Program Director

Summary

About the Organization

YVote/Next Generation Politics was founded in the aftermath of the 2016 election, in recognition of the breadth of civic breakdown in our country, the low percentage at which young people vote, the degree to which civic education is absent in our schools, and the extent of segregation of students within even diverse and dynamic cities. YVote brings socioeconomically, racially, and politically diverse high schoolers together to grapple with complex civic issues and current events in order to equip them to be informed, engaged citizens and change-makers within their schools and communities. We focus on perspective-taking, critical thinking, and deliberative discourse, emphasizing creating on-ramps for youth to be actively involved in strengthening democracy and civil society. YVote is building a movement of young people committed to building bridges through deliberative dialogue across various divides.

YVote/Next Gen Politics is an umbrella organization, with several flagship programs including:

• monthly Civic Forums for 50 Civic Fellows from across dozens of high schools--half public, half private--during which teens deliberate topics like Voting Rights and Voter Engagement, Freedom of Expression, Criminal Justice, and Immigration and conduct in-depth Civic Action Projects (CAPs)
• YVote Change Makers, which provides a fresh approach to youth voter motivation and mobilization. YVote youth analyze issues they care about—climate, criminal, gender/LGBTQ+, immigration, mental health & racial justice—through the lens of “why vote?” exploring the intersection of individual activism, collective action, and electoral politics in order to become informed, effective citizens and voters.
• Democracy Camp, a week-long ​​intensive through which high schoolers analyze the history and current state of our democracy, investigate ways to tackle challenges to it, formulate Democracy Projects to tackle the challenges identified, make recommendations to adults about how to work across differences in order to create inclusive civic solutions, and create action plans to implement with peers
• a twice-weekly for-GenZ, by-GenZ blog
• a weekly podcast called The Round Table which provides a platform for conversation and engagement of civically-minded young people from different parts of the country
• a Social Media Creator Corps composed of teens who sign on to make daily social media posts to raise peers’ understanding of political and civic issues.

About the Position

The Program Director will help develop and scale our programming and curriculum, bringing experience in positive youth development and, ideally, civic education and engagement to the work. It’s a great role for candidates interested in working directly with a diverse group of teens from around New York and across the country as well as creating workshops and resources for youth on a broader scale. The Program Director will work closely with the Executive Director to implement and influence an ambitious strategic growth plan.

Full list of responsibilities below, and full posting (including benefits) can be found at this link: www.tinyurl.com/YVoteJobs

Qualifications

• Experience working in a program capacity with high school and early college youth from diverse backgrounds
• Experience designing and leading group workshops and workshop development
• Understanding of, and passion for, civics including voting, elections, government, etc.
• Enthusiasm to co-construct and co-facilitate with young people
• Strength in lesson planning, organizational skills, and time management
• Experience as an advocate / organizer for community improvement/social justice a plus
• People of color, LGBTQ+, and candidates from historically marginalized communities strongly encouraged to apply
• From NYC or experience working in NYC schools a plus
• Orientation around collaboration with core team members and partners to align practices with the organization’s goals and other activities

Duties

• Create high-engagement inclusive spaces where youth build their confidence as leaders and team members and develop supportive relationships with peers
• Develop overarching themes / goals and engaging, youth-centric activities for Next Gen Civic Forums and YVote ChangeMaker sessions
• Design and facilitate monthly Next Gen Civic Forums that address themes such as Climate Change, Criminal Justice, Freedom of Expression, Immigration, Structural Racism, and Voting Rights in the fall, followed by cross-school, small group Civic Action Projects that entail more in-depth, applied work in the spring
• Design and facilitate biweekly YVote ChangeMaker workshops that build skills in YVote’s Civic Skills Matrix and address youth leadership, civic engagement, voting, campaign organizing, social justice issues and other relevant topics
• Coordinate and support the development and execution of Days of Action and collaborative events throughout the year
• Support expansion of student-led chapters across the country in addition to bolstering existing chapters
• Train and support peer facilitators on workshop and activity development for each session through planning and debrief meetings / calls
• Train incoming peer facilitators for school year and summer sessions and support their development in program facilitation and working with peers from diverse backgrounds
• Mentor youth in campaign work for voter registration, mobilization, and civic education, including identifying resources and/or supports that participants need to be successful in meeting campaign goals
• Forge and sustain partnerships with other youth activist organizations working towards shared goals
• Package and refine YVote’s prior work and methodologies for pitching to potential partners and fee-for-service contracts
• Assess and supplement existing programming to serve the broadest range of learners, particularly the most vulnerable and civically disengaged, and work to recruit and retain YVoters from under-resourced schools and historically marginalized communities