Prison 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 Prison Education Navigator will be responsible for ensuring the provision of high-quality tutoring and other educational services for incarcerated students at SCI Chester. This includes monitoring the Petey Greene Program’s on-site educational and tutoring programs at SCI Chester, managing several programmatic partnerships, providing individualized student support, and addressing administrative requirements. The Prison Education Navigator reports to PGP’s Division Manager in Philadelphia.

The Prison Education Navigator will collaborate and coordinate with multiple types of partners, including higher education in prison programs, facility educational staff, and facility reentry staff. The Prison Education Navigator is responsible for determining the educational needs of participating students at SCI Chester and thinking creatively about how to provide and assist students in accessing relevant supports. The position is also tasked with monitoring the quality of PGP’s provided tutoring services, and troubleshooting any issues that arise in collaboration with program partners, PGP staff, tutors, or students.

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

• SCI Chester 2-3 days per week
• PGP’s coworking space in Center City Philadelphia weekly

Position Title

Prison Education Navigator, The Petey Greene Program in Philadelphia

Position Type

Part-time staff (20 hours/week)

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Oversees the week-to-week supports and operations at SCI Chester including:
  • tutoring programs for the GED, GED in Spanish, and college courses
  • leading the logistics of PGP’s on-site educational operations
  • monitoring high-level trends
  • troubleshooting challenges
• Builds and maintains relationships with correctional facility partners based in the education and reentry departments
• Manages relationships with programmatic partners, which includes meeting regularly, managing student referrals, ensuring tutor-student fit, collecting academic data, and coordinating partner-specific onboarding and clearance requirements
• Conducts student intake meetings, clarify student goals, and regularly check in with students to provide support, collect feedback, and assess their progress
• Support in the coordination of educational fairs at SCI Chester
• Leads regular educational case conferences for students at SCI Chester with PGP staff
• Works with the Philadelphia Division Manager to track and collect programmatic data and provide reports to partners and funders
• Collaborates to screen, interview and select volunteers, ensuring that PGP is providing high-quality tutors and programming
• Participates 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 and broader social justice concerns.
• A commitment to racial equity, and the rights of currently and formerly incarcerated people.

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 working with or knowledge of the Department of Correction as an employee, partner, or a formerly incarcerated person.
• Experience providing direct support to students, managing educational programs, and/or navigating educational processes.
• Must be able to be cleared to enter a PA State Correctional Institution (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)
• A commitment to education in confined settings.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Bilingual in English/Spanish
• Experience working with volunteers, particularly student volunteers.
• Experience interpreting and making data-informed decisions
• 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.

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 PGP’s receipt of the 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.