GENERAL ACCOUNTABILITY:

With 38 years of operations, Skills for Change is a highly respected non-profit with a province-wide reputation for pioneering programs that  respond to shifting immigration and workplace trends and lead to employment. Skills for Change provides multi-sited employment, job  skills, career exploration through mentoring and entrepreneurship, job development, and language and settlement programs and services  throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Areas. 

 

PROGRAM NATURE AND SCOPE:

The Jane Finch Bridging Education to Employment (JFBEE) Youth Collective Impact (CI) group is seeking an independent contractor to lead a cross-sectional team of stakeholders from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, school boards, faith-based organizations, philanthropy, business, advocates and advocacy groups to develop, execute and plan for launching a sustainable Collective Impact project. JFBEE is a Youth CI project focused on capacity-building to encourage youth and agencies to work together, thus implementing a participatory approach to addressing the challenges youth face and collectively establishing relevant programs and services. Jane/Finch youth are not meaningfully and sustainably engaged in a way that provides sufficient voice, representation and influence on agencies and networks seeking to improve educational outcomes and economic opportunities. Lack of opportunities and training in youth leadership within agencies amplifies disengagement. Our collective initiative aims to connect and empower youth to influence service providers in the Jane-Finch community.

 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Community Engagement
  • Implementation of stakeholder engagement plan, including updating the plan as new needs emerge
  • Build and maintain relationships with community partners; Develop and maintain a list of participants
  and other community partners
  • Data Collection, Analysis and Reporting
  • Coordinate with the CI’s Partners to support all evaluation of CI work. This could include:
   Coordinating metrics refinement with Work Groups and Steering Committee
   Working with Project Director to ensure all partners are aware of targets and metrics
   Creating annual summary reports of progress

  Project Management
  • Planning, coordination, and execution of meetings for the Collective Impact Partners, Youth Advisory
  Council, and Work Groups, including scheduling meetings, managing all meeting logistics, and
  preparing materials
  • Prepare, edit, and/or coordinate meeting agendas, minutes, and presentations, as needed
  • Draft, edit, and support implementation of a highly detailed work plan outlining all deliverables and
  efforts supporting the CI objective, the stakeholder’s responsible, and expected timelines. This could
  include:

   Coordinating research and other activities with initiative partners to minimize
  redundancies and to align strategies and actions
   Working with CI Partners to coordinate with other related projects and coalitions to
  maintain a full understanding of the current landscape of the community activities, and
  integrating their work into this initiative

  Communications
  • Facilitate smooth and consistent communication among all members of the initiative by coordinating
  regular updates (email, phone and/or in person) to ensure alignment of activity
  • Work with communications staff, consultants, and CI Director to implement communications plan
  • Assist in the development of materials (print, web-based, and social media) to communicate about the
  initiative with a variety of stakeholders

 

Requirements and Qualifications:

• Working knowledge of the Jane and Finch community
• University degree or college diploma (or equivalent) in Social Science, Human and Social Service or
related field, or a combination of lived, educational and/or work experience is required
• A minimum of 2 years work experience, including one or more years of proven community outreach and
coordination experience
• Experience with stakeholder engagement and collaboration strongly preferred
• Demonstrated ability to develop strategic plans and coordinate the implementation
• Advanced ability to think creatively and independently on concepts requiring advanced analytical skills
• Demonstrated ability in working with and leading cross-sectional teams
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Experience working with racialized, low income, newcomer, women youth
• sensitivity and knowledge in dealing with different cultural and racial backgrounds and with special
needs;
• Customer-service orientation and problem-solving attitude, along with strong interpersonal and
collaborative skills
• Strong organizational skills, with high attention to detail
• Strong community engagement and facilitation skills
• Knowledge of and commitment to collective impact concepts
• Demonstrated ability to build effective relationships with a range of stakeholders
• Ability to work independently and efficiently in a fast-paced and constantly evolving environment
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office suite, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel and Google Docs.
• Flexibility and willingness to try new approaches
• Comfort with working in dynamic, fast-paced environment and ambiguity

Compensation:
• $28,137 over 15 weeks or less

Contact:
• Please send resume and cover letter to: jfbee@skillsforchange.org
• Deadline: October 15, 2021