Organization: Central Valley Scholars 
Location: Hybrid (In-person at Fresno office and virtual)  
Job Type: Full-Time 
Job Salary: $50,000
Start Date: As soon as possible

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About Central Valley Scholars:

 

Central Valley Scholars (CVS) is a community-based organization led by first generation, queer, Students of Color, with a mission of creating accessible pathways towards higher education for historically underserved communities in the Central Valley. CVS’s strategy focuses on creating critical, conscious, and realistic perspectives on higher education, with an emphasis on how systemic forms of oppression affect underserved students' academic trajectories. CVS fosters equity by providing workshops, scholarships, mentorship (themtorship), and specialized programming to help students achieve the education they deserve.

 

About The Position: 

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Founded in 2019, Central Valley Scholars is a champion organization in creating educational equality in the Central Valley. Doubling in both student reach and funding every year, we’re proud to offer paid full-time positions for the first time since our founding. We are looking for a Director of Programs (DP) who is rooted in community, advocacy, and a love for the Central Valley to join our team and continue our growth on a long-term basis. 

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As the DP, you will join our Chief Executive Team (CET) with a focus on program management and outreach for Central Valley Scholars. The DP will manage multiple programs of CVS including our webinars, Black Youth Empowerment program, Themtorship Program, and College-Prep workshops. The DP will encounter a diverse range of responsibilities based on the needs presented by the organization. From traveling across the San Joaquin Valley to build school partnerships, to building program curriculum and directly working with students, to holding meetings with partner organizations; the DP will work closely with the Chief Executive Team and outside contractors/volunteers on a daily basis to ensure the growth and sustainability of Central Valley Scholars programming. 

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Central Valley Scholars is led by Central Valley students who identified gaps in resources and learning in their own upbringing, pertaining specifically to navigating education, in efforts to create solutions to problems we faced during our higher education trajectory. Along with proper experience with the aforementioned responsibilities, the ideal candidate will have personal knowledge with the intersection of carrying marginalized identities while pursuing a higher education, and carries strong values for community knowledge and input. The DP must also strongly believe in our organization’s mission and values, and come with a critical understanding of higher education institutions in the United States, the systemic forms of oppression marginalized populations in the Central Valley face, and the intersections both outside and in-between. The DP must be committed to working for Central Valley Scholars on a long-term basis, and be open to challenging our current model, structure, and funding priorities in efforts of increasing student inclusivity and accessibility. 

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This position will follow a hybrid model of both in-person and virtual work schedules; working predominantly in-person at the Fresno office and partnering school sites, and also conducting work virtually where possible or necessary. 

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Key responsibilities of the DP are as follows. 

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Program Management: ​

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The key objective is to have a clear understanding of goals, deliverables, and progress reports for all CVS programming. Specific responsibilities include:

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• Ensure goals and deliverables of all programs are being met

• Build program curriculum, executive summaries, and reports

• Look for contractors, volunteers, and guest speakers to fill expertises needed in programs

• Create schedules for programs and ensure projects are being completed on time

• Work with Chief Executive Team to keep track of program budgets

• Create program goals, impact models, and calendars 

• Track program progress and success through various data methods 

• Use community based research methods to ensure student and community needs are at the forefront of our work (with an independent contractor)

• Create graphics for programs (with an independent contractor) as needed

• Direct webinars independently. This entails building webinar curriculum, recruiting guest speakers, and recruiting students and school districts to participate in the webinar. Similar tasks will be required for the College-Prep workshops.

• Direct the Themtorship Program with the CEO. This entails recruiting and selecting themotrs and themtees, hosting monthly trainings, recruiting for guest speakers, tracking themtee progress, holding monthly check-ins with themtees and themtors, and more. 

• Make program decisions on behalf of CVS

• Hold daily meetings with the CEO and Chief Financial Officer (the CET)

• Hold weekly meetings with independent contractors and partners

• Manage and facilitate volunteers

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Outreach: 

 

The key objective of outreach is to increase our student reach, applications received, and students directly served. Specific responsibilities include:

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• Make connections with school districts, organizations, and community at large promote our services (i.e. sending emails, making phone calls, scheduling meetings, and in-person site visits)

• Connect with media outlets to promote our services

• Manage Central Valley Scholars calls, emails, and direct messages 

• Streamline a communication with organizations and schools to build partnerships  

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Minimum Qualifications: 

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• Strong understanding of our organization’s mission, history, team members, and the students we serve.

• Strong advocate for creating accessible pathways for post-secondary education; especially for underserved students.

• Strong value of community-based knowledge and commitment to centering student and community needs. 

• Willingness to work as a team, learn and listen from all Central Valley Scholars representatives (board members, employees, volunteers, and students), and engage in radical candor and difficult conversations.

• 1+ years in program management experience 

• 1+ years working in the non-profit sector 

• 1+ years experience working with underserved communities (i.e. low-income, BIPoC, LGBTQIA+, woman and non-men, undocumented, (dis)abled, student parents, first generation students, and formerly incarcerated students) 

• Medium to advance knowledge using Jotform, Qualtrics, campaign monitor, illustrator and/or go daddy studio, Eventbrite, zoom, keynote, pages, Microsoft excel, google sheets, google docs, and google slides. 

• Critical understandings of higher education institutions in the United States 

• Medium to advanced knowledge in FAFSA, Common Application, UC Application, Dream Act, and college and scholarship writing

• Medium to advanced knowledge in community based data collection and analysis methods 

• A Bachelor's Degree from an accredited university in any relevant field

• Commitment to serving and supporting all students academic trajectories, especially those who are underserved 

• Commitment to working for Central Valley Scholars on a long-term basis

• Must have a valid driver's license and form of transportation

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Preferred Qualifications: 

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• Prior experience working with start-up organizations 

• Strong ties (either personal and/or professional) to the Central Valley

• Prior experience with program development (especially something you started yourself)

• Advanced knowledge in issues pertaining to students in the Central Valley 

• General non-profit management experience 

• Graphic development and branding strategy experience 

• Prior program reporting experience 

• Advanced knowledge in critical consciousness pedagogy

• Personal experience with the intersection of carrying marginalized identities while pursuing an education

• Large network that can help advance Central Valley Scholars’s mission and funding capacity

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Job Type and Salary: 

 

The DP is a full-time position of 40 hours a week with a $50,000 salary. As a new organization with less than five employees, benefits are not currently promised due to funding capacity; however, please know that we are working on it!

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Equal Employment Opportunity:

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Central Valley Scholars is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.

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Apply Today:  

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Please complete this form to apply. You can save your application and make edits later; however, you cannot edit after submission. For questions or support please email us at contact@centralvalleyscholars.org. 

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