Community Outreach Manager, Philadelphia School Partnership

Posted by on January 21, 2013

Community Outreach Manager, Philadelphia School Partnership
Posted on: December 19, 2012

Join a fast-growing, mission-driven education nonprofit and help lead our effort to engage families and community members throughout Philadelphia in the effort to expand the number of high performing k-12 schools in the city.

The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) believes that helping to empower parents to find, choose, and advocate for higher quality schools of all types (District, charter, and private) is a critical part of our comprehensive strategy to ensure every child in Philadelphia is enrolled in a great school. Rather than independently working to organize parents, we seek to deepen our relationships with partner organizations including school operators, nonprofits, and advocacy groups to further catalyze parent and community engagement in local education reform. As part of this work, we have created and are promoting “GreatPhillySchools,” (GPS) a print and web-based resource giving parents access to data on academics, safety, and more. The Community Outreach Manager will plan and execute efforts to promote the website and manage and leverage relationships with partner organizations to assist. S/he will report to PSP’s Managing Director and work closely with the entire team including the Communications Manager, Development Manager, and Director of the GreatPhillySchools project.

Responsibilities primarily include (but may not be limited to):

• Assisting in the development and managing execution of a grassroots component to our campaign to promote GreatPhillySchools.org; this will include partnering with numerous community, nonprofit, political, and other organizations throughout the city in an effort to reach parents and caregivers as well as distribution if the print guide version of GPS;
• Planning and execution of parent engagement and organizing events including: school visits, meeting testimonials, op-eds/letter writing campaigns, speaking events and GPS demos and public venues such as health clinics, shopping malls, etc. and more;
• Identifying, connecting with and helping coordinate the activities of education reform organizations throughout the city and region working to engage parents; these may include BAEO, Students First, various charter management organizations, and others;
• Providing consultative assistance to partner schools who are grantees of PSP on how to build and execute parent engagement initiatives including trainings, planning assistance and other support;
• Building relationships with parents, organizations, key community leaders
• Representing PSP at select community meetings and public events; and
• Miscellaneous projects as needed at the discretion of the organization’s leadership team.

The ideal candidate possesses the following skills and experience:

• Three – five years minimum relevant work experience; some grassroots organizing and coalition building experience strongly preferred;
• Experience working with families from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds;
• Willingness and ability to work frequent nights and weekends; this role requires nontraditional hours;
• Knowledge of and commitment to K-12 education reform, including a willingness to work on behalf of high-quality schools of all types, including District, charter, and private;
• Ability to derive, set, and achieve ambitious goals within the context of relationship building and advocacy; able to demonstrate experience achieving results in coalition building and issue campaigns;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and ability to lead and motivate others; and
• A self-motivated and entrepreneurial approach; confidence in high-pressure tight deadline situations and willingness to work as part of a team.

We are a small team driven by our commitment to improving urban education and our unwillingness to accept excuses for failure. We set big goals and pursue them with urgency. This position is available immediately. Salary commensurate with experience, along with a bonus opportunity and excellent benefits.

About the Organization:

The Philadelphia School Partnership was created to accelerate the pace of education reform in Philadelphia by increasing the number of great school options available to children in our city. We raise philanthropic funds and invest those funds in school operators and people that have the ability to create and maintain great schools across Philadelphia. We also activate parents to demand great schools in their communities and facilitate the sharing of best practices among school leaders.

http://www.idealist.org/view/job/XHWTfHkFmH8d/