Director Of Community Engagement

Title: Director of Community Engagement

Reports To: Chief Innovation Officer

Employment Type: Exempt Full-Time Employee

Starting Salary: $70,000

POSITION SUMMARY

UI is expanding Play Equity in Chicago through a core set of strategies, including increased access to sport- and play-based social and emotional learning to one-third of all Chicago Public School students, expanded school partnerships via the district’s “Opportunity Index,” and neighborhood-focused sport and play networks. UI seeks a Director of Community Engagement to lead its work to expand play equity through neighborhood-focused networks to ensure young people and families in neighborhoods that have been on the margins of traditional access and power have expanded access to the power of play. This strategy prioritizes three goals at a neighborhood level: 1) Collaborative Network; 2) Local Access; and 3) Coach Pipeline. For the 2024 and 2025 school years, UI is focused on this work with four Chicago neighborhoods, while developing a playbook for future expansion/iteration of this work with additional neighborhoods.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Lead UI’s neighborhood strategy to drive increased access to sport & play at a neighborhood-level through three primary areas:

Strategy Leadership

• Routinely gather feedback, conduct observations, and analyze data to responsively refine practices to most effectively achieve prioritized goals.
• In collaboration with UI’s Evaluation team, implement monitoring and evaluation strategies to assess impact. Utilize data to drive strategy refinement and continuous quality improvement.
• Manage strategy budget to ensure efficient allocation of resources while optimizing outcomes and building replicable practices.
• Directly manage UI’s Community Engagement Manager with a focus on strong fidelity to defined strategy, relationship development with neighborhood stakeholders, and collective action.
• Oversee full scope of UI’s neighborhood strategy, relationships, and activities to ensure achievement of core impact objectives and Key Performance Indicators for each of three goal areas: 1) Collaborative Network; 2) Local Access; and 3) Coach Pipeline.
• Oversee participatory processes where the insights and perspectives of neighborhood stakeholders shape collective work and develop shared ownership over project outcomes.
• Be present at neighborhood events and gatherings, such as but not limited to events hosted by CBOs, block club gatherings, park district events, public official outreach events, as well as neighborhood-focused convenings, such as My CHI. My Future, etc.

Strategy Development

• In collaboration with key external partners and internal leaders, design and pilot new coach pipeline effort with high impact potential as core part of neighborhood strategy over time (Coach Pipeline goal and activities).
• Design and oversee implementation of processes to adapt roles played over time by neighborhood network members and UI to ensure sustainable, locally-driven, and neighborhood-led networks.
• Systematize execution of neighborhood strategy to reinforce achievement of goals, high quality and timeliness of activity completion, and ongoing management of relationships and initiatives, including through the use of Monday.com and G-suite tools to support project management. Assess and refine processes to drive increased efficiency and effectiveness over time.
• Collaborate with neighborhood stakeholders and internal leaders to identify and pursue prospective sustainable funding sources to build lasting impact of initiatives.

Organizational Leadership

• CSI Vendors: connect organizations/individuals that may be prospective vendors with UI’s Community Schools Initiative program
• School Partnerships: build connections between prospective school partners and UI’s school partnership leaders
• Incorporate and engage organizational assets effectively as part of neighborhood strategy, such as but not limited to: existing school partners, coaches, and parents, existing relationships with Park Districts, CBOs, and individual stakeholders, etc.
• Staff pipelines: raise visibility of UI staff opportunities with neighborhood network
• Collaborate closely with UI’s Innovation + Learning teams around partnerships, procurement, and learning.
• Perform other duties as needed to support UI’s mission and vision.
• Parent Network: ensure effective two-way pipeline of parents engaged in Fair Game Network to be part of UI’s Parent Network and vice versa
• Represent UI with various stakeholder audiences, such as schools, community-based organizations, coaches, students, parents, and advisers.
• Lead innovation and design activities to assess new opportunities as they arise - both within and beyond the neighborhood strategy - to drive expansion of sport and play in Chicago in partnership with Chief Innovation Officer and/or other leaders.
• Support core organizational priorities that are or may be influenced/impacted by the neighborhood strategy, including but not limited to:

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Ability to communicate fluently in Spanish is a plus, but not required
• Experience leading equity-based, liberatory, anti-racist, participatory action-based research and/or community-driven design processes
• Experience living and/or working deeply with historically marginalized communities
• Passion for sport and play to drive social-emotional learning across Chicago
• Strong facilitation skills
• Expert in goal-driven, project and people management and strengthening structures/processes to optimize effectiveness
• Demonstrated experience and expertise in community organizing and/or sustainable, asset-based community development

Compensation Package

• Comp time
• Life, short term disability, and long term disability insurance paid 100% by Urban Initiatives
• Option to contribute to a 401K with up to a 3% match of your salary after one full year of employment
• $70,000 base salary
• 120 hours of paid time off (PTO), accrued monthly (PTO may be prorated based on start date.)
• Paid holidays (Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day)
• Health, dental, and vision insurance premiums paid 100% by Urban Initiatives (for employees and for their children)
• Flexible schedule and work from home environment

How to Apply

Submit an application including a cover letter and resume HERE. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis beginning August 18, 2023.

Anticipated Start Date is September 27, 2023

EEOC STATEMENT

Urban Initiatives is dedicated to intentionally fostering a climate of purposeful inclusion in our workplace, and candidates of diverse backgrounds and identities are strongly encouraged to apply. Urban Initiatives is an Equal Opportunity employer. Personnel are chosen on the basis of ability without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. This is in accordance with federal and state law.

Urban Initiatives Overview

Founded in 2003, Urban Initiatives is a nonprofit organization that runs youth development programs in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Urban Initiatives’ mission is to use the power of sport and play to empower Chicago’s youth to achieve academic success, develop social-emotional skills, and build social capital. Currently, Urban Initiatives serves an estimated 80 schools throughout the City of Chicago.

Urban Initiatives is actively scaling its operations to have a significantly greater impact across Chicago. Our programs support social emotional learning (SEL) and demand for these services is greater than ever.