Deputy Executive Director of Place-Based Initiatives, City of Philadelphia

Posted by City of Philadelphia on December 12, 2023

The Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO) provides leadership on issues of economic justice by advancing racial equity and inclusive growth to ensure that all Philadelphians share in the city’s prosperous future and by alleviating the immediate impact of poverty on individuals, families and communities. CEO is Philadelphia’s Community Action Agency (CAA); CAAs are private or public agencies created by the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act and federally designated to receive Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding.

Job Description

The Deputy Executive Director of Place-Based Initiatives is responsible for leadership of CEO’s overarching engagement practices, including responsibility for all roles connecting with residents and coordinating and implementing strategy with CEO leadership team. CEO’s Community Engagement model requires an expansive approach, strategic implementation and systems-level theory of change in order to significantly move communities from poverty to mobility. CEO utilizes advocacy, metrics, convenings, and programs as tools to advance our overarching strategies. The Deputy ED will lead CEO’s work in developing how these tools are utilized, including across systems, consulting, and training.

CEO’s Place-Based Initiatives work encompasses three areas of work, all of which fall under the leadership of the deputy.

Community Engagement Team: engages in broad-based community listening through canvass level and neighborhood organizing work; implements quantitative and qualitative data gathering that informs community supports, program, and policy initiatives to improve economic conditions and social determinants of health in communities.

Community Resources Team: provides focused one-to-one support related to individual needs identified through community engagement process or participation in CEO-funded programs; connects individuals to benefits and resources that seek to improve individual health and/or social determinants of health.

Neighborhood Initiatives Team: builds on the findings from the 10-year Promise Zone convening work bringing together residents and community organizations to address and positively impact issues surrounding affordable housing, economic opportunities, quality education, health and wellness, and public safety; evaluates program and builds implementation model for scalability for system-wide approach.

This position serves as a liaison between CEO and citywide engagement efforts to ensure alignment. This position represents the city in national forums and convenings related to engagement and place-based initiatives, particularly in their use in efforts to reduce poverty and build pathways to economic mobility. The deputy is responsible for representing CEO in various collaborative initiatives within City of Philadelphia Government, including all citywide engagement efforts and the ongoing efforts and new partnerships with city departments to change community-based policies and practices that will address drivers of racial inequality and connect residents to resources and share their voices with city government.

Learn more and apply here.