Website Vocal Justice
Learn more and apply by February 29th.
About Us
At Vocal Justice, we position youth who are proximate to injustice as leaders for social change. We do this by partnering with educators to cultivate learning conditions for youth that strengthen their community, critical consciousness, and communication skills. Ultimately, we believe that every young person deserves an education that affirms their identities, builds their social awareness, and prepares them to speak out against the very injustices they may have experienced firsthand.
Role Overview
We’re eager to hire a Program Manager to help bring us closer to a world where every young person is inspired and prepared to advocate for justice — wherever they choose to lead in life.
The Program Manager will recruit, select, and coach middle and high school teachers across the U.S. on how to integrate our youth power-building curriculum into their schools; refine our youth curriculum and create supplementary materials; analyze data from youth and teachers to inform program improvements; brainstorm and oversee new initiatives to expand our reach; and serve as a thought partner to our Director of Programming and Critical Consciousness.
We’re looking for someone who:
- Is frustrated by our education system’s failure to build leaders for liberation, yet optimistic about our ability to change that;
- Cares about youth power, not just youth voice;
- Thinks expansively about how to integrate critical pedagogy and youth power into schools across unique geographies and sociopolitical contexts;
- Is driven to take initiative, but with intention and care;
- Brings levity and love to their work;
- Is as thoughtful as they are vocal; and
- Is eager to tackle the ever-changing tasks of a burgeoning social venture on a bold mission to rethink what education can and should look like.
This is a full-time, remote role that begins late April 2024. A minimum two-year commitment is required. The first-year salary is fixed at $72,500 and will increase annually based on performance and organizational budget. Benefits include healthcare, unlimited vacation; 401(k); and funding for work equipment and professional development.
No specific degree or years of work experience is needed. Every applicant must be legally authorized to be a full-time employee in the U.S.
The Program Manager will report directly to our Director of Programming and Critical Consciousness, Naomi Daugherty, who is based in New Orleans, LA; and will occasionally work with our Founder and Executive Director, Shawon Jackson, who is based in Oakland, CA.
Responsibilities & Work Schedule
- Teacher Fellowship (45%)
- Manage recruitment, selection, and onboarding for the Vocal Justice Teacher Fellowship.
- Develop the scope and sequence for and facilitate virtual professional learning and community-building sessions for Vocal Justice teachers every month.
- Identify and invite external facilitators to lead workshops on racial justice, storytelling, youth power, and critical pedagogy for Vocal Justice teachers.
- Manage logistics for the Vocal Justice Teacher Fellowship, including emails to teachers and Google Classroom maintenance.
- Host check-ins with Vocal Justice teachers to understand how programming is going at their schools, and provide follow-on support to teachers as needed.
- Youth Curriculum Development (35%)
- Build and revise Vocal Justice lesson plans to reflect youth and teacher input, latest academic research, pedagogical best practices, and changing sociopolitical contexts.
- Create and update written and video materials that guide Vocal Justice teachers on how to best use curriculum content.
- Data and Evaluation (15%)
- Design, distribute, and analyze feedback surveys for youth and teachers to complete, helping us understand program impact and areas for improvement.
- Thought Partnership (5%)
- Serve as the right-hand person to the Director of Programming and Critical Consciousness, and advise on how to enhance and sell our program offerings to schools and out-of-school organizations.
Work Schedule
- Remote work, ****with the exception of in-person retreats / events (3-4 times per year)
- Vocal Justice will cover travel and lodging expenses for retreats. Locations will vary.
- Full-time (40-45 hours per week), with a minimum two-year commitment
- Work schedules are flexible, though you should at least be available Monday through Friday between 11AM and 5PM CT for team meetings and Slack / email communications.
- Evening work is required 1-2 times per month given teachers’ schedules.
- Start date: Late April 2024
What We’re Looking For
Qualifications
In line with our commitment to equity, candidates do not need to have certain degrees or a particular number of years working full-time. What’s important is that you have:
- An unwavering commitment to elevating the voices of youth who are proximate to injustice, and building their capacity to advocate for social justice in ways that are authentic to them.
- A strong ability to create and facilitate professional learning experiences for middle and high school educators that focus on liberatory education and youth power-building.
- A strong ability to build and revise standards-aligned curriculum and lesson supports, including worksheets and visual aids to support teachers who facilitate our curriculum.
- Familiarity with academic research on critical consciousness, youth voice, and healing-centered engagement; as well as common core, SEL, and social justice learning standards.
- A strong ability to summarize quantitative and qualitative feedback and identify actionable insights, using tools like Airtable and Google Spreadsheets.
- A strong attention to detail and willingness to dive into administrative tasks.
- Excellent communication skills.
- High emotional intelligence and a resourceful, abundance mindset.
- An ability to embrace flexibility and willingness to support other teammates.
- A desire and ability to work independently; move with intentional agency; share and receive critical feedback; and bring authenticity, warmth, and vulnerability to the workplace.
Compensation & Benefits
- Starting Salary: $72,500 (non-negotiable)
- One-time $1500 work-from-home stipend
- Annual $1500 professional development stipend (for conferences, classes, etc.)
- 100% coverage for medical, dental, and vision insurance (50% coverage for dependents)
- 401(k), including a 4% matching contribution from Vocal Justice
- Generous time off
- Organizational Rest Periods
- 1 week off in early July
- 1 week off the week of Thanksgiving
- 3 weeks off in late December / early January
- All U.S. Federal Holidays
- Unlimited Personal Time Off
- Employees can take off however many days they’d like, so long as they stay on top of their work and provide reasonable advance notice.
- We require staff to take at least 10 days per year (on top of rest periods and holidays).
- Organizational Rest Periods