Volunteer Engagement Coordinator, Massachusetts and Rhode Island

The Petey Greene Program supports the academic and career goals of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people through high-quality tutoring and other educational programs while serving to educate our volunteers and the public on the manifest injustice in our carceral system.

We envision a world in which all people directly impacted by the criminal legal system have access to high-quality educational programming. The Petey Greene Program will inspire our alumni to become advocates and leaders in transforming the criminal legal system.

The PGP operates the largest multi-state volunteer tutoring program for currently and formerly incarcerated people. Since its founding, the PGP has tutored more than 20,000 students at over 130 tutoring sites, including both correctional facilities and reentry programs. We've trained and placed more than 4,000 unique volunteers and recruited from more than 40 partner universities in six states and the District of Columbia.

The PGP is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, but the majority of our 30 employees work in a hybrid arrangement in their respective regions. For more information about the Petey Greene Program and our work, take a look at our 2023 Annual Report.

The Role:

The Volunteer Engagement Coordinator will work with PGP’s Regional Manager in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to recruit, train, and manage volunteers participating in PGP’s tutoring programs in prison, jails, diversion and reentry settings across the state.

At the beginning of a semester, the Volunteer Coordinator will help PGP staff recruit, vet, place, and coordinate the onboarding of volunteers. During the semester they will monitor student and volunteer attendance, working with PGP staff to provide debrief opportunities for volunteers, as well as troubleshoot and offer additional support to tutors when necessary. The Volunteer Coordinator reports to and is supervised by the PGP’s Regional Manager in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The role is hybrid, with a combination of work-from-home days, on-site days at partner sites, and in-office days at our coworking space in Cambridge. Candidates must be based in Massachusetts with the ability and willingness to travel to:

• Cambridge for in-office days at our coworking space
• Across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as needed, for partner meetings

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with PGP staff to develop and maintain PGP’s on-campus presence and relationships at universities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island
• Support in recruitment of new volunteers, both on university campuses and in the community
• Vet applications and conduct volunteer interviews, in collaboration with PGP staff
• In collaboration with PGP partner organizations and with support of PGP staff, determine volunteers’ semester tutoring schedule
• Support in the process of getting volunteers cleared to enter the prison or jail where they are assigned to tutor, which includes collecting clearance paperwork and scheduling an orientation
• Ensure volunteers complete all onboarding requirements before beginning tutoring and send reminders when necessary
• Coordinate transportation for volunteers to tutoring sites
• 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 regional management when appropriate
• Ensure that all volunteers and students complete intake and evaluation forms
• Manage volunteer data, including schedules, attendance, and feedback, through Salesforce
• Respond promptly to emails from volunteers, university faculty and staff, and fellow staff.
• Support the logistics involved with hosting PGP events for volunteers and the Massachusetts/Rhode Island community each semester
• Participate in multiple meetings a week with regional staff and all PGP staff.

Competencies:

• 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.
• A commitment to social justice, racial equity, and the rights of formerly incarcerated people
• A commitment to racial equity, and the rights of currently and formerly incarcerated people.

Required Qualifications:

• Associates Degree or some college and 1 - 2 years of work experience
• Experience working with community-based organizations focused on supporting formerly incarcerated people
• Experience working with volunteers, particularly student volunteers or young professionals
• Working knowledge of university systems, offices, procedures, and resources.
• Experience working with student organizations.
• Experience providing direct support to students, managing educational programs, and/or navigating educational processes.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Working knowledge of the people or organizations involved in the Massachusetts or Rhode Island criminal justice or education space.
• Experience or skills in group facilitation
• Experience working with or knowledge of the Department of Correction as an employee, partner, or a formerly incarcerated person.
• A commitment to social justice, racial equity, and the rights of formerly incarcerated people.
• An understanding of the US criminal justice system and local policies.
• A commitment to education in confined settings.

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, especially 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.

The PGP defines system-impacted as a person who by their own experience, family experience, school experiences, and/or communal experiences has previous interaction or involvement with and who is legally, economically, familially, or psychologically affected by the criminal legal system. Interaction or involvement with the criminal legal system includes arrest and/or detainment, appearance in criminal courts, incarceration, immigrant detention, juvenile detention, parole, and/or probation.