Generation Citizen New York City is looking for an exceptional young professional to join our team as New York City Program Associate. The Program Associate will recruit, train and manage college student volunteers, and work directly, teachers and youth to support action civics programming in New York City classrooms.

About Generation Citizen

Generation Citizen (GC) is an innovative, quickly scaling nonprofit that envisions a country of young people working as active and effective citizens to collectively rebuild our American democracy. Our core action civics program partners trained college students, called Democracy Coaches, with classroom teachers to teach middle and high school students an action civics course with the goal of mobilizing these young people to take political action on pressing issues in their community. Generation Citizen envisions a generation of youth activists and leaders inspired and equipped to make change.

Generation Citizen works in six sites nationwide: Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York City, the San Francisco Bay area, Oklahoma City, and Central Texas. Within the five boroughs, we have empowered more than 3,400 middle and high school students this year alone.

Position Details

The Program Associate is responsible for coordinating GC’s action civics programming in middle and high schools. The Program Associate manages college volunteer recruitment and leadership development, as well as oversight of program quality and classroom evaluations. The Program Associate will report directly to the New York City Program Manager and works closely with other New York Program Associates, a New York City Operations Associate, the New York City Executive Director, the National Director of Programming, and other organizational staff.

This position is not for everyone: we have a small and growing team, and we want someone who is hungry to engage in all aspects of this work – from training and managing college students who implement GC’s curriculum in the classroom to building GC’s community in the NYC education and political spheres.

Key responsibilities:

Develop College Student Talent and Oversee College Partnerships to ensure that GC cultivates a committed, engaged and highly effective cohort of college volunteers and program alumni across NYC:

·      Cultivate student pipelines and drive recruitment action plans on each partner college campus

·      Provide feedback and supervise college volunteer leaders, empowering them to recruit and support strong GC chapters on their campuses

·      Plan and facilitate training for college Democracy Coach volunteers each semester, and provide intensive ongoing coaching in GC’s action civics curriculum and advocacy framework

·      Conduct regular classroom observations to give constructive feedback to Democracy Coaches

·      Track class and chapter progress rigorously and manage quality benchmarks and milestones

·      Plan and implement volunteer engagement and appreciation events

·      Establish strategic partnerships with faculty and administrators to support the institutionalization of GC on college and university campuses

Support Program Quality and Site Operations to ensure GC delivers the highest-quality action civics experience to NYC classrooms while continually growing and improving our model:

• Support the planning and execution of end-of-semester Civics Day, at which students present their action projects to community leaders and public officials
• Adapt nationally created program materials to meet local needs, and develop volunteers’ and teachers’ advocacy knowledge to align action projects to ongoing campaigns and political activity in NYC

·      Implement and manage systems of volunteer background checks, volunteer placements, data collection and upkeep, and distribution and collection of student, teacher, and volunteer surveys

·      Collaborate with program staff in other sites to solicit best practices and contribute to national program efforts and overall desired program outcomes

·      Support program pilot opportunities that allow GC to extend our reach and impact, including a summer internship program for students and a teacher professional development program which supports schools in independently implementing action civics in their classrooms

·      Help plan and implement teacher orientation each semester and provide ongoing support to ensure teachers are equipped to work with college volunteers and classroom projects are successful

·      Establish and cultivate relationships with school administrators to lay the groundwork for successful and enduring school partnerships, including supporting fee-for-service strategy and conversations

Required Qualifications and Skills

• A bachelor’s degree.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders, including college, middle or high school students.
• Strong oral and written communications skills, with a demonstrated ability to communicate with a wide range of audiences and stakeholders.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with a high level of attention to detail
• Ability to flexibly navigate between varied responsibilities.

The following characteristics are strongly preferred, but not required:

·      Experience working with diverse middle or high school aged youth in a classroom setting.

·      Political campaign experience and/or community organizing experience.

·      In-depth knowledge of the New York City community, its educational institutions (school district and/or colleges), and its government structures.

Salary, Hours and Terms

This is a full-time position based in New York City, NY. While access to a car is not necessary, candidates should expect to travel frequently throughout the five boroughs via public transportation. Some evenings and weekends will be required.

To Apply

The application deadline is May 19, 2017, but applicants will be interviewed on a rolling basis and decisions will be made as soon as appropriate candidates are identified. We encourage applicants to submit their applications early. The anticipated starting date for this position is approximately July 1, 2017, and a firm two-year commitment is required. Qualified candidates should send a resume, cover letter, and a list of 2-3 references to Jobs@GenerationCitizen.org. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Please include “New York City Program Associate” in your email subject line. No telephone inquiries please. 

Generation Citizen is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Candidates who reflect the diversity of the NYC community are strongly encouraged to apply.