Senior Manager of Community Engagement & Advocacy

Overview:

As the Senior Manager of Community Engagement & Advocacy, you will lead the development, implementation, and evaluation of Ascend’s community engagement and advocacy initiatives. Your responsibilities will include coordinating base-building activities, managing grassroots advocacy campaigns, and fostering relationships with elected officials and key advocacy partners. You will ensure these efforts align with our organizational goals and contribute to our mission’s success.

Guided by Ascend’s core value of “partnering collaboratively,” the Senior Manager of Community Engagement & Advocacy will contribute to developing and executing strategies for Ascend’s advocacy efforts in New York City and throughout New York State. You will be responsible for fostering relationships with community members, building a network of advocates and leaders, and supporting initiatives that enhance the impact of Ascend and its mission.

Responsibilities:

As the Senior Manager of Community Engagement & Advocacy, you will develop and implement grassroots and grasstops advocacy strategies and cultivate external relationships that will:

• Enhance internal organizational capacity and contribute to strategies that support Ascend’s vision of building thriving, community-centered schools.

• Drive and support family and community-centered advocacy initiatives, working to amplify the voices of the communities we serve and advance equitable, high-quality public education for all students.

• Conduct community outreach activities to build familiarity and support for Ascend as needed.

• Seek partnership opportunities and build relationships with schools, community-based organizations, advocacy groups, community/government/education leaders, related businesses, organizations, and elected officials.

• Engage with partner organizations doing education advocacy work and manage their relationship with Ascend, which includes representing Ascend at partner events and managing any follow-up with Ascend stakeholders.

• Attend meetings, school visits, touchpoints, and policy engagement with elected and other officials to build relationships and familiarity with Ascend among the community boards and community education councils (CECs) in New York City.

Competencies:

• Passion for Ascend’s mission and vision

• Track record of volunteering and managing volunteers to hit goals

• Experience leading/supporting successful training or professional development sessions (community organizing and/or campaign trainings preferred)

• Exceptional event planning and execution skills

• Detail orientation and strong organization skills

• Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings

• Ability to travel between all schools

• Knowledge of K-12 education policy issues (preferred)

Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree

• Experience: Minimum 3+ years of evidence of understanding, developing and executing best practices for parent and youth engagement in advocacy using both grassroots and grasstops strategies. Minimum 3+ years of demonstrated understanding of local education and political landscapes and ability to navigate political spaces and relationships.

Preferred Knowledge and Skills:

• Preference for multilingual candidates (Spanish and Haitian Creole)

• Microsoft Office, Google Workspace

Ideal candidate must live in New York City, NY. This role requires travel within the Ascend Network of schools and occasional travel throughout New York State.

Diversity at Ascend

Ascend is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community, both through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and educating students. Ascend staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities—opening a window to the entire Ascend community on the richness of humanity. We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our deeply consequential work.

Compensation

Ascend offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package. Initial salary offers for this position range from $70,000-90,000. Salaries are determined using an equitable compensation scale that accounts for years of experience and levels of attained education. Please visit www.ascendschools.org/careers to learn more about the benefits of working at Ascend.