
- Facilitate one-on-one financial counseling & coaching with low-to-moderate income New Yorkers at a variety of community-based organizations, partner sites and virtually.
- Implement retention and engagement strategies to encourage clients to participate in multiple sessions and reach their financial goals.
- Foster and maintain strong and collaborative relationships with staff members and external stakeholders to ensure program success.
- Work collaboratively with colleagues, supervisors and other service providers to ensure high quality services.
- When applicable, engage in outreach through workshops, presentations, and direct outreach to prospective clients in partnership and under direction of partner sites.
- Must be knowledgeable in working with diverse communities, particularly Latinx, people of color, and populations with low-income, and must deliver services with cultural humility.
- Be comfortable traveling to partner sites to provide support to program participants. Face-to-face in-person service is an essential component of this position.
- Administrative:
- Ensure data is entered accurately and timely in NYLAG’s case management system and in partner’s system, if applicable.
- Ensure client files are saved securely and fully in our central shared file system.
- Advocacy:
- When applicable, participate in the unit’s advocacy work by collaborating on blog posts and/or interviews to highlight our efforts.
Qualifications
NYLAG seeks a highly motivated financial counselor with one at least one (1) year of direct financial counseling experience or similar direct service experience. Experience and maturity in working with a diverse range of partners, funders, and clients. Energy and desire to travel across the NYC metro area in the field working directly with clients at partner sites most days per week. Demonstrated capacity to work independently and strong desire to develop their financial counseling & coaching skill set. This is a position that offers the opportunity to get additional in-house training and further grow your career.
Due to current program requirements, preference will be given to those applicants with bilingual ability (written and spoken) in Spanish.
All staff must be vaccinated and follow our health and safety procedures in our offices.
NYLAG’s Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
NYLAG is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, people with disabilities, immigrants, veterans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and those with lived experiences in the communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply.
Employment type:
☒ Full-time
☐ Part-time
☐ Temporary
Professional Level:
☒ Entry Level
☐ Professional
☐ Managerial
Salary Range:
$48,000-$55,850
Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k, life insurance, long term disability, commuter benefits, flexible spending accounts (FSA) for Medical and Dependent care.
Application Instructions: Please save resume and cover letter on one pdf.
This position is hybrid, with an expectation to be in the New York office a minimum of 2 days per week.