Manager, Program & Impact

Manager, Program & Impact

(Full Time, Hybrid)

About Read Ahead

Read Ahead is dedicated to helping New York City youth strengthen the literacy and social-emotional skills they need to thrive in school and beyond. Read Ahead’s vision is that our students have the opportunity to unlock their full potential through mentoring relationships based on a love of reading.

Since 1991, Read Ahead has connected public elementary school students with caring mentors from leading corporate and community partners. During weekly virtual sessions, mentors and mentees read together, discuss books and their lives, and engage in fun and educational games and activities. Read Ahead sessions are designed to help children grow their confidence, love of reading, literacy skills, and other skills essential for success. For more information, please visit readahead.org.

With the development of our hybrid program and in light with our cultural values, we are committed to ongoing improvement as an organization, and creating better outcomes for the students, families, and schools we serve.

About the Manager, Program & Impact

Read Ahead seeks a flexible, proactive problem-solver with excellent relationship-building, organizational, and communication skills. This role is a great fit for individuals who have an understanding of the New York City public school system and the communities we serve. This is a great opportunity for a professional who is passionate about children, mentoring, reading, and/or volunteerism. Experience with using technology and a comfort and interest in learning new technology is a plus.

The Manager, Program & Impact is responsible for the management of Read Ahead at their assigned school(s)/program(s). They will act as an ambassador of Read Ahead and engage regularly with mentees, parents and caregivers, volunteer mentors, and school staff. They are responsible for ensuring that the program runs smoothly, that mentors and mentees are supported throughout their mentoring experience, and that program goals are met. Other responsibilities include critical administrative and logistical tasks, including scheduling, tracking attendance, and database entry.

As part of a dynamic and evolving Program Team, the Manager, Program & Impact will support with building out an improved literacy program that engages even more deeply with students, caregivers, schools, and mentors. As we focus on deepening the impact of our literacy engagement with students, Read Ahead may expand its current program offerings beyond our current volunteer model. The Manager, Program & Impact will participate in initiatives that further deepen the impact of Read Ahead’s unique approach to using literacy as a means of social change.

This position reports to a Senior Manager, Program & Impact on the Read Ahead program team.

Responsibilities

Program Facilitation

• Facilitate, coordinate, and monitor 15-20 weekly Read Ahead sessions at assigned school partner(s): the majority of students will be on-site at their schools participating in sessions over Zoom with their mentors
• Communicate effectively and regularly with key stakeholders, including parents/caregivers, volunteer mentors, and teachers/school staff
• Manage program technology and provide in-person assistance to participants (i.e., Zoom and online reading platforms)
• Manage and support ~140 - 180 volunteer mentors, including ongoing communication
• Support ~100-140 mentees in grades 1-5 in their mentoring experience
• Provide ongoing support to mentors and mentees, including formal check-ins

Program Quality Management

• Conduct tasks that ensure a high-quality program, including attendance data tracking and entering program status updates on Read Ahead’s Live Impact database
• Review and approve mentor applications and support mentors through onboarding and matching process at the start of program launch
• Support the creation of session materials for programs, as well as supporting curriculum development, improvements, and redesigns by the Program Team
• Engage with school staff and families to share information about programming and encourage student enrollment, including communicating with school leadership and liaisons, answering caregiver questions, supporting with completion of permission forms
• Collaborate with school stakeholders including leadership staff, teachers, and after school staff to strengthen program implementation on site

Family Engagement

• Support and execute new family engagement initiatives to build relationships with families
• Lead in-person family orientations at school site to ensure family engagement is prioritized during the mentee onboarding process
• Conduct a bi-monthly check-in call with caregivers to update on progress of Read Ahead program including mentee attendance, reading progress, and general mentor-mentee relationship updates
• Support all other initiatives that foster greater engagement of parents and caregivers, as determined by the Senior Director, Program & Impact

Administrative Tasks and Other Stakeholder Engagement

• Enter and track daily program data in Read Ahead’s database in a timely manner with attention to detail/accuracy
• Coordinate the scheduling of and reminders for mentors and mentees for your program sessions
• Support with distribution of annual stakeholder surveys including school surveys, mentor surveys, and caregiver surveys
• Support organization-wide communications by periodically contributing to Read Ahead’s general newsletter, social media, blog, or other stakeholder engagement initiatives

