Special Projects Manager, Read by 4th

Posted by Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation on April 26, 2022

Read by 4th is Philadelphia’s citywide early literacy movement, including an ever-growing coalition of families and their partners working to protect every child’s right to read. Campaign partners work to advance change by supporting families, literacy-rich communities, and systems that put children on the path to reading success.

The Read by 4th coalition is supported by a small backbone team based at the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation. The role of backbone staff includes convening and aligning partners, gathering and sharing data to inform strategy and continuous learning, communications to share resources and to celebrate partners, and other efforts to build an impactful citywide movement.

Position Summary:

The Special Projects Manager will be responsible for a variety of initiatives that seek to engage communities and families around early literacy. Specifically, the Read by 4th campaign has developed a number of strategies – ranging from family workshops, community festivals and more – which serve to disseminate and promote Read by 4th resources, tools and messages.

The keystone initiative in this portfolio is Reading Promise Week. Held each October, this week-long festival is on a mission to celebrate reading in neighborhoods across Philly; address the early literacy crisis through community strengths and joy; and bring family literacy habits to life in ways that are fun, free, and easy to keep going at home.

In 2021, Reading Promise Week consisted of 45 unique events organized by partner organizations and volunteers. The Special Projects Manager will be responsible for managing the recruitment, engagement, and support of these event hosts as we seek to sustain and grow the festival. Core to these responsibilities is the need to manage complex logistics, maintain clear and consistent communications with partners, and juggle many competing timelines and needs.

In addition to Reading Promise Week, the Special Projects Manager will be the campaign’s point person for a number of ongoing family engagement initiatives. These include a series of parent trainings on the foundations of early literacy, a texting service that supports parents of young children with brain development tips, and making sure the many unique family resources developed by the campaign are accessible to and distributed to partners.

The successful candidate will be a mission-driven, solution-oriented go-getter who seeks to bring their talents to bear on establishing and sustaining new Philadelphia traditions.  The right fit person will be detail-oriented,  skilled at planning and managing complex events, able to engage and support  a diverse array of stakeholders, and a roll-up your sleeves team player.

There is a preference for a candidate who is bilingual, however this is not a requirement for application.  Read by 4th has a commitment to expand its outreach to and engagement with communities for whom English is not the primary language. To that end, the Special Projects Manager will be responsible for thinking through and establishing guidelines to ensure Read by 4th resources are accessible and appropriate for various languages and cultures in Philadelphia.  Our first priority is Spanish, however we are actively working to ensure our resources are translated and culturally relevant in a number of languages common in Philadelphia.

Learn more and apply.