Bilingual Program Assistant

The Platform of Hope is seeking applicants immediately for the position of part-time (20 hours a week) Bilingual Program Assistant. The Bilingual Program Assistant will be an important addition to our small but mighty 6-person team. They will be responsible for driving the Platform of Hope’s work forward including supporting family care coordination, communications, programming, administration and data functions. This is a hybrid position that requires one day a week minimum in the office and some evening and weekend hours. It is required that this person be bilingual in English and Spanish.

Responsibilities:

Coordinating with Participant Families and Hosting Programming: (65%) 13 hours/week

• Establishing supportive, professional relationships with all participant and Alum families;
• Assisting POH team in planning and managing logistics of community events (workshops, Family Saturdays) both online and in person;
• Hosting events and workshops with POH team or guests as needed, including interpretation of Spanish speakers, as needed;
• Assisting with, and following up on, referrals and applications for families, including assisting families with completion of documents/submissions;
• Researching and disseminating resources and support for participant families;
• Directly communicating with families about scheduling of appointments and reminders of upcoming POH events and meetings
• Providing interpretation for one on ones with Program Managers and Spanish-speaking families, as needed; estimated 8 families per month
• Assist with coordination of Alum Network, under direction of Senior Program Manager, including hosting events, communications and referral assistance

Communications: (20%) 4 hours/week

• Creation of Monday email with information to participant and Alum families;
• Supporting the translation and creation of bilingual materials (fliers, emails, calendars, directories, etc) on a weekly basis in collaboration with Program Intern(s);
• Supporting with fundraising, Advisory Board and institutional marketing efforts, including assisting with translation, as needed;
• Supporting the hosting and execution of fundraising and organizational events, as needed.

Administration, Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting (15%) 3 hours/week

• Attend staff meetings and assist with note taking, documentation and organization;
• Supporting data entry for attendance at family events and activities in partnership with staff and interns;
• Overseeing journal collection from families (including translation), as well as collection of evaluations and journals, offering additional support to families, as needed;
• Assisting in planning and tracking of all program assessments, evaluations and surveys, as needed.

To apply:

Interested candidates should send their resume and a cover letter to Judy Estey at jestey@platformofhopedc.org. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Ideally, this person would begin on March 25, 2024. 

Reporting Relationship and Schedule 

The Program Assistant will report to the Platform of Hope Executive Director but work closely with the Program Managers and Program Administrator. Please note that some evening and weekend work is required as part of this position. It is anticipated that this person would work a minimum of one day per week in the office and some weekday evenings/Saturday hours but the remainder of the 20 hour/week schedule can be based on employee availability. The Platform of Hope is fiscally sponsored by Social Good Fund and therefore it Social Good Fund would be the official employer of this new employee.

Position Status, Salary, and Benefits

This is a part-time, 20 hour a week, hourly position that pays $20/hour ($20,800/year). Benefits include paid vacation, sick leave and holidays. Unfortunately our fiscal sponsor is not able to offer health insurance to employees working part time.

Candidate Qualifications

The Platform of Hope is seeking a team member with the following required characteristics:

• *Required* bilingual in English and Spanish 
• Experience within the nonprofit sector and/or being in community with families of color-- particularly Black and brown communities, including first generation immigrants
• Embrace of a “family first” approach that centers communities in decision making and values families’ innate knowledge and abilities, upholding families’ dignity and self-determination as core values
• An ability to build trusting and authentic relationships with families, with compassionate and non-judgmental approach 
• Understanding and respect for confidentiality
• Ability and relevant experience in hosting events/meetings, with attention to detail, understanding of event logistics and commitment to creating a welcoming space
• Ability / relevant experience in working with databases
• Strong computer literacy, including understanding/ commitment to learning zoom, google drive and google suite apps
• Experience or interest in learning basic flier and graphic design in canva and other communication platforms
• Enthusiasm for working with people of different backgrounds, ages and cultures
• Experience and comfort in meeting and tracking goals 
• Interest in engaging in analysis of oppression and interest in anti-racism work

An ideal candidate will be interested in:

• working directly with families in partnership with colleagues
• being a part of a small team, working creatively and in developing new shared processes
• collaboration and innovation with other organizations 
• actively participating in building an equitable organizational culture

Statement on Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity

The Platform of Hope strives to be an anti-racist organization and uphold our founding goals to confront systems of inequity, accessibility and inclusion. All individuals are entitled to equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, age, disability, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, genetic information, medical condition, veteran status, or any other class protected under federal, state, or local laws. As an equal opportunity employer, we strongly encourage applications from individuals with varied identities and backgrounds, including women, people with disabilities, immigrants, LGBTQIA people, BIPOC people and people who come from low income or working class backgrounds.

About the Platform of Hope

The Platform of Hope is a pilot program that began in September 2018 to combat the displacement of low-income families of color from Adams Morgan/ Ward 1 by supporting families in accessing resources and connecting to their community. Our program works to change the paradigm of traditional social services delivery to center the voices of families in making holistic decisions about their life, as well as uphold social capital between families as a key factor for long term success. POH’s model looks at the integration of housing, education, employment, family stability, physical health, mental health, etc. to partner with families to identify their goals and then self-direct plans to accomplish those goals. POH was formed and continues to have active participation from our founding partners, four anchor institutions in Ward 1: Jubilee Housing, Jubilee JumpStart, Mary’s Center/ Briya Public Charter School and Sitar Arts Center. We work with founding partners collaboratively to assist families in pursuing goals (particularly through referrals), as well as develop additional programming based on families’ needs. We intentionally facilitate the building of strong social networks among participating families to highlight families’ innate resourcefulness and knowledge. POH believes in systems change that centers the lived experience of families and we hope to further our advocacy work as the program continues.

About the Team and Program

The Platform of Hope is seeking to enhance our five-person staff team with a part-time Program Assistant.  The Program Assistant would support the three Program Managers in family care coordination, as well as assist with overall organizational needs including communications, outreach and administration in partnership with our Program Administrator. A central responsibility will be helping to host program workshops and events, both in person and on zoom. POH’s current model is based on working with cohorts of families throughout 12-month program years; every year, we expand by adding an additional cohort of families alongside families who opt to return for subsequent years. In 2024, we are working with 50 active  participant families as well as almost 50 families in our Alum group.

To apply:

Interested candidates should send their resume and a cover letter to Judy Estey at jestey@platformofhopedc.org. Applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Ideally, this person would begin on August 1, 2023.