The Community Engagement Manager will focus on building community relationships and impacting the local education environment in one or more of our target advocacy cities. Will help UNCF ensure that, through its advocacy efforts, more African-American students will be college ready and better prepared to enroll in and complete college. The Community Engagement Manager will report to the Vice President, Advocacy, K-12 Initiatives and work closely with the National Director, K-12 Initiatives to implement UNCF’s advocacy platform.

The position will provide an entrepreneurial experience in establishing a “start-up” department tasked with implementing a newly developed strategy. The Community Engagement Manager will be based in one of our target advocacy cities, Alabama.

Primary Responsibilities and Duties

Three major components:

• Messaging and Research: Leveraging broad-based media platforms and publishing research to highlight the current state of education, motivate African Americans to strive for college degree attainment and position UNCF as a partner in this journey
• Grasstops Partnerships: Partnering with Member Institutions, prominent organizations and leaders in the African-American community and activate them to engage in the education reform landscape and support them as they engage their communities
• Grassroots Engagement: Supporting on-the-ground grassroots organizations as they engage African-American parents and communities locally

UNCF’s K-12 Advocacy platform will be implemented at the national and local level. The Community Engagement Manager will be accountable for implementing the strategy at the local level in one or more of UNCF’s target cities. Responsibilities include:

Creating and implementing an outreach strategy to inform, educate and activate “grasstops” community leaders (i.e., business leaders, elected officials, faith leaders, etc.) about education reform.

Managing strategic partnerships with “grasstop” leaders, non-profit organizations, civil rights organizations and donors at the local level.

Organizing and coordinating the execution of meetings, workshops, and convenings, including setting up databases and processes to implement this work.

Collaborating with local UNCF development staff to ensure that events and communications align with the advocacy strategy.

Monitoring changes in the local P-16 landscape and understanding implications for UNCF’s advocacy strategy and target city involvement.

Participating in local education events as well as recommending opportunities for UNCF to demonstrate leadership on African-American P-16 educational issues.

Working effectively within the prescribed local budget and managing expenditures

Documenting and reporting program results in order to evaluate the impact of the advocacy strategy on the local community.

Providing regular updates to the Vice President of K-12 Initiatives relative to the status of engagement activities and coordinating day-to-day efforts with the Director of K-12 Initiatives.

Other duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities

Will periodically supervise interns.

Qualifications

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Bachelor's degree from a four-year college is required; an advanced degree such as an MBA or MPA is preferred with at least 3-5 years of related experience required.

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Entrepreneurial leadership skills.

Direct project management and community organizing experience as well as a proven track record of driving programmatic performance.

Demonstrated ability to work a wide range of constituencies, non-profit and community leaders, faith leaders, government officials, corporate leaders, parents and students.

Ability to deal with ambiguity associated with strategic implementation and coalition building.

Working knowledge of P-16 educational landscape at the local level is preferred.

Strong organizational skills and a proven track record of managing executing multiple projects simultaneously.

Well-honed strategic thinking skills with the ability to be flexible and adaptable.

Superior communication skills, with the ability to proactively lead conversations and manage next steps.

Proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Project.

Strong social media skills.

About UNCF

The United Negro College Fund (UNCF), the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization, has been an engine of minority educational achievement for more than 70 years. UNCF’s mission is to build a robust and nationally recognized pipeline of black students who, because of UNCF support, become highly qualified college graduates. UNCF is committed to closing the educational attainment gap between African Americans and other populations by increasing postsecondary access and success for students from underrepresented groups, particularly low-income and first-generation students.

Compensation and Benefits

Benefits include:

Medical, Dental & Vision

Vacation, Sick & Personal Leave

Life Insurance (Basic & Optional)

Flex Spending Accounts

403(b) Retirement Account

Holiday Savings Plan

Salary Range: $61,200.00 - $68,900.00 Salary is commensurate with experience and may work a hybrid/remote work schedule.

The position is based in Alabama.

UNCF is EOE M/F/D/V