Neighborhood Initiatives Program Manager

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Job description

Job Description

Position Summary

Neighborhood Initiatives Program Manager is an integral part of the City's Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity. Its mission is to advance economic justice through racial equity, in order to increase mobility out of poverty and ensure that all Philadelphians can share in the benefits of economic growth. CEO also distributes federal Community Services Block Grant funding and other resources to support this work.

The goal of the Neighborhood Initiatives unit within CEO is to improve the quality of life in targeted neighborhoods by building and nurturing strategic partnerships to support community led planning, enhanced access to funding opportunities, and stronger community networks.

For the past 10 years, the Neighborhood Initiatives unit has served as the lead convenor for the West Philadelphia Promise Zone, a federal designation aimed at creating jobs, improving education, reducing crime and empowering the community. CEO's partners in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone represent public, nonprofit, private, academic, and community-based organizations and institutions. Together they have spearheaded several initiatives and invested financial and in-kind resources aimed at creating and sustaining a vibrant and thriving community. With the official conclusion of the federal designation in January 2024, the Program Manager will continue to work in partnership with West Philadelphia Promise Zone partner agencies and community stakeholders to build a sustainable, long-term, collaborative structure that is community-led and well positioned to address the current needs of the community.

The Program Manager will also build on the findings from the 10-year Promise Zone convening work to implement best practices in collective impact and stakeholder engagement in one or more neighborhoods in Philadelphia. The Program Manager will be responsible for developing an equitable and data-driven strategy for identifying and selecting opportunities for long-term (3-5 year), place-based, stakeholder engagement projects for future intervention. The Program Manager will supervise one or more AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) members to build capacity for carrying out these functions.

Essential Functions

The main areas of work and associated tasks for the Neighborhood Initiatives Program Manager are as outlined below:

Strategic Alignment

Convene or participate in all pertinent meetings required for engaging stakeholders in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone and other targeted neighborhoods.

Support other City departments and CEO initiatives in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone and other targeted neighborhoods (e.g., the BenePhilly Initiative and the Financial Empowerment Centers).

Work with outreach and engagement programs within CEO's Place Based Initiatives vertical to build stronger connections and coordinate interventions within the West Philadelphia Promise Zone and other targeted neighborhoods.

Advance CEO's place-based community engagement strategies by listening to, supporting, and including community groups and community members in the planning and implementation of project and initiatives.

Program Management

Serve as a primary contact to federal and institutional partners supporting or participating in stakeholder engagement work.

Ensure strong engagement and representation from community residents and stakeholders to participate in community engagement activities and build capacity to assume leadership roles.

Advance CEO's place-based community engagement strategies by listening to, supporting, and including community groups and community members.

Review and contribute to monthly newsletters and other methods for sharing information on funding opportunities and program activities

Supervision

Support AmeriCorps VISTA members in maintaining consistent community engagement via regular contact with leaders of community-based organizations and civic associations; overseeing the development and execution of community events, such as resource fairs.

Support AmeriCorps VISTA members who manage the day-to-day work of partner engagement, including meeting facilitation, dissemination of materials and information between meetings; preparing agendas; developing action plans and identifying roles for partners; and leading research efforts and the development of materials to advance work of the collaborative.

Support AmeriCorps VISTA members in collecting, analyzing and reporting on data pertaining to the West Philadelphia Promise Zone and other targeted neighborhoods.

The duties of this position and the preferred qualifications and experiences of the successful candidate being sought for this position are as follows:

Program and Strategy Related

Participate in meetings with community partners and VISTA staff to prepare for and help strategize engagement goals, objectives and agendas

Facilitate/co-facilitate community meetings in collaboration with partners and stakeholders as needed

Assist community partners and VISTA staff in identifying strategic priorities, sponsoring special projects, and planning community events

Participate in collaborative efforts with National Coalition of Promise Zones (NCPZ), currently known as Our Places of Promise

Attend City agency meetings to remain aware of city-wide programs and priorities and how to connect them with the West Philadelphia Promise Zone and other targeted neighborhoods.

Convene stakeholders across a variety of program and service areas to support and facilitate cross sector/cross agency coordination and collaboration.

Personnel and Volunteer Related

Supervise and support VISTA staff in all areas of their work

Assess the performance of VISTA staff in their work

Program Evaluation Related

Coordinate with CEO in:

Establishing metrics/data measurements to help define, track, and inform: (1) the effectiveness of engagement efforts; and (2) strategic priorities and associated outcomes as identified by community partners

Assessing and reporting program performance to ensure progress, transparency, and accountability across all priority areas

Using available census and administrative data to assess and track neighborhood conditions in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone and other targeted neighborhoods. This will include refining and finalizing the West Philadelphia Promise Zone Data Hub (dashboard), and working with the AmeriCorps VISTA and CEO staff to research demographic and economic mobility indicators at the neighborhood level

Maintaining a series of neighborhood asset maps (geographic and/or diagrammatic) for use in assessing and evaluating neighborhood capacity in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone and other targeted neighborhoods

Convening institutional stakeholders and/or research partners to measure and assess program performance and outcomes as needed

Reporting program performance and outcomes to community partners on a regular basis

Other duties as assigned

Resource Development (Lead) and Policy Development (Support) Related

Help identify public and private resources that community partners can access to perform their work

Promote and advocate for public policies that support, and advance goals identified by community partners

Identify grant opportunities through and in coordination with CEO, the local HUD office, and other federal and state agencies

Provide letters of support for funding applications aligned with community partner programs and priorities

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Successful work, and demonstrated capacities and skillsets in the areas of:

Qualitative and quantitative analysis

Information sharing

Collaboration and consensus building

Meeting facilitation

Organizational strategic planning

Community and economic development

Resource development

High comfort level engaging a variety of audiences and colleagues, including but not limited:

Multi-ethnic and multi-racial groups and program constituencies

Multi-generational groups and program constituencies

Corporate and philanthropic entities

Government officials (elected and appointed)

Human service organizations

Community-based, service-oriented organizations

High level communication skills in:

Public speaking

Writing and editing

Telecommunications

Conventional and social media

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