Leaders Coordinator - Adoption & Foster Care Mentoring

Organizational Background

Adoption & Foster Care Mentoring empowers youth in foster care to flourish through committed mentoring relationships and the development of essential life skills. For over ten years, Adoption & Foster Care Mentoring (AFC) has enjoyed continuous growth and success in matching youth in the child welfare system with highly committed volunteer mentors. AFC works with young people who are preparing to age out of the child welfare system by teaching critical life skills to help teens successfully transition to adulthood. AFC continues to be among only a few mentoring organizations in the United States, and the only mentoring organization in Massachusetts, that exclusively serves the unique needs of youth in the foster care system.

For more information on our work, our supporters and the incredible young people we serve, please visit www.afcmentoring.org.

Position

The AFC Leaders Coordinatorwill be responsible for the implementation, continuous improvement, and evaluation of AFCLeaders group mentoring and life skills services for youth and young adults in foster care. The ideal candidate will have program development, workshop/training facilitation, public speaking, event planning, and supervisory experience with a proven track record of success in project management. Strong youth work skills and volunteer management skills are required, as well as excellent presentation and facilitation skills, for both youth and adult/provider audiences. In addition to overseeing the AFCLeaders program and working directly with youth and professional volunteers, the AFC Leaders Coordinator will perform a broad scope of responsibilities to support the mission of AFC. This includes working with AFCMentors staff to streamline services between programs; Development staff to produce and report on grants and outcomes; Outreach staff to create effective marketing and recruitment materials; Management staff to execute AFC's strategic plan and achieve organizational goals; and external partners to strengthen AFC's relationship with and engagement of our larger community. As part of AFC's thought leadership efforts, the AFC Leaders Coordinator will provide resources and training to our stakeholders in order to educate the community about the challenges faced by youth in foster care and to advocate for strengths-based and evidence-based strategies to support this underserved population.

Responsibilities:

• Manage AFCLeaders program (program priorities include: youth recruitment and intake, volunteer training and screening, workshop curriculum maintenance and continuous improvement, workshop facilitation, partnership maintenance and program evaluation).
• Build and cultivate relationships with youth, volunteers and partner sites.
• Serve as a resource-broker for young adults in need of additional services.
• Collect and manage program data and uphold standards for internal and external evaluation and reporting.
• Assist with marketing and outreach efforts and creation of outreach materials.
• Develop and maintain AFCLeaders Policies and Procedures manual.
• Supervise AFCLeaders interns and/or AmeriCorps position, if applicable.
• Meet short-term AFCLeaders goals and assist in developing long-term goals.
• Organize and oversee group events.
• Support AFCMentors program, including streamlining program services and possible provision of match support

Qualifications

• Strong belief in the mission, vision and values of Adoption & Foster Care Mentoring.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills including the ability to write and speak persuasively about the organization.
• Ability to facilitate collaboration, manage projects and achieve results working across departments.

• Experience working with youth required; experience working with foster, adopted and/or LGBT youth preferred.
• Strong group facilitation, behavior management, and training/presentation skills.

• Curriculum development experience.
• Experience managing professional partnerships with individuals and organizations.
• Ability to manage a high level of responsibility and independence.
• Ability to collect, organize, and analyze evaluation data.
• Desire to work with diverse populations and a commitment to cultural sensitivity/responsiveness.
• Knowledge of local service providers and/or DCF helpful, but not required.
• Experience in marketing, public relations and recruitment helpful, but not required.
• Supervision experience preferred.
• Positive attitude and sense of humor.
• M.S.W., or equivalent experience
• LCSW preferred, but not required
• Bilingual in Spanish is a plus but not required.
• Position may require local travel and attendance at events/activities on occasional evenings and/or weekends.

AFC Mentoring offers a strengths-based collaborative staff team, flexible work environment, accessible office location in downtown Boston, and excellent benefit package with generous vacation. Salary commensurate with experience.