Program Associate, Youth Engagement

Organization Overview

C&S sparks young people to help build a strong and thriving America. Our work is grounded in a simple belief: young people with ideas make our country stronger. We meet young people where they are—on campuses, at work, and in their communities—and give them the tools, support, and space to lead real change. Across all our work, C&S helps young people practice three essential civic skills: having productive conversations; using credible information; and collaborating to create solutions. Learn more at cands.org.

Position Overview

The Program Associate will provide programmatic, administrative, communications, and implementation support for C&S' work with young people in communities. This early-career role suits someone with about 1–3 years of relevant experience and an interest in developing skills in program coordination, youth engagement, and nonprofit operations. Candidates of all ages and career paths are welcome. This role will support a variety of youth engagement initiatives, including the Carnegie Young Leaders for Civic Preparedness Fellowship (CYL), our Youth Advisory Council (YAC), the campus Civic Acceleration Teams (CAT), the Civic Activation Studio, and our &You youth activation initiative. The ideal candidate is highly organized, detail-oriented, youth-centered, and energized by helping young people develop as civic problem-solvers.

C&S is a remote workplace with staff across the country. We gather in person 2-3 times each year at our headquarters at the Carnegie Center in Princeton, NJ, for events that build trust and teamwork. Program-specific travel may be required from time to time; however, most time will be spent working remotely from your home base.

Essence of the Position

• Support evaluation and data tracking across initiatives, ensuring accurate records and timely reporting through thoughtful planning, clear communication, and strong attention to detail.
• Coordinate programming logistics and administrative support, including scheduling, payment requests, participant communications, and document tracking.
• Build responsive, supportive relationships with young people, partners, and colleagues, bringing an understanding of youth experiences and interests to advance civic participation, youth voice, and collaborative problem-solving.

Primary Focus

• Provide project management and administrative support: Support stipend processing, scheduling, agenda preparation, note-taking, vendor coordination, travel or event logistics, payment tracking, invoice processing, and internal coordination of priorities.
• Support implementation and operations across all initiatives: Provide day-to-day support, including communications, portfolio calendar management, planning and execution of onboarding, program/participant tracking, and coordination with: CYL (Fellows, Team Leads, coaches, mentors, and partners), YAC members, C&S CAT liaisons, CAT student members, Civic Activation Studio participants, and &You Youth Task Force and &You partners. Also support recruitment, application, and selection processes as needed.
• Maintain accurate program records and data systems: Track participant rosters, project information, attendance, stipends, deliverables, deadlines, and key program milestones across activities.
• Assist with learning, evaluation, and reporting: Collect participant reflections, organize survey information, support interview or focus group logistics, and prepare summary materials for internal updates, funders, partners, and the Board.
• Coordinate milestones and learning activities: Support planning and execution of virtual learning sessions, Communities of Practice, reflection activities, and reporting deadlines.
• Serve as a responsive point of contact for Fellows and other C&S youth participants and adult supporters: Help answer questions, troubleshoot issues, track follow-up needs, and ensure that young people, coaches, mentors, and partners have the information and support needed to participate successfully.
• Support planning and execution for &You: Assist with partner outreach logistics, activation planning, project management, meeting preparation, follow-up tracking, and coordination across internal teams as this youth activation initiative moves from design to implementation.
• Support administrative alignment across initiatives: Identify administrative efficiencies across all youth engagement efforts so that learning, youth insights, tools, and participation reinforce one another.
• Assist with communications and storytelling: Draft program updates, collect participant stories, organize photos or artifacts, prepare slide content, and help document the impact of youth civic action across initiatives.
• Contribute to a youth-centered program culture and continuous improvement: Help ensure that program materials, meetings, communications, and processes are accessible, inclusive, affirming, and grounded in the belief that young people are civic problem-solvers. Surface what is working, where participants need more support, and how systems and tools can be strengthened over time.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience required.
• Approximately 1–3 years of relevant work experience supporting programs, events, youth initiatives, nonprofit projects, education programs, civic learning efforts, or community-based work.
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to work well with people with diverse perspectives and experiences.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple competing priorities, deadlines, and moving pieces.
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication skills, including comfort communicating with young people, adult partners, coaches, and internal colleagues.
• Comfort maintaining spreadsheets, tracking systems, calendars, and program documentation.
• Strong understanding of the experiences, interests, communication preferences, and digital spaces of young people (defined herein as Gen Z and Gen Alpha), and the ability to apply that knowledge to youth engagement and program communications.
• Proficiency with various social media; TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite; knowledge of Airtable a plus.
• Ability to travel to convenings.
• Authorization to work in the United States

Attributes

• You are a self-starter: you are eager to start and manage tasks, you don’t need to be told what to do, and you will manage up and ask questions to mine for clarity throughout the process.
• You care deeply about the well-being of others, actively reflect on your impact, and use those insights to strengthen your work and the world around you.
• You are eager to learn and grow alongside your colleagues, working to build strong, trusting relationships.

Our Core Values

• We are constantly learning and improving. We test and refine new ideas and learn from our mistakes. We dare to question old solutions. We seek opportunities to collaborate with our diverse team; different backgrounds, skill sets, and thinking styles give us valuable new perspectives. We share knowledge and insights with each other to help us grow as individuals and as an organization.
• We value diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging for all. We believe that we are stronger for our differences, and we acknowledge, respect, and appreciate them. We actively work with and learn from everyone—across all demographics, backgrounds, ideologies, and geographies. We identify areas where we differ and, for the good of the organization and each other, we explore and engage with differing perspectives.
• We are gracious and grateful in all that we do. We invest in our relationships with warmth and a sense of humor. We express gratitude to all our colleagues and stakeholders. While we strive for excellence, we recognize that no one is perfect. We give others the benefit of the doubt and act with kindness and integrity.
• We are attentive and intentional. We are aware of the needs of the world and those around us so that our work has a real impact. Our work is mission-driven and we know the “whys”—both large and small—behind what we do. Recognizing that details matter, we are equally committed to quality.

C&S offers a generous benefits package, and a largely remote working arrangement.