Central Texas Community Engagement AmeriCorps VISTA

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Recruiting Organization: Girls Empowerment Network

Girls Empowerment Network is currently seeking an energetic, highly organized, personable individual to assist with community engagement efforts. In its third year, the Central Texas Community Engagement AmeriCorps VISTA will continue to support the growth of Girl Connect and will seek to increase our organizational scale and reach. The leadership of the Houston Community Engagement VISTA will result in more volunteers supporting our mission, greater community awareness and engagement with our organization, and increased financial resources.

AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) is a service-based program that requires commitment and financial sacrifice. Much like a fellowship program, AmeriCorps VISTA members at Girls Empowerment Network gain tremendous professional development and individualized future career plan development with access to education benefits. AmeriCorps VISTA members are employed by the federal government and placed at Girls Empowerment Network to support agency efforts to build capacity and sustainability.

Highlighted position responsibilities:

• Research and refine agency volunteer recruitment, training, coordination, and retention practices.
• Research youth programming facilitation best practices and analyze what practices can be updated/expanded on in the Girls Empowerment Network Direct Service Volunteer Manual.
• Create self-guided video training for the onboarding of new interns, board members, and volunteers.
• Review and refine the process and policy for tracking and reporting volunteer hours and indirect service numbers.
• Conduct stakeholder interviews (school contacts, volunteers, and community advocates) to inform, create, and coordinate a comprehensive engagement plan to increase volunteers and interns from the neighborhoods where services are provided.
• Research and identify program regions with a distinct need for Girls Empowerment Network volunteers and assess how best to recruit volunteers from that area.
• Connect and collaborate with neighborhood-based organizations, schools, and community leaders to create a pipeline for new region-specific agency interns and Power Chat participants.
• Conduct research on best practices related to ideating, executing, and evaluating a successful virtual volunteer project.
• Review past Girls Empowerment Network virtual volunteer activities and assess community engagement and impact.
• Create and launch a new virtual volunteer engagement opportunity that can engage the community and corporate volunteers.
• Utilize research conducted by Girls Empowerment Network to create a social media campaign aimed at educating our supporters on self-efficacy and its role as a protective factor and prerequisite for girls’ future success.
• Create a blog post series to be utilized by Communications Assistant and Marketing Manager.
• Conduct stakeholder interviews to determine what messaging around self-efficacy resonates most with community members.
• Represent Girls Empowerment Network at volunteer engagement opportunities, outreach events, and community presentations and educate attendees about our mission and programs.
• Refine existing outreach materials and update presentations to reflect new research on gender equity, the gendered nature of poverty, and Girls Empowerment Network program evaluation results.

Position Details:

The VISTA living allowance/stipend rate is calibrated around the Federal Poverty Level in the region of service. The amount provided for the Travis County AmeriCorps VISTA living allowance/stipend is - $17,600 annually.

• AmeriCorps VISTA program benefits include a choice of Education Award or End of Service Stipend, Childcare assistance if eligible, health coverage, and a relocation allowance.
• Full time (40 hours a week). Most hours will fall Monday-Friday during the 9 am and 6 pm time frame, however, occasional evening and weekend work will be required as needed for community engagement events.
• Work will be primarily based virtually until further notice. However, this position is based at the Girls Empowerment Network office at either our Central Texas office (2801 S. IH 35, Suite 110, Austin, Texas) or our Houston office (4660 Beechnut Street, Suite 102, Houston, Texas). Occasional travel for agency events will be required (mileage reimbursed at the federal recommended level.)
• Start date: August 29, 2022.
• The position sits within the Mobilizing Communities department.
• Qualifications and Position requirements:
• Strong personal alignment with and a commitment to the mission of Girls Empowerment Network.
• 1+ years experience in event planning, volunteer management, communications, and/or movement building.
• A leader with a can-do spirit and a natural ability to build positive relationships with other people very quickly.
• Personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and anti-racist practices.
• High level of integrity, personal motivation, ethics, and cultural sensitivity.
• A self-starter who embraces new challenges and is internally motivated to succeed.
• Strong communication skills, both in-person and through email.
• Comfortable with and skilled in:
• Trouble-shooting challenges and coming to responsible solutions
• Balancing multiple deadlines and projects simultaneously to deliver high-quality work
• Working as a part of a team
• Public speaking and championing the Girls Empowerment Network mission
• Working with diverse populations, and
• Representing an agency in the community.
• Reliable transportation.

Preferred qualifications:

• English/Spanish bilingual highly preferred.
• Experience managing projects which require frequent communication with many groups of stakeholders (volunteers, schools, etc.)
• Experience managing outreach for an organization.

About Girls Empowerment Network

Founded in 1996, Girls Empowerment Network’s mission is to ignite the power in girls by teaching them the skills to thrive and believe in their ability to be unstoppable. Girls in grades 3-12 experience our self-efficacy curriculum at schools, camps, and conferences in Central Texas, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.

About AmeriCorps VISTA

AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. Founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965 and incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of programs in 1993, VISTA has helped lift communities and individuals out of poverty over the course of 5 decades.

Create a My AmeriCorps profile and follow the application instructions found at https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?fromSearch=true&id=107203

Stipend Provided

Training Provided

Housing AvailableFalse

Language/Cultral Support AvailableFalse

Wheelchair AccessibleFalse

Fee RequiredFalse

Fee Amount: None

This opportunity is recurring