Communications Associate

About the Afterschool Alliance

The Afterschool Alliance is a national nonprofit working to ensure that all children and youth have access to affordable, quality afterschool and summer programs. Programs help young people learn and grow while providing peace of mind for working families. Our enthusiastic and collaborative team has a strong track record of expanding funding available for local programs and raising awareness of the value of these programs. We are proud that 7 million children have fun, engaging programs after school, but 22.6 million children are still missing out. Our mission is to close that gap.

Position Summary

We seek a Communications Associate who is excited to support our mission and has superb writing and editing skills, experience organizing and coordinating efforts across teams, a passion for communications that motivate and educate, and the ability to craft messages that resonate with key audiences. As part of a small communications team, the Communications Associate will have the opportunity to contribute to many aspects of our work, from the development and implementation of social media campaigns, to running in-person and virtual events, to creating blast emails, blogs, and website content. The Associate will help check materials for adherence to our brand and style guide and help execute hallmark events such as Lights On Afterschool and the Afterschool for All Challenge.

Position Details

Team Communications

Reports To Communications Director

Classification Full-time, exempt, regular employee

Schedule 40 hrs/week

Location Washington, D.C., Hybrid, with consistent schedule of in-office attendance weekly

Travel As needed

Major Roles and Responsibilities

Strategy + Content

• Lead development of integrated social media campaigns around key reports and initiatives, including organic and paid media strategy, to ensure our work reaches and resonates with key audiences
• Draft, schedule, and publish engaging content across all current social media channels (X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram), as well as establish presence on emerging platforms (Bluesky)
• Design compelling graphics for social media as needed, using Canva or Adobe Creative Suite
• Draft, edit, and proofread concise, accurate, and compelling written and visual content for emails, blogs, social media, and webpages and adjust for specific audiences
• Update sections of www.afterschoolalliance.org on a regular basis and make suggestions for improvements and additions
• Support production of short-form video content, particularly using Canva, Da Vinci Resolve, or Adobe Premiere
• Use analytics for continuous improvement; collect and report communications metrics on website, blogs, and social media to the communications team

Events and Webinars

• Contribute to the strategy, coordination, and execution of in-person and virtual events and presentations
  • For example, drafting invitations/messaging for events/talking points for events, ensuring all event materials are aligned with style guide, providing up-to-the-minute social media coverage of key events, and drafting partner/promotional toolkits

Core Communications Operations

• Careful review and proofing of written and visual content
• Maintain the style guide for the organization
• Assist in the growth, upkeep, and segmentation of the organization’s contact database

Qualifications

• Superb writing, editing, and proofing skills; eye for graphic presentation of data and key points
• Experience writing for social media, website, blog, and email
• Demonstrated storytelling and creativity skills; strong sense of how to convey the story in data and content, and how to use visuals to make key points land with audiences
• Experience putting together (or assisting with) a dynamic in-person or virtual event
• Experience producing video, particularly using Da Vinci Resolve, Canva, Final Cut Pro, or Adobe Premiere (a plus)
• Experience reporting via analytics software, particularly Google Analytics and SproutSocial
• Ability to learn new systems and software
• Passion for communications that motivate others to act and engage
• Commitment to expanding afterschool and summer opportunities for youth field

This Position Could Be a Good Fit for You If…

• You like to write, and you’re good at it. You have experience turning highly technical or complex research and policy writing into clear, concise, relatable communications and a strong sense of how to use visuals to make key points stand out while staying true to the data.
• You appreciate working in a small, collaborative team.
• You are flexible, not afraid to raise ideas or questions, and are comfortable asking for help or clarity.
• You’re willing to pitch in and help wherever needed to support the organization.
• You have an eye for detail and take pride in your ability to focus on eliminating typos and creating the clearest communications possible.
• You love using data to think about how to improve performance.
• You enjoy weaving together all of the parts required to pull off a dynamic event.
• You believe deeply in our mission.

The Afterschool Alliance reserves the right to update position description and responsibilities as needed.

The Afterschool Alliance is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The Afterschool Alliance is an equal opportunity employer. We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

We offer excellent benefits, including health insurance, life and short and long-term disability insurance, a 403(b) retirement program, flexible spending accounts and generous vacation, sick leave, and holiday schedules. The Afterschool Alliance offers a well-balanced work environment with a supportive and growing team and opportunities for advancement.