Assistant Director of Programs

518 ElevatED invites applications and nominations for the position of Assistant Director of Programs. We seek a candidate who will work closely with high school student scholars, community members, and community partners to facilitate meaningful educational, workforce development, and community engagement experiences. With our Pathways to Success model, we:

• Support the development of post-secondary pathways for student scholars in the Albany, Schenectady, and Troy City School Districts through exposure, exploration, and education.
• Serve as a workforce development pipeline for work-ready adults in the NYS Capital Region by partnering with local businesses seeking to build skill development capacity in specific industry related careers.
• We work alongside our program participants to authentically empower the whole individual in order to achieveing their career goals through exploratory workshops, college and business visits, and networking opportunities.

The best candidate for this role will comprehensively nurture the culture of our programs as a part of 518 ElevatED’s efforts to shape a both our workplace and front-facing, external cultural values of curiosity, courage, and confidence alongside our program participants.

The Assistant Director of Programs will provide program dynamic leadership that supports our student scholars while developing a personal success pathway that closes the gap between current interests and future accomplishments. The successful candidate will facilitate weekly after-school workshops, manage program logistics, assist in the management and monitoring of the program budget, manage communication strategies within school liaisons, and support annual grant-seeking and requests for funding applications and reporting cycle. This position collaborates with and reports to the Director of Programs.

WHO WE ARE: A small but mighty, highly collaborative team with unique strengths and high levels of passion for community building.

OUR CULTURE: Fast paced and interrupt driven, anti-micromanagement, whiteboard brainstorming sessions, hybrid and highly flexible – where ideas are shared openly and collaboratively. In addition, we value clear and effective communication and weekly team update meetings for transparency across all departments, encouraging and supportive of curiosity and failing out loud.

WHO YOU ARE:

• Creative, Proactive, and Resourceful
• Innovative problem solver who approaches challenges with a mindset of cooperation and shared problem-solving, rather than attempting to “rescue” or take over situations
• An empathetic and engaged member of the local community with a strong understanding of our community’s diverse needs
• Knowledgeable about needs and nuances of supporting teenagers and young adults

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Plan, coordinate, and facilitate weekly after-school sessions in Schenectady, Albany, and Troy;
• Manage logistics including guest speaker schedule, college and business exploration schedule, and ordering of supplies/snacks for in-school programs
• Support contributed income revenue generation through grant-seeking and new corporate partnerships
• Updating and maintaining student scholar and mentor database
• Attend community events with the goal of fostering collaboration and synergistic partnerships (some evenings and weekends may be needed)
• Support recruitment of student scholars and mentors

QUALIFICATIONS/SKILLS:

• 1-3 years of experience working in working in youth development, community engagement, education, and/or non-profit field;

OR

• Associate’s degree in Education, Social Work, Psychology or related field (or actively working towards an Associate’s/Bachelor’s degree)
• 1-3 years of experience with grant seeking and grant writing
• 1-3 years experience with Microsoft Office Suite

COMPETITIVE BENEFITS:

• Competitive Salary $45-50k
• Employer-funded Health Insurance (employer funds 90% of the employee healthcare premium)
• Retirement Plan
• Generous Paid Time Off (we observe all Federal holidays)
• Flexible, hybrid work location
• Annual professional development (we actively encourage employee development educational pathways within the profession)
• Unique Perks: As a workplace culture we work hard as well as taking the time necessary to develop strong bonds and team building through sharing unique perspectives, laughter, food, and celebrating milestone accomplishments both large and small.

ABOUT 518 ElevatED

518 ElevatED (formerly Capital Region Sponsor-A-Scholar) is a nonprofit organization that strives to improve lives by giving young people access to education, support and resources that may be otherwise unavailable. Our scholars have a desire to chart their own course to successful lives, and we uplift that through mentoring, specialized career and college exploration workshops, professional guidance, soft skills development, and financial support through their postsecondary education journeys. Through the transformative power of education and mentorship, we will equip our students to navigate their world, leading to a more inclusive and equitable future. Our values encompass community, opportunity, responsibility, and education. These four values guide our students to succeed and develop personal responsibility and confidence to become their own best advocates.

518ElevatED is a 28-year old, secular entity, 501(c)3 nonprofit, headquartered in Albany and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, religion, sex, sexual identity/orientation, differing abilities (ADA complaint) and socio-economic status. 518ElevatED actively encourages program participants (e.g., student scholars and their families) to show up as their “authentic selves” as we provide barrier-free programming; we maintain a zero tolerance policy when it comes to bias-related behavior of any kind as we strongly embrace IDEAB (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access, and Belonging); moreover we stand-up in support of our BIPOC and LGBTQIA++ community members – accordingly we demand the same of any programmatic partners as well as individual donors, private foundations, and corporations that support or deep work in Greater Albany, NY.