Youth Leadership Coordinator

Job Title: Youth Leadership Coordinator 

Reports To: Educational Director (weekly) & the Executive Director (monthly)

Location: Oakland, CA

Status: Full-time

Salary: $63,000 - $68,000

Organization

Mycelium Youth Network (MYN) prepares youth in the Bay Area -- who are most vulnerable to and already feeling the effects of environmental racism -- for climate change. We use a merger of indigenous environmental traditions that emphasize youth environmental stewardship and relationship building alongside a rigorous STEAM curriculum that focuses on practical hands-on skills for climate resilience and mitigation that youth create and implement in their homes and local communities. We empower youth to grow as visionary leaders and budding environmentalists, connect with ancestral teachings, and trust in the wisdom of the natural world.

Job Summary: 

The Youth Leadership Educator position will implement our Youth Leadership Council (YLC) programming at an Oakland-based partner school. They will be responsible for preparing curriculum and lesson planning, delivering educational content to a cohort of youth leadership interns, managing YLC program elements, attending relevant staff meetings, and collaborating with the Education Team to ensure successful program development and implementation. The educator should be familiar with culturally responsive teaching and learning practices, youth participatory action research, project-based learning, and youth leadership development.

Principal responsibilities include but aren’t limited to:

• Recruit and manage a cohort of 6  to 10 youth at one school site for our Youth Leadership Council;  
• Lead students through participatory research, design, and action towards the development of their school community as a climate resilience hub; 
• Provide direct support and instruction to the YLC intern cohort, providing evaluation and feedback to participants, and align youth participation with MYN organizational goals  through twice a week programming;  
• Develop curriculum and implement programming geared towards youth leadership development and climate resilience;
• Co-create content and support development of Mycelium’s broader youth leadership development programming and strategies;
• Communicate with parents/guardians, school staff, OUSD leadership, and partners on a regular basis and make adjustments to programming and project plans accordingly; 
• Communicate and collaborate effectively with school staff partners, pertinent formal and informal educators, community partners and the larger scientific community who can positively impact the development and delivery of and participation in Mycelium Youth Network programs;   
• Plan, lead, and participate in supporting special events and field trips;   
• Attend staff meetings and support in the larger organizational and educational goals of Mycelium Youth Network’s educational team; 
• Stay up to date with current trends in environmental education, state and federal K-12 standards and continuing education requirements, educational theory, pedagogy and as well as environmental issues and policy; and 
• Use existing knowledge and experience to seek out innovative, evidence-based scientific research and educational practices to continually improve Mycelium’s educational programs;  
• Engage in weekly check-ins with supervisor and participate in staff meetings;
• Maintain a positive, safe, productive work environment;   
• Attend training and professional development opportunities 

Qualifications:

• No degree is required but a 4-year degree is strongly preferred,  plus the successful completion of various professional development courses or relevant professional experience; 
• Teaching credential/certificate/license for corresponding age/grade level strongly preferred; 
• Minimum of 2 years of teaching experience and/or direct youth engagement in an educational context;
• Highly developed oral and written communication skills; 
• Ability to build relationships effectively and professionally with families and students; 
• Experience developing and implementing curriculum; 
• Experience conducting research in the field of education and/or environmental justice;
• Well-developed data collection and data analysis skills; 
• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement age-appropriate curriculum; and
• Demonstrated commitment to environmental social justice, anti-oppression work, youth leadership, and LGBTQIA+ rights

Sick and Vacation Time: 

This position accrued sick and vacation time. Currently this stands at the following but is subject to change with changes in our staff handbook upon implementation of the handbook. 

1. Trial period: 6 weeks trial period but that sick and vacation would accrue immediately 
2. Sick leave: For every 30 hours work 1 hour of sick leave which would be the equivalent of the 9 days of sick leave a year; capped at 2 weeks; 
3. In no case will an employee accrue less than 1 hour for every 30 hours worked as required by law.
4. In addition to paid sick leave offered for reasons specified in Mycelium’s Paid Sick Leave policy, Mycelium will provide up to one work week (4 days) of paid leave for any staff member who has tested positive for COVID-19 and cannot perform their work remotely. 
5. Vacation: Regular full-time employees will begin accruing vacation leave upon the date of hire. 100% FTE employees accrue 130 hours per year (4 weeks) of accrued vacation in addition to paid holidays.

Equity-Centered  Employer: 

We do not approach our work from the mentality that we need to ‘save’ communities. We live and work alongside our youth using our collective ancestral traditions and practices along with the best of scientific thinking in order to radically improve our community from within. It is our firm belief that our youth should see themselves reflected at all levels of leadership as a model for the leaders they can become. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.

This position accrued sick and vacation time. Currently, this stands at the following but is subject

to change with changes in our staff handbook upon implementation of the handbook.

1. Trial period: 6 weeks trial period but sick and vacation would accrue immediately

2. Sick leave: For every 30 hours work 1 hour of sick leave which would be the equivalent

of the 9 days of sick leave a year; capped at 2 weeks;

a. In no case will an employee accrue less than 1 hour for every 30 hours worked as

required by law.

b. In addition to paid sick leave offered for reasons specified in Mycelium’s Paid

Sick Leave policy, Mycelium will provide up to one work week (4 days) of paid

leave for any staff member who has tested positive for COVID-19 and cannot

perform their work remotely.

3. Vacation: Regular full-time employees will begin accruing vacation leave upon the date

of hire. 100% FTE employees accrue 130 hours per year (4 weeks) of accrued vacation in

addition to paid holidays.

Equity-Centered Employer:

We do not approach our work from the mentality that we need to ‘save’ communities. We live

and work alongside our youth using our collective ancestral traditions and practices along with

the best of scientific thinking in order to radically improve our community from within. It is our

firm belief that our youth should see themselves reflected at all levels of leadership as a model

for the leaders they can become. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with

these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.