TITLE: Director of Programs
REPORTS TO: Executive Director
CLASSIFICATION: Exempt
SALARY: $70,000 - $84,000/year plus benefits including: medical, dental, vision, life insurance, paid holidays, sick time, 401K plan
Organization Background
Somos Mayfair was created in 1997 (originally as the Mayfair Improvement Initiative) to address the chronic crises that resulted from the high rates of poverty in the Mayfair neighborhood of east San José. In the early years Somos partnered with government, corporate and nonprofit allies to renovate community infrastructure, catalyze new community investment and develop new coalitions. Over the years Somos revamped itself to most effectively operate as the needs of the community and the opportunities for regional partnerships evolved. In the past five years this has led Somos to focus our efforts on building the power of our community to proactively address two long-term community priorities - fostering early school success and nurturing family wellness – and the adoption of our revised mission statement:
Somos Mayfair cultivates the dreams and power of the people of Mayfair through cultural activism, social services and community organizing. We are generations of immigrants, rooted in a vibrant community, who nurture healthy families and speak out for justice in Silicon Valley.
With this focus, we have achieved remarkable success, supporting hundreds of children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and hundreds of families to adopt healthy daily practices of good nutrition, exercise and emotional self care. While we take great pride in our accomplishments, our successes have been spread too broadly. What escaped us was our original charge to demonstrate sustainable transformation specifically within the historical boundaries of the Mayfair neighborhood.
In response to this, Somos Mayfair has launched a new program strategy that we call En Nuestras Manos (In Our Hands). This new strategy is 100% focused on the enrollment area of the Cesar Chavez Elementary School, is led by trained community members who deliver 100% of our programs and by school year 2014-15 will result in:
1. All children entering Kindergarten at Cesar Chavez will do so ready to succeed in school;
2. All Cesar Chavez third graders will read at grade level;
3. All Cesar Chavez families will maintain healthy daily practices of good nutrition, exercise and emotional self-care.
In January 2012, Somos Mayfair will launch the En Nuestras Manos campaign with a broad mobilization of up to 50 community leaders who will support Mayfair children and families to nurture school success and family wellness and in the process turn around one of the lowest performing schools in California. Through these efforts we will build the power of the Mayfair community to be the primary architect of its own life. We will build such community power by:
- Community Messaging Campaign – A base group of community leaders will mount an ongoing messaging campaign using cultural arts and technology as primary tools to deliver our key messages around Power, Early School Success and Family Wellness’
- Experiential Practice – A base group of community leaders will lead classroom instruction and experiential learning programs to support families to proactively adopt school success and family wellness strategies at home and in the community;
- Policy Campaigns – A base group of community leaders will lead campaigns to secure adoption of local policies (i.e. school district, city, county) that improve the measures of school success and family wellness in Mayfair and beyond.
Director of Programs
The Director of Programs (DP) is a new position within Somos Mayfair. It is a member of the agency’s Management Team alongside the Executive Director and the Associate Director. As a member of the Management Team, the DP will participate in executive level duties that include:
· Provide counsel to the Executive Director;
· Assist in executive decision-making on issues related to organizational development, agency financial management, organizational stability, Board development, program evaluation, fund development, communications and stakeholder relations;
· Serve as one of the agency’s key spokespersons;
· Serve as the primary program liaison to the Board of Directors;
· Serve as one of the agency’s primary architects in building a hybrid organization that builds power through community organizing and the provision of direct services from an organizing framework.
As the lead on issues related to programming, the DP will directly oversee all of the agency’s program development, implementation and evaluation. She/he will supervise two Senior Program Managers who in turn manage up to eight full time staff, 5-10 stipended Community Leadership Coordinating Committee (CLCC) members and up to an additional 40 stipended community leaders.
The DP is required to bring experience and expertise in the field of community organizing. He/she will be uniquely charged with overseeing and catalyzing the ongoing development of organizing capacities within the agency. The efforts of the DP will be complemented by those of the two Senior Program Managers who respectively will oversee and catalyze the ongoing development of early school success and family wellness capacities within the agency. Additionally, all three of these positions as well as the Executive and Associate Directors are collectively responsible for the ongoing deepening of the agency’s ideological foundations and our practice of popular education pedagogy.
While the DP will oversee all programs in Somos, she/he will provide primary leadership to the Policy Campaign activities of the agency. These campaigns will be supported by Somos line staff and led by a base group of community leaders who are committed to and specifically trained to lead policy campaigns.
Required Qualifications
1. Deep passion and commitment to advancing social justice in immigrant, working class communities;
2. A minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience at a management level position in community organizing or movement building agencies;
3. Experience developing and supervising unified and effective teams for a minimum of five years;
4. Experience with culturally competent community organizing models;
5. Experience with peer-to-peer service delivery models (ie. Promotor);
6. Experience designing and implementing innovative, culture-based strategies;
7. Knowledge of program development and outcomes-based planning and evaluation;
8. Bilingual/biliterate Spanish-English required;
9. Valid California drivers license and proof of auto insurance required;
10. Computer proficient in MS Word, Excel, Internet and e-mail.
Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Knowledge of the current field of hybrid agencies that seek to combine community organizing and direct services;
- Minimum of a bachelors degree;
- Prior experience with popular education methodologies;
- Consistently high quality analysis and judgment;
- Commitment to nurturing healthy working relationships and communication;
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate with a broad audience;
- Experience in program and organizational planning processes;
- Experience building program infrastructures;
- Experience in public presentations and group facilitation;
- Extensive knowledge of community resources;
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively and collaboratively with diverse groups and organizations.
To Apply
We encourage you to forward this announcement to others who may be interested. The position will remain open until filled. Please apply by submitting a cover letter and resume to:
Ana Ureño Gallegos
Somos Mayfair
370-B S. King Rd.
San Jose, CA 95116
Or via e-mail at:
Somos Mayfair is an equal opportunity employer.
For more info contact us at (408) 251-6900 or learn about us at:
