Instructional Support Manager, Program & Impact
Job Description
About Read Ahead
Read Ahead is dedicated to helping New York City youth strengthen the literacy and social-emotional skills they need to thrive in school and beyond.
Since 1991, Read Ahead has connected public elementary school students with caring mentors from leading corporate and community partners. During weekly sessions, mentors and mentees read together, discuss books and their lives, and engage in fun and educational games and activities. Read Ahead sessions are designed to help children grow their confidence, love of reading, literacy skills, and other skills essential for success.
In 2020, Read Ahead developed a completely virtual program to provide essential support during a challenging year of remote and hybrid learning. Combining our 30 years of experience with new technology platforms and an educator-designed curriculum, Read Ahead continues to match children with supportive mentors for fun, live program sessions that build connection, confidence, literacy skills, and more.
With the development of our new virtual program, and anti-racism and anti-oppression commitments (https://readahead.org/anti-oppression-commitments-oct2020/), Read Ahead has an opportunity to deepen our impact for students. We are committed to ongoing improvement as an organization, and are eager to take bold new steps to create better outcomes for the students, families, and schools we serve.
Read Ahead expects each staff member to be an active and engaged collaborator in Read Ahead’s organization-wide efforts to advance DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging) goals including, but not limited to, participating in team meetings and ensuring that all project plans and outcomes are aligned with DEIB goals.
Read Ahead’s Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Commitments are outlined here.
Read Ahead provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established by applicable law. We seek to build a diverse staff representative of the communities we serve. All qualified applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.
Position Overview
The Manager, Program & Impact is responsible for the management of Read Ahead at their assigned school(s)/program(s). She/he/they will act as an ambassador of Read Ahead and engage regularly with mentees, parents and caregivers, volunteer mentors, and school staff. They are responsible for ensuring that the program runs smoothly, that mentors and mentees are supported throughout their mentoring experience, and that program goals are met. Other responsibilities include critical administrative and logistical tasks, including scheduling, tracking attendance, and database entry.
As part of a dynamic and evolving Program Team, the Manager, Program & Impact will support with building out an improved literacy program that engages even more deeply with students, caregivers, schools, and mentors. As we focus on deepening the impact of our literacy engagement with students, Read Ahead may expand its current program offerings beyond our current volunteer model. The Manager, Program & Impact will participate in initiatives that further deepen the impact of Read Ahead’s unique approach to using literacy as a means of social change.
This position reports to a Senior Manager, Program & Impact on the Read Ahead program team.
The ideal candidates are flexible, proactive problem-solvers with excellent relationship-building (especially with families), organizational, and communication skills. This role is a great fit for individuals who have an understanding of the New York City public school system and the communities we serve. This is a great opportunity for someone who is passionate about children, mentoring, reading, and/or volunteerism. Experience with using technology and a comfort and interest in learning new technology is a plus. Completion of a satisfactory criminal background check and DOE fingerprinting is required.
