Community Engagement Manager, United Negro College Fund, Washington, DC

Community Engagement Manager

Posted on: January 9, 2015
Posted by: United Negro College Fund

The Community Engagement Manager will help UNCF ensure that, through its advocacy efforts, more African-American students will be college ready and better prepared to enroll in and complete college. This person should be an entrepreneurial leader, a strong project manager, and experienced community organizer. 

The Community Engagement Manager will work in a dynamic team environment to execute UNCF's local advocacy efforts, with a focus on building community relationships and impacting the local education environment in one or more of our target advocacy cities. 

This role offers the benefits of working for an established organization with 70 years of history in the education landscape, while also providing an entrepreneurial experience, since the Manager will help establish a "start-up" department tasked with implementing a newly developed strategy. The Community Engagement Manager will be based in one of our target advocacy cities (e.g. DC, New Orleans, and Indianapolis).

The Community Engagement Manager reports to the VP of Advocacy and works closely with the National Director of Advocacy to implement UNCF's advocacy platform, which includes three major components: 

• Messaging and Research: Leveraging broad-based media platforms and publishing research to highlight the current state of education, motivate African Americans to strive for college degree attainment and position UNCF as a partner in this journey

• Grasstops Partnerships: Partnering with Member Institutions, prominent organizations and leaders in the African-American community and activate them to engage in the education reform landscape and support them as they engage their communities

• Grassroots Engagement: Supporting on-the-ground grassroots organizations as they engage African-American parents and communities locally

UNCF's advocacy platform will be implemented at the national and local level. However, the Community Engagement Manager will only be accountable for implementing the strategy at the local level in one or more of UNCF's target cities. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Creating and implementing an outreach strategy to inform, educate and activate "grasstops" community leaders (i.e., business leaders, elected officials, faith leaders, etc.) about education reform

• Managing strategic partnerships with "grasstop" leaders, non-profit organizations, civil rights organizations, and donors at the local level

• Organizing and coordinating the execution of meetings, workshops, and convenings, including setting up databases and processes to implement this work

• Collaborating with local UNCF development staff to ensure that events and communications align with the advocacy strategy Monitoring changes in the local K-16 landscape and understanding implications for UNCF's advocacy strategy and target city involvement

• Participating in local education events as well as recommending opportunities for UNCF to demonstrate leadership on African-American K-16 educational issues

• Working effectively within the prescribed local budget and managing expenditures

• Documenting and reporting program results in order to evaluate the impact of the advocacy strategy on the local community

• Providing regular updates to the VP of Advocacy relative to the status of engagement activities and coordinating day-to-day efforts with the Director of Advocacy

EDUCATION

An undergraduate degree from a four year college or university is required. An advanced degree such as an MBA or MPA is preferred.

EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate is a collaborative individual with significant project management experience and community organizing experience. S/he will be comfortable dealing with the ambiguity associated with strategic implementation and coalition building and should also have the following qualifications:

• Direct project management and community organizing experience as well as a proven track record of driving programmatic performance

• Strong organizational skills and a proven track record of managing executing multiple projects simultaneously

• Well-honed strategic thinking skills with the ability to be flexible and adaptable

• Demonstrated ability to work easily and effectively with a wide range of constituencies at the "grasstops" and "grassroots" levels, including non-profit and community leaders, faith leaders, government officials, corporate leaders, parents and students

• Superior communication skills, with the ability to proactively lead conversations and manage next steps

• Working knowledge of K-16 educational landscape at the local level is preferred

• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Project, and deep understanding of how to use social media

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position will periodically supervise interns.

HOW TO APPLY

This position requires travel.

To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to: resumes@uncf.org. For more information or to view other opportunities at UNCF please visit: www.uncf.org. 

UNCF, Inc. is an EOE M/F/V/D.