School and Community Engagement Manager

At Summer Search, we believe in 'No Ceilings' and envision a world in which young people, regardless of circumstances, can chart their own destiny. In the United States, students from underserved communities – disproportionately BIPOC and first-generation – face systemic inequities in school, in the workforce, and in life. Nevertheless, these young people possess unique strengths, resilience, and limitless potential.

Since 1990, Summer Search has partnered with young people during their transition from adolescence into adulthood by connecting them to expansive opportunities, professional mentoring, and a community of support. Summer Searchers recognize their potential and build a toolkit to navigate and challenge systemic barriers, break new ground for their families and communities, and achieve economic equity and a life of purpose.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Summer Search Boston is seeking a School and Community Engagement Manager to serve as a champion and ambassador for our high school program in Greater Boston communities. This hire will drive a strategic effort to engage school partners, school districts, community-based organizations, civic leaders, families, and students, in pursuit of our annual student recruitment goals. They will also be responsible for coordinating the annual outreach season and organizing events for students, families, and partners. This is an exciting opportunity for a well-organized relationship manager to advance the impact of Summer Search in the local community, as well as contribute to closing the opportunity gap for thousands of low-income youth nationwide.

Reporting to the Regional Program Director and partnering closely with the Boston High School Program team, the Manager will join a team passionate about working with youth and committed to building long-term, holistic, individualized relationships with each student to support them in their journey through high school and beyond.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Specifically, the School and Community Engagement Manager will:

People & Program Management

• Collaborate with local and national leadership to develop and implement trainings for local staff to support outreach work and strategy, such as presentation preparation and interview and data entry training.
• Collaborate with local and national leadership to advocate for the needs of the Outreach team, especially the unique resources and needs of the Greater Boston area and our students.
• Work collaboratively with Site Program Managers and Directors to create calendar of events and shared responsibilities across the program team.
• Create an outreach strategy as well as delegate tasks to local staff and the Outreach Intern (TBD) to help further our student-facing capacity and availability for student and community presentations.
• Dependent on staff needs and budget, manage a seasonal School & Community Engagement intern (TBD) for approximately 5 months each outreach season.

Lead an effective annual outreach and engagement strategy

• Develop and execute a strategic outreach plan, in collaboration with the Regional Program Director to successfully recruit and enroll 150-200 new students annually.
• Partner with Director of Programs and the Regional Program Director to develop outreach goals, forecast student enrollment, and refine processes to effectively engage schools and community-based organizations.
• Pursue strategies to recruit and enroll at least 30% males of color as program participants, exploring creative ways to promote Summer Search to this demographic and reflecting an understanding of challenges to male student engagement.
• Lead planning and execution of annual outreach activities, including presentations, application help sessions, social media content, interview days, student/family events, and school communication.
• Oversee program team member participation in outreach activities such as student presentations through delegating tasks, communicating progress, and supporting staff in completing their deliverables.
• Participate in a national cohort of outreach staff, leveraging best practices, learnings, and data to innovate upon local strategies and processes.

Build and manage relationships with key stakeholders

• Build and manage relationships and program expectations with 20+ existing partners by engaging with administration and staff to clarify eligibility requirements, nominate prospective students, communicate acceptance decisions and student updates, and coordinate school visits, group presentations, and virtual recruitment strategies.
• Foster collaborative partnerships with 18 priority schools and multiple school districts, ensuring a clear understanding and responsiveness to their specific interests and goals in working with Summer Search.
• Serve as an ambassador to broaden the knowledge and support of Summer Search with community-based organizations and individuals, including peer organizations, volunteers, families, civic leaders, and collective impact networks.
• Represent Summer Search publicly at community and school events and student presentations, which can happen some weekends and before 10am and after 6pm on weekdays, per the school or community organization’s request and student schedule.

Track and manage key student and outreach data

• Ensure accurate and timely tracking of outreach and student data in our Salesforce database.
• Build and run reports and perform data analysis to inform future outreach strategies and processes, including sharing data, trends, and progress with staff, Board of Directors, and national outreach cohort.
• Manage progress against regional metrics and goals (e.g. student nominations, applications, eligibility requirements, etc.)
• Collaborate with the Regional Program Director to finalize partnership criteria, which will inform how we develop and evaluate strategic partnership in the Greater Boston community.

Support planning and execution of High School Program

• Manage and/or support special projects (i.e. student ambassadors, orientations, etc.) to fully implement programming for the benefit of high school students.
• Support High School Program Managers to develop and implement family engagement strategy that increases Summer Search Boston’s connection to and relationships with students’ families.