Organizational Culture

• Actively participate in team meetings, learning initiatives, and professional development
• Ensure the inclusion of various organizational initiatives into mentor onboarding, training, and ongoing management
• Support all key Read Ahead initiatives and team culture practices

Qualifications

• Passion for and commitment to Read Ahead’s mission and cultural values
• Demonstrated understanding of the connection between literacy, child development, and social justice
• Experience working with kids and their parents/caregivers
• Positive, growth-mindset approach to supporting children, along with a deep commitment to genuine learning and self-improvement for self and others
• Experience with, or a strong interest in, volunteer management
• Ability to effectively lead and monitor weekly virtual mentoring sessions as well as occasional in-person events
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, including the ability to manage time and deadlines effectively
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to work and adapt in a fast-paced environment
• Comfort, familiarity and/or interest in working on a small team
• Experience with technology, and an openness to learning and using new tools (e.g., email, video conferencing, cloud-based file management, and project management tools)
• Spanish and Mandarin speakers a plus but not required

Completion of a satisfactory pre-employment screening process in accordance with applicable federal, state and local law and DOE requirements) is required.

Even successful candidates may not have all of the qualifications indicated above; if you are excited about the role, believe you can successfully fulfill its responsibilities, and don’t have every single qualification, we encourage you to apply anyway.

Physical Requirements

Work is normally performed in a school setting, which includes climbing stairs and frequent walking around the building to escort students during program hours. Employees should be prepared to lift 20-30 pounds unassisted. The position may also require standing and sitting for long periods of time and fine-finger and hand manipulation to operate a computer and keyboard.

Hybrid Work Policy

As an organization that partners with New York City public schools, afterschool service providers, families, corporate partners, and other stakeholders, Read Ahead recognizes that in-person work is required to achieve our mission.

The Manager, Program & Impact will typically work up to 4 days per week (Monday - Thursday) in-person at schools, with a schedule determined by program needs and approved by their manager. When school is not in session such as during holiday weeks and breaks, on-site responsibilities may be up to 3 days/week at the Read Ahead office. Fridays will generally be a remote work day. In-person responsibilities for this role include, but are not limited to:

• Lead in-person weekly program sessions working in partnership with key school and/or after school staff
• Meetings with Read Ahead staff and external stakeholders (e.g. bi-weekly staff meetings, bi-weekly program team meetings, quarterly school leadership and after school partner meetings, etc.)
• School recruitment and engagement events (e.g. Annual family nights at partner schools, PTA meetings or caregiver orientation workshops)
• Fundraising and donor cultivation events and event preparation (e.g. Read Ahead’s annual gala)
• Program, operations, and event support during key times of the year

Compensation & Benefits

The annual salary for this position is $64,350.

Highly competitive benefits package:

• 90% general healthcare insurance coverage (employee pays 10%)
• 100% dental insurance coverage (no cost to employee)
• vision insurance
• $3,000 annual employer-funded Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)
• eligibility to contribute to 403(b) with up to a 3% match by Read Ahead for all employees who are employed on the last day of the calendar year (12/31)
• pre-tax transit program
• pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA) plan
• 3 weeks (15 days) paid vacation in first year of employment; 4 weeks (20 days) annual paid vacation after that; vacation accrues monthly in accordance with Read Ahead’s vacation policy
• 10 sick days and 3 personal days per year in accordance with Read Ahead’s sick and personal days policies
• Read Ahead is closed between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day each year and for all federal holidays

Read Ahead does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking. You will have an opportunity to discuss benefits in more detail during the hiring process.

How to Apply

Please submit a resume and cover letter addressed to Shay Li (Senior Manager, Program & Impact) at www.readahead.org/join-our-team/apply. In your cover letter, please share why you are interested in Read Ahead and why the Manager, Program & Impact role is a good fit for you.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. No phone calls please.

Read Ahead is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, alienage, citizenship or immigration disability, pregnancy, marital and civil partnership/union status, familial status, military or veteran status, genetic information, genetic predisposition or carrier status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual violence or stalking, arrest or conviction record to the extent required by applicable law, sexual and reproductive health decisions, caregiver status, unemployment status, credit history, height, weight or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, and local law.