Community Engagement Associate

About NYC Kids RISE 

The NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program is a universal, community-driven wealth-building platform that expands access to mainstream financial products, builds individual and community assets, provides financial education for families and students, and brings schools and neighborhoods together to support all of their children’s futures. NYC Kids RISE is about to start its fifth year of operations in the geographic area of School District 30 in Queens - one of the most diverse school districts in the country - more than 13,000 students (~95% of all First, Second, Third and Fourth Graders) have a NYC Scholarship Account with more than $6M accumulated to date. Based on the success of the pilot, the City recently announced that the Program will be expanding citywide in the Fall 2021.

Through the Program, every student enrolled in a participating NYC public (district or charter) elementary school, starting in kindergarten, automatically receives an NYC Scholarship Account invested in the NY 529 Direct Plan plan with a $100 seed deposit and up to $200 in early rewards. Their families can open and connect their own college savings account (separate from the scholarship account) and start saving their own money in the ways and amounts that make sense for them, building financial capability and stability. At the same time, communities can contribute to groups of these NYC Scholarship Accounts as both a targeted and universal platform for community-driven asset-building in every neighborhood. By combining seed scholarships, family savings, community investments, and funding streams from every level, the platform can build meaningful assets for public school students. These accounts, and the accompanying program supports, enable families, schools, local organizations, businesses, anchor institutions, financial institutions, philanthropy, and the public sector to work together to build assets in students’ accounts and strengthen social capital by supporting expectations of success across the neighborhood.

Read more about NYC Kids RISE and the Save for College Program and listen to stories from partners who helped build the platform during the pilot phase. Also check out recent articles in the New York Times, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal and the NYCHA Journal. Read more about NYC Kids RISE theory of change here in a recent report by the Urban Institute. 

Community Engagement Associate 

NYC Kids RISE seeks a highly organized, and detail-oriented Community Engagement Associate with strong communication skills to join our Parent Foundations team and support the execution of our direct parent engagement strategy. The ideal candidate will engage participating families, help them understand the Save for College Program and its benefits, and support families to complete the foundational steps, with a special focus on understanding savings account options and opening their own savings accounts. Community Engagement Associates will also educate parents about different opportunities to continue to engage with their savings accounts including different ways and moments to save and provide appropriate referrals to supportive services. Applicants should be bilingual in English and either Mandarin or Arabic.

Key responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

• Becoming fluent in Save for College Program and college savings account materials in order to be able to present this information in a variety of settings, answer parent questions and work 1:1 with parents
• Conducting direct outreach to participating parents in person, via phone, text and / or email in order to explain the program and engage them to complete the foundational steps and move down the scale of engagement with the Program
• Delivering presentations about the Save for College Program and facilitating informational workshops
• Providing one-on-one navigational and technical support for parents/guardians in viewing their scholarship accounts, opening and linking their own college savings accounts and making deposits
• Staffing the NYC Kids RISE Hotline in order to answer the questions of participating parents and other stakeholders as well as help them sign up for workshops and complete key program steps
• Staffing Save for College Program events including supporting the logistics of prep, execution and follow up
• Ensuring timely follow up and excellent customer service to participating parents including appropriate referrals to other services
• Working on administrative and logistical projects that support the execution of the direct parent engagement strategy
• Providing feedback and generating new ideas for ways that NYC Kids RISE can support parents to understand the program and complete the foundational steps
• Representing NYC Kids RISE in interactions with a variety of community stakeholders such as school and community based organization partners
• Completing timely data entry to ensure all interactions with participating parents and other key data points such as workshop attendance and hotline calls are captured in NYC Kids RISE’s database 
• Along with all NYC Kids RISE employees, maintaining, and supporting other staff and volunteers to maintain strict adherence to NYC Kids RISE data security and privacy policies; remaining vigilant on the ways in which NYC Kids RISE can continue to protect Confidential Information (including Student and Family Data); and
• Along with all NYC Kids RISE employees, participating and sharing in the organization’s work to advance racial equity and anti-oppression in the organization’s and program’s operations and practices; proactively identify opportunities to advance the development of an anti-racist organization; share and solicit ongoing feedback and conversations to advance this work.

Requirements:

• Bilingual in English and either Mandarin, Arabic, or Spanish;
• 2-4 years of related work experience 
• Interest in or previous work experience in financial empowerment and / or college and career readiness, and / or community organizing
• Ability to lead presentations, and facilitate workshops or events in English and one or more of the following languages: Spanish, Mandarin or Arabic
• Strong oral and written communications skills
• Proficiency in MS/Google Suite
• Familiarity with Client Relationship Management databases
• Proficiency in Zoom / Google Meet / MS Teams or other video meeting or webinar technology
• Availability for some evening, early morning, and weekend events;

Preferred Skills:

• Ability to break down complex concepts in a way that is easy to understand in English and Spanish, Mandarin or Arabic
• Ability to walk someone through the technical aspects of a registration, enrollment or application process in English and one or more of the following languages: Spanish, Mandarin or Arabic
• Previous experience with project management

Due to COVID-19, the application process for this role will be conducted virtually. The entire team is currently working remotely and depending on the timing of this hire, the Manager of Operations will likely begin this position remotely as well. The office is otherwise based in Long Island City (Queens, NY), and the entire team is expected to return to the office once health conditions allow.

To apply, a cover letter and resume are required. Please list the name of the position, “Community Engagement Associate." Salary is $65K.

NYC Kids Rise is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in employment on the basis of basis of gender, religion, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, marital status, caregiver status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, unemployed status, or any other characteristic protected by law.