Engage in Site-Wide and Network Initiatives

• Attend and engage with our site Signature Events and participant and family events about 3 times a quarter, typically in the evenings.
• Support project management of participant facing events (i.e. orientations, summer celebrations, etc.)
• Collaborate with the development team to help share participant stories and program impact in ways that honor our relationships and uplift youth voice. This may include identifying participants for optional donor-facing opportunities, sharing reflections on your work, or supporting community building with mission aligned partners.
• Partner with development and marketing team to elevate participant stories, share data/outcomes, and collect photos and testimonials from programmatic events that demonstrates our mission and shows our program in action to be integrated into network-wide donor communications.
• Serve on Summer on Call (SOC) team and support when issues or concerns arise related to Summer Search Students.

WHO YOU ARE

The School and Community Engagement Manager will be a highly motivated and self-led professional who can translate organization-wide strategies into local program deliverables and who is passionate about recruiting young people from Boston and the Greater Boston area.

Specifically, well-qualified candidates will bring:

• EXPERIENCE: At least 4 years of professional experience inclusive of external facing role(s) at a youth development, educational, or other social service organization, ideally serving low-income communities in Greater Boston. Comfort and experience with public speaking required. Experience initiating, building, and/or maintaining trusting relationships with a broad set of stakeholders (e.g. schools, school districts, community-based organizations, civic leaders, families).
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT: You take initiative to create systems and structures to achieve goals and objectives. You succeed at managing multiple workstreams and motivating, coordinating, and directing others to stay on track.
• COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: You cultivate relationships with individuals, communities and organizations as a central part of your work. You demonstrate an ability to respectfully center the culture of the communities you engage.
• ACCOUNTABILITY: You hold yourself and others responsible for processes, decisions, actions, and commitments to results to drive high quality outcomes. You're responsive to the needs of stakeholders and follow through on commitments.
• ADAPTABILITY: You tackle challenges and unfamiliar scenarios head-on with a solutions-oriented, flexible, and curious approach. You are willing to try new things and actively seek to understand multiple perspectives.
• COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS: You are an active listener and thoughtful and strategic when conveying feedback, sharing ideas, or responding to inquiries to various audiences in multiple formats.
• CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS: You have an understanding of the root causes of societal discrimination and injustices and are self-reflective about your own privilege and positional power. You apply critical thinking and take action toward liberatory and inclusive practices.
• TECHNOLOGY SKILLS: Proficiency of Microsoft Office applications, database operations, and Excel for data entry and management; prior experience using Salesforce is a plus.
• LANGUAGE SKILLS: Bi-lingual in English-Spanish/-Haitian Creole/-Cantonese/-Mandarin/-Vietnamese/-Cape Verdean Creole/-Portuguese is a plus.

Additionally, all Summer Search staff bring a commitment to our mission of unleashing students’ potential through mentoring and transformative experiences, as well as the ability to thrive in an environment that values excellence, gratitude, well-being, diversity, authenticity, and collaboration.

LOCATION AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Boston staff work from home 2 days a week and out of our office in Jamaica Plain 3 days a week.

Work hours are Mon-Fri 10am-6pm with occasional weekend, early mornings and evening events or presentations, meetings with School and Community Partners, and student and family engagement events. You must reside in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or New Hampshire by your first day of employment.

Must have a current driver’s license and a clean driving record, Access to a car or reliable transportation to travel to the office and schools in the greater Boston area is required.

This is an exempt position with a salary range of $73,336-$81,222. Summer Search is committed to transparent, equitable compensation practices. Salaries are benchmarked using current market data and salary bands are created to demonstrate the growth potential within the band. Typically, offers are made at the starting place of the salary band. The Hiring Manager partners with the Talent Team to ensure offers are appropriate, competitive and maintain internal equity.

Well-being, flexibility, and ongoing learning and development are pillars of our culture. We value our staff and are committed to creating an environment where every individual feels seen, heard and valued. Investments in our staff include:

• Medical insurance with up to 90% employer contribution
• Dental, vision, FSA, life, and disability insurance plans
• 401 (K) and Employer Match up to $2,000 annually
• Generous time off including 15 vacation days, 10 sick days, and 18 holidays (2 floating holidays of your choice, a birthday day-off, 10 company-wide holidays, and a 1-week December closure). Plus, Re-Fresh Friday’s - a paid day off the first Friday of every month!
• A comprehensive Employee Recognition Program (years of service awards, spot awards, and professional development funding).
• A four-week paid sabbatical after five years of continuous employment.
• Individual, local, regional, and national training
• A commitment to developing leaders from within the organization, with available limited Professional Development funding.
• An organizational culture that supports staff well-being and holistic self-care/community care
• Ample opportunities to connect with the students and communities we serve.

OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

With a staff that cares deeply about social justice and racial justice, we believe that diverse perspectives and backgrounds create a rich work environment and enhance our ability to pursue our mission. We are committed to building an organization with raised consciousness in order to impact how we work with students, as well as how we work together as a team. We hope you will join us as we continue to build a justice-centered organization that fosters a work environment where people from all backgrounds are welcomed and valued.