Position: Youth Program Coordinator (Middle School)
Reports to: Youth
Program Manager
Status:
Exempt, 40 hours/week
Starting salary range: $44,600-48,000
Benefits eligible (medical, dental, paid time off)
Project:
VISION is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help youth of Chicago’s
Greater Chinatown community achieve their full potential by providing them with
tools for educational, personal, and civic development. PV serves over 400
middle and high school youth each year out of its two Chinatown youth centers
as well as three local school-based sites. We are seeking a mission-driven,
creative, and energetic individual to join our team and serve as a Youth
Program Coordinator within our Middle School Program.
The
ideal candidate is committed to our mission and has experience and passion for
working with young people. They are also driven by a growth mindset and thrive
in a fast-paced, impact-based work environment.
The Coordinator’s role will focus on building and
delivering enrichment programs that develop youths’ social emotional learning
and life skills through the arts, cultural, sports and recreation, STEM, and
community service activities. The primary responsibilities of the Youth Program
Coordinator will include the following:
1. Collaborate
with the Program Manager to create curricula for out-of-school time enrichment
programs (Saturdays, school breaks, summers) that help youth strengthen social
emotional learning, practice life skills, and explore diverse interests
2. Develop
high quality, creative lesson plans and activities that meet program goals and
objectives
3. Be
able to manage a classroom and deliver planned programming in a way that
engages both large and small groups of youth effectively
4. Create
a learning environment that is safe, welcoming, and inclusive for all youth
5. Coordinate
the logistics of activities such as preparing materials and supplies,
scheduling field trips, and involving guest speakers and instructors
6. Train
and supervise Program Leaders (PLs) and Mentors, who support program delivery
and classroom management; PLs can support the Coordinator in lesson planning,
activity preparation and coordination, facilitation of activities, and
classroom management
7. Train
PLs and Mentors in basic mentoring principles and skills, while also serving as
a program mentor to youth participants
8. Support
program evaluation by collecting and inputting data into designated tools or
platforms and assisting with data analysis to contribute to continuous program
improvement and funder reporting requirements
Other responsibilities include:
● Work
with the Parent Engagement Coordinator to engage parents with regular
communications and other supports
● Work
with the Case Manager to identify youth who may need additional external
services (e.g. supporting mental health, basic needs, etc.) and help coordinate
access to resources as needed
● Assist
with youth recruitment activities, including outreach to the community and
local schools
● Work
with community partners to carry out collaborative programs
● Attend
and actively participate in team meetings
● Attend
trainings regularly to stay abreast of best practices in youth development as
well as to meet funder requirements
Qualifications:
● Bachelor's
degree required
● Minimum
of 3 years of experience working with grades 6-8 youth (ages 11-14) required,
preferably in an afterschool space
● Experience
with curriculum development and lesson planning highly preferred
● Proficiency
with Microsoft Office tools and Google applications
● Minimum
of conversational spoken Chinese Cantonese and/or Mandarin highly preferred ● Other
qualifications for consideration will be:
o Demonstrated
strong interest in a nonprofit career in youth development o Values
alignment with the organization, including commitment to its mission and goals
and the issues of AAPI and immigrant youth and families and the local Chinatown
community
o Ability
to problem solve, offering ideas and suggestions while working with team
members to overcome challenges
o Self-driven
work ethic and resilience as demonstrated by exhibiting ownership of projects,
taking initiative, and able to adapt to shifting priorities and needs of the
organization
o Strong
organizational skills with attention to detail and capacity to manage multiple
projects and occasional high volume of work with efficiency and without
sacrificing quality
o Positive
attitude with ability to problem solve in the face of challenges and turn
negative outcomes into learning opportunities
o Comfortability
with working independently but also able to work in a team environment and
willing to ask for help when needed
o Strong
verbal and written communication skills o Experience managing others,
including providing training, supervision, and feedback to team members
This
position’s working hours will most likely be Tuesdays to Fridays 11a-7p and
Saturdays 9a-5p.
To
apply, please send a cover letter and resume to us via email at careers@projectvisionchicago.org.