Program Associate

  • Full-time

Company Description

The Advocacy Institute was created to support the legislative advocacy of social justice and movement-building organizations in across New York State. In the last 5 years, we’ve helped hundreds of organizers and advocates engage in more efficient and effective legislative advocacy. The Advocacy Institute is a high impact work-environment. We create and sustain this environment by engaging proactively in intentional and transparent discussions about identity, power, oppression, trust, capacity building, teamwork, and performance. Throughout, we ground ourselves in a commitment to feminist, multiracial leadership. 

Job Description

We’re looking for a Program Associate who’s excited to put their event planning, logistical excellence, and social justice advocacy skills to work! You’ll be a part of a team that is delivering innovative trainings and tools, committed to legislative advocacy wins, and strengthening the partnership between the social justice community and philanthropy.

In this role, you will help drive the planning and coordination of our training events, and the delivery of our membership program and communications. You will also support the development and assessment of our team’s program goals.

You will develop and maintain relationships with key vendors and venues, handle significant printing and mailing tasks, manage planning spreadsheets, manage accounts for a range of online tools, coordinate travel and accommodations, as well as catering, room set-up and technology needs for all training events. This role calls for someone who is committed to using and improving systems for team productivity and management to support the program team’s goals and move us forward in the most efficient manner. The Program Associate will report directly to the Director of Training & Engagement. 

How your time will generally be allocated:

  • Training Event Logistics & Team Support - 40%
  • Membership and Teacher Training Program Support - 30%
  • Administrative/Office Management - 20%
  • Participation in Program Team Coordination & Assessment - 10% 

What You’ll Be Doing

  • Oversee training logistics, budget, outreach, post-training engagement and evaluation.
  • Identify opportunities for process improvement and coordinate implementation of such changes with program team.
  • Develop process memos for team coordination and collaboration.
  • Assist with member communications and engagement.
  • Collaborate with team members building tools for our staff and members
  • Support the development and implementation of the Teacher Training program with logistics and communications to participants.
  • Maintain venue, vendor and member database for trainings and team events.
  • Support teaching teams with communications, travel and technical needs.
  • Oversee program team meeting calendar and booking meeting space for in-person and remote meetings.
  • Organize and maintain office space, files and training event calendar and task dashboard.
  • Manage and maintain office materials, printers and tech tools used by team.
  • Be the champion of the program team support system!

Qualifications

Who you are (Valued Skills)

  • Committed to excellence, consistently produce high-caliber work free of errors
  • Responsible, follow through with tasks, stay on deadlines
  • Clear, communicate needs, questions and results effectively
  • Solutions-oriented, solve problems creatively, successfully assess when to forge ahead and when to ask questions or get supervision
  • Coachable, take input well, always a student looking to gain mastery, learn from mistakes, capable of iterating and adapting
  • Detail-oriented, listen, read and take notes carefully
  • Team-oriented, maintain sight of how your work fits into the broader picture, orient towards the team’s collective success
  • Transparent, err towards transparency
  • Interpersonally capable, can hold a wide-array of conversations effectively: (e.g. relationship-building, problem solving, "difficult", etc.)

Experience & Skills | Must have:

  • Project and event planning with an emphasis on logistical details
  • Maintaining and improving systems for full team coordination and collaboration success (including tools similar to Google Drive, Podio, Zapier, SurveyMonkey, Mailchimp and more)
  • Mail Merge, Printing management (including large format printers) and coordination of participant packets
  • Booking travel, accommodations and itinerary logistics 
  • Tracking office supply inventory, workspace organization and management of training materials
  • Developing and maintaining vendor relationships
  • Creating online surveys from educational specifications
  • Completing evaluation and data collection tasks
  • Strong writing and proofreading skills 
  • File and document organization: both digital and paper-based
  • Ability to connect conversationally with members and participants
  • Experience with social justice movement work

Experience & Skills | Nice to have:

    • Ability to program spreadsheets using formulas, pivot tables, data validation and conditional formatting
    • Basic email and print template design skills
    • Account management proficiency for online tools and services (aka getting the most out of customer support!)
    • Contract negotiation skills

    Additional Information

    Team Culture

    We have worked hard to create a unique culture that informs all of our work, both internal and external. People who thrive at the Advocacy Institute are those who feel comfortable in this culture. If the environment we describe below sounds exciting to you, and you have the skills outlined above, we hope you will apply to join our team. 
    • High Impact. The Advocacy Institute is a high impact work-environment. We create and sustain this environment by engaging proactively in intentional and transparent discussions about identity, power, oppression, trust, capacity building, teamwork, and high performance. 
    • Individual and Collective Transformation. We are committed to transforming the legislative landscape in New York for justice and dignity. This means we strive to create a workplace that values people’s whole selves and identities.
    • Somatic Process & Practice. We are committed to somatic process and practice as outlined by organizations like generative somatics & The Strozzi Institute. The mission of the Strozzi Institute, for example, is to embody pragmatic wisdom, skillful action, and grounded compassion; and the ability to use conflict as a generative force. We use these practices in team meetings and trainings to increase connection, trust and authenticity.
    Location
    • The role is based in New York City
    • Partial remote working supported
    Time & Compensation
    • This is a full time position starting in early March
    • Competitive benefits package includes full medical, dental and vision coverage as well a 403b retirement account
    • 4 weeks vacation in first year
    • Salary range is $51,000 to $55,000, correlated to alignment with experience and skills
    Apply
    Thank you for your interest in the Advocacy Institute!
    • To apply, please visit http://advocacy-institute.org/careers/web/apply
    • No telephone calls please. 
    • Because of the high volume of anticipated applicants, we regret that we will be unable to respond to all submissions.
    • The Advocacy Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, people of color, transgender and gender non-conforming people are encouraged to apply.