Responsibilities
Program Facilitation
- Facilitate, coordinate, and monitor 15-20 weekly Read Ahead sessions at assigned school partner(s)
- The majority of students will be on-site at their schools participating in sessions over Zoom with their mentors
- Communicate effectively and regularly with key stakeholders, including parents/caregivers, volunteer mentors, and teachers/school staff
- Manage program technology and provide in-person assistance to participants (i.e., Zoom and online reading platforms)
- Manage and support ~140 – 180 volunteer mentors, including ongoing communication
- Support ~100-140 mentees in grades 1-5 in their mentoring experience
- Provide ongoing support to mentors and mentees, including formal check-ins
Program Quality Management
- Conduct tasks that ensure a high-quality program, including attendance data tracking and entering program status updates on Read Ahead’s Live Impact database
- Review and approve mentor applications and support mentors through onboarding and matching process at the start of program launch
- Support the creation of session materials for programs, as well as supporting curriculum development, improvements, and redesigns by the Program Team
- Engage with school staff and families to share information about programming and encourage student enrollment, including communicating with school leadership and liaisons, answering caregiver questions, supporting with completion of permission forms
- Collaborate with school stakeholders including leadership staff, teachers, and after school staff to strengthen program implementation on site
Family Engagement
- Support and execute new family engagement initiatives to build relationships with families
- Lead in-person family orientations at school site to ensure family engagement is prioritized during the mentee onboarding process
- Conduct a bi-monthly check-in call with caregivers to update on progress of Read Ahead program including mentee attendance, reading progress, and general mentor-mentee relationship updates
- Support all other initiatives that foster greater engagement of parents and caregivers, as determined by the Senior Director, Program & Impact
Administrative Tasks and Other Stakeholder Engagement
- Enter and track daily program data in Read Ahead’s database in a timely manner with attention to detail/accuracy
- Coordinate the scheduling of and reminders for mentors and mentees for your program sessions
- Support with distribution of annual stakeholder surveys including school surveys, mentor surveys, and caregiver surveys
- Support organization-wide communications by periodically contributing to Read Ahead’s general newsletter, social media, blog, or other stakeholder engagement initiatives
Organizational Culture
- Actively participate in team meetings, learning initiatives, and professional development
- Ensure the inclusion of DEIB initiatives into mentor onboarding, training, and ongoing management
- Support all key DEIB initiatives and new team culture practices
Qualifications
- Passion for Read Ahead’s mission
- Demonstrated understanding of the connection between literacy, child development, and social justice
- A demonstrated commitment to an anti-racism and equity lens in their work and communications (internal and external)
- Experience working with kids and their parents/caregivers, and a positive, growth-mindset approach to supporting children
- Experience with, or a strong interest in, volunteer management
- Strong organizational skills, including the ability to manage time and deadlines effectively
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Experience with technology, and an openness to learning and using new tools (e.g., email, video conferencing, cloud-based file management, and project management tools)
- High level of attention to detail
- Team player and contributor
- Ability to work and adapt in a fast-paced environment
- Interest in hybrid work with the ability to lead and monitor weekly mentoring sessions
- Spanish and Mandarin speakers a plus but not required
Summary of Compensation and Benefits
Salary & Benefits
$60,000/year. Competitive benefits package includes:
- 90% healthcare insurance coverage (employee contributes 10%)
- Vision insurance
- 100% dental insurance coverage (no cost to employee)
- $3,000 annual employer-funded Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)
- Eligibility to contribute to 403(b) retirement savings account with up to a 3% match by Read Ahead for all employees who are employed on the last day of the calendar year (e.g. 12/31/2024)
- Pre-tax transit/commuter funding program
- Pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
- Vacation time is accrued based no length of employment: During the first year, employees accrue 15 days/year; after the first year, employees accrue 20 days/year.
- 10 sick days per year
- 3 personal days per year
- The Read Ahead office is closed from Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day each year and for all federal holidays.
Hybrid Work Policy
As an organization that partners with New York City public schools, afterschool service providers, families, corporate partners, and other stakeholders, Read Ahead recognizes that in-person work is required to achieve our mission moving forward. We have adopted a hybrid work policy to allow us to continue our work with students and schools as safely as possible.
The Manager, Program & Impact will typically work up to 4 days/week Monday – Thursday in-person at schools to perform essential job responsibilities, with a schedule determined by program needs and approved by their manager. When school is not in session such as during holiday weeks and breaks, on-site responsibilities can be expected up to 3 days/week at the Read Ahead office. Fridays will generally be a remote work day. Essential in-person responsibilities for this role include, but are not limited to:
- Lead in-person weekly program sessions working in partnership with key school and/or after school staff
- Meetings with Read Ahead staff and external stakeholders (e.g. bi-weekly staff meetings, bi-weekly program team meetings, quarterly school leadership and after school partner meetings, etc.)
- School recruitment and engagement events (e.g. Annual family nights at partner schools, PTA meetings or caregiver orientation workshops)
- Fundraising and donor cultivation events and event preparation (e.g. Read Ahead’s annual gala)
- Program, operations, and event support during key times of the year
In addition to the essential in-person job responsibilities described above, this role also includes other essential functions which may be performed remotely. A list of responsibilities is included below, and are subject to change based on organizational need.
