Community Education Navigator

About Us

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 seven 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.

The Role

The Community Education Navigator will be responsible for ensuring the provision of high-quality tutoring and other educational services predominantly for students in reentry who were previously incarcerated at SCI Chester. This includes managing several programmatic partnerships, providing individualized student support, and addressing administrative requirements. The Community Education Navigator reports to PGP’s Regional Manager in Philadelphia.

The Community Education Navigator will collaborate and coordinate with multiple types of partners, including higher education in prison programs, community based partners, and facility staff. The Community Education Navigator is responsible for supporting the continued educational needs of participating students as they reenter the community, and thinking creatively about how to provide and assist students in accessing personalized supports. The position is also tasked with monitoring the quality of PGP’s provided tutoring services in the community, and troubleshooting any issues that arise in collaboration with program partners, PGP staff, tutors, or students.

The role is hybrid, with a combination of work-from-home days,on-site days at community based partner locations, and in-office days at a coworking space. Candidates must be based in the greater Philadelphia area with the ability and willingness to travel to:

• Community based partner sites 2-3 days per week
• PGP’s coworking space in Center City Philadelphia weekly

Position Title

Community Education Navigator, The Petey Greene Program in Philadelphia

Position Type

Full-time staff (40 hours/week)

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversees the week-to-week educational operations for participants who received our services while at SCI Chester and are now in reentry including:
  • tutoring programs for the GED, GED in Spanish, workforce development upskilling, and college courses
  • leading the logistics of PGP’s reentry educational operations
  • monitoring high-level trends
  • troubleshooting challenges
• Builds and maintains relationships with community based partners across Philadelphia and its surrounding counties.
  • Includes active membership in the Philadelphia Reentry Coalition and its Education and Employment Subcommittee
• Manages relationships with programmatic partners, which includes meeting regularly with program leadership to:
  • manage student referrals
  • ensure tutor-student fit
  • collect academic data
  • coordinate partner-specific onboarding and clearance requirements
• Conducts educational student intake meetings upon receiving warm handoff:
  • clarify student goals
  • regularly check in with students to provide educational mentorship
• Monitor and support students engaging with online educational platforms
• Table at educational and resource fairs for the reentry population within Philadelphia and its surrounding counties
• Leads regular educational case conferences, along with other PGP staff, for students in reentry
• Works with the Philadelphia Regional Manager to track and collect programmatic data and provide reports to partners and funders
• Participates in and prepares for weekly meetings with the Philadelphia team 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 develop and maintain relationships with a diverse group partners
• Ability to problem solve and think creatively to best support student and partner needs
• Ability to work independently and with a team
• Awareness of issues related to mass incarceration, specifically the barriers that exist to successful reentry and broader social justice concerns that may present as barriers for our participants

Requirements

• Associates Degree or some college
• 2-4 years of work experience
• Experience working with Philadelphia community-based organizations focused on supporting formerly incarcerated people
• Experience or skills in group facilitation
• Experience providing direct support to students, managing educational programs, and/or navigating educational processes.
• A commitment to social justice, racial equity, and the rights of formerly incarcerated people.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Familiarity with Philadelphia Reentry Landscape and resources
• Experience working with volunteers, particularly student volunteers.
• Experience working with or knowledge of the Department of Correction as an employee, partner, or a formerly incarcerated person.
• Experience interpreting and making data-informed decisions
• An understanding of the US criminal justice system and local policies.
• A commitment to education in confined settings.

This is a 3-year grant-funded position with the possibility of renewal, dependent on renewal of funding. We are aiming for the position to start in September 2025. The offer and start date are conditional on receipt of committed funding.

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.