Volunteer Engagement Coordinator at Rikers Island - The Petey Greene Program, New York

About Us

The Petey Greene Program supports the academic goals of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people through high-quality volunteer tutoring programs, while educating volunteers on the injustice manifest in our carceral system.

We envision a world in which all incarcerated people have access to high-quality academic programs and we strive to inspire our alumni - both students and tutors - to become advocates, and to take on leadership roles that reimagine the criminal legal system.

The PGP operates the largest multi-state volunteer tutoring program for currently and formerly incarcerated people. Since our founding in 2008, we’ve served over 21,000 students across more than 140 programming sites—including correctional and reentry programs—placed over 9,000 volunteers, and partnered with 40+ universities in seven states and Washington, D.C.

The PGP is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, but the majority of our 40 employees are based across the Northeast in regions where the PGP holds programming.

The Role

As part of the launch of PGP educational programming at Rikers Island, the Volunteer Engagement Coordinator will work with the PGP’s Program Manager - Operations to recruit, train, and manage volunteers participating in PGP’s tutoring programs and ensure the provision of high-quality tutoring services for incarcerated students at Rikers Island.

At the beginning of a semester, the Volunteer Coordinator will collaborate with PGP staff to recruit, vet, place, and coordinate the onboarding of volunteers who will be tutoring at Rikers Island. This also includes guiding volunteers through the NYCDOC clearance and orientation process. During the semester they will monitor student and volunteer attendance at tutoring sessions, working with PGP staff to provide debrief opportunities for volunteers, as well as troubleshoot and offer additional support to tutors as necessary. The Volunteer Engagement Coordinator reports to and is supervised by the PGP’s Program Manager - Operations.

Candidates must reside in the greater New York City area. The role is hybrid, with the expectation that the Volunteer Engagement Coordinator will be in-person at Rikers Island two or three days per week, along with one in-office day at our coworking space, and at least one work-from-home day.

This position is grant-funded through December 2028, with the possibility of renewal dependent on renewal of funding.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Regional Programming Responsibilities
  • Support in recruitment of new volunteers, both on university campuses and in the community to tutor at Rikers Island
  • Vet applications and conduct volunteer interviews, in collaboration with PGP staff
  • In collaboration with PGP staff, both at Rikers Island and leading programming in the community, determine volunteers’ semester tutoring schedule
  • Support in the process of getting volunteers approved to volunteer at Rikers Island, including collecting clearance paperwork, scheduling orientations, and supporting with PGP-required trainings
  • Ensure volunteers complete all onboarding requirements before beginning tutoring and send reminders when necessary
  • Support volunteers in determining their transportation plans or potential carpools to Rikers Island
  • Monitor volunteer attendance forms and follow up with any necessary support or to provide reminders about not submitted attendance forms
  • Communicate regularly with volunteers, especially if an incident occurs or a volunteer misses a tutoring session, flagging issues for supervisor when appropriate
  • Collaborate closely with PGP’s community-based Volunteer Engagement Coordinator and Program Manager in New York City to align on volunteer recruitment, vetting, placement, and support
  • Respond promptly to emails from volunteers, NYCDOC stakeholders ,, and fellow PGP staff
  • Support with the logistics involved in hosting PGP events for volunteers and the New York community each semester
  • Participate in daily on-site meetings with PGP’s Rikers team members to align services, ensure coordinated student support, and collectively navigate daily work inside a carceral space
• National Organizational Responsibilities
  • Manage volunteer data, including schedules, attendance, and feedback, through Salesforce
  • Participates in and prepares for weekly meetings with the regional team and all PGP staff

Required Qualifications

• Associates Degree or some college and 1 - 2 years of work experience
• Experience working with currently formerly incarcerated people
• Experience working with volunteers, particularly student volunteers or young professionals
• Experience providing direct support to students, managing educational programs, and/or navigating educational processes.
• Awareness of issues related to mass incarceration and broader social justice concerns.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Proficiency in Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, and Google Calendar
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person and via email, text, and phone.
• Attention to detail and extremely organized.
• Ability to work independently and with a team.
• Awareness of issues related to mass incarceration and broader educational justice and social justice concerns.
• Must be able to be cleared to enter NYCDOC facilities (if you have concerns about this requirement, we encourage you to still submit an application or reach out to us so we can discuss further)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Working knowledge of university systems, offices, procedures, and resources.
• Experience working with student organizations.
• Working knowledge of the people or organizations involved in the New York criminal justice or education space.
• Experience or skills in group facilitation
• Experience working with or knowledge of the New York City Department of Corrections as an employee, partner, or a formerly incarcerated person.
• An understanding of the US criminal justice system and local policies.

The Petey Greene Program is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its personnel decisions based on race, ancestry, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/domestic partner status, religion, age, disability status, veteran status, or former incarceration status.

We are committed to ongoing learning and reflection and we are continuously working to ensure that the Petey Greene Program is welcoming and supportive of staff members of all identities, including system-impacted people, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ people. We also believe that this work should be led by system-impacted people, whose perspectives and direct knowledge of the problems are necessary to achieving freedom and educational justice.

Benefits

The Petey Greene Program’s staff make our work possible and we are committed to providing a comprehensive benefits package to support employee’s well-being and professional growth. These benefits include:

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits with the PGP covering 60% (dental and vision) to 82% (medical) of premiums
• 100% employer-paid life insurance and short- and long-term disability benefits
• 401k retirement plan with 1% employer contribution
• Voluntary benefits offered including Pet Insurance and FSA Commuter and Transit Benefits
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave
• Paid winter break between Christmas and New Year’s day, in addition to 10 paid holidays throughout the year
• Full-time employees accrue 20 days of vacation time, 1 floating holiday, and 12 days of sick time per year
• PGP closes at 1 PM on Fridays from June through August
• Dedicated funds for employees to use towards professional development each year
• Monthly technology reimbursement
• Access to a local coworking space