Family Engagement Specialist – Washington, DC

Reading Partners is changing the education landscape. We are a leader in working to solve the literacy crisis in our country by leveraging community volunteers in under-resourced schools. Our diverse and expansive volunteer base provides one-on-one tutoring to students twice weekly, and our program is proven to help children master the reading fundamentals they need to unlock their potential as successful, happy and confident readers in school and in life. Our people are our heartbeat and our greatest resource; we are all passionately rallied around our mission to help children become lifelong learners by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction that works. Join our stellar team leading the charge to deepen our impact and expand our service. Watch this video to learn more about Reading Partners. 

The high level:

The Family Engagement Specialist (FES) is an exciting new role at Reading Partners. The main role of the FES is to provide both administrative and capacity-building support to the region’s family engagement initiatives. At the regional level, the Family Engagement Specialist reports directly to the Program Director. The FES works highly collaboratively with the Family Engagement lead on the regional team. The FES role is an exciting opportunity for a highly-organized and innovative professional.

What you’ll do: 

Collect and analyze Family Engagement data across the region to support identifying next steps for region-wide family outreach.

• Seek feedback from Reading Partners staff and school staff across 19 schools, to include survey distribution

• Analyze survey responses to identify trends and action items 
• Aggregate and organize data in metrics tracker 

Oversee Reading Partners DC family engagement initiatives in order to share student literacy development resources and activities with families. 

• Co-facilitate region-wide family workshops virtually or in-person 
• Translate family-facing materials and resources into Spanish to be available to the full region

Support successful family outreach efforts across the region with families who speak Spanish.

• Communicate with Spanish-speaking families to execute steps in the enrollment process 
• Provide as-needed communication support to AmeriCorps members when working with Spanish-speaking families, to include sending reminder messages, offering tech troubleshooting, fielding general questions, etc.

Other duties as needed.

How you’ll do it:

Relationship Development & Communication:

• Quickly develop positive relationships with internal teammates, national departments, and families. Demonstrate an ability to effectively communicate with a variety of folks. Ability to remain positive and goal-oriented in the face of competition for time and resources.

Problem Solving & Decision-Making:

• Demonstrate a strong ability to recognize problems, solve them quickly, and appropriately message all shifts. Make decisions that consider all stakeholders, and act accordingly.

Project Management:

• Demonstrate a strong ability to balance multiple competing priorities daily. Demonstrate an ability to prioritize, and take action accordingly. Consider all stakeholders and implications in projects that are cross-functional.  Demonstrate an ability to rally a variety of folks together to meet a goal.

Innovative Thinking:

• Demonstrate an ability to create processes and systems to streamline internal operations in the region. Demonstrate a high level of comfort with ambiguity, and an ability to create order. Demonstrate an aptitude for framing problems as opportunities, and always pushing to further streamline. 

About you!

You’ll be successful in this role if you:

• Are fluent in Spanish 
• 1+ year working in schools or community-based organizations
• Have experience managing a project from start to finish
• Are interested in working collaboratively with a team to execute shared tasks
• Can prove eligibility to work in the United States legally
• Boast a deep belief in our mission
• Root your work in our core values

Bonus Points if you:

• Are an AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or other national service alum/alumna
• Have experience working in launch or growth phases of organizations

What we offer:

Reading Partners offers the full package – great benefits, a great place to work and the opportunity to have a glowing and growing career.

•  We offer a competitive compensation of $20 an hour. This is a part-time, non-exempt, hourly position.
• The role will end in June 2021.
• We offer an exciting and dynamic culture, and we commit to investing in and supporting our amazing people to grow their careers with us.

The other things you need to know:

• Travel: Travel: This position may require travel throughout Washington, DC
• Typical Physical & Mental Demands: Requires prolonged sitting with some bending, stooping and stretching, and eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity sufficient to operate a keyboard, telephone, photocopier, calculator and other office equipment.  Requires normal range of hearing and eyesight to communicate with volunteers and staff. Also requires flexibility to readily adapt to a changing environment. 

What’s Next?

If you’re interested in joining our Reading Partners team, please submit the following application materials to our online job posting:

• A cover letter describing your interest in Reading Partners and how your past experience has prepared you for this role. Please include your salary needs.
• Resume