Spanish-Speaking Training Project Associate Description

The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) is seeking a full time Bi-lingual Spanish Project Associate in our Training Department.

About UHAB

UHAB empowers low- to moderate-income residents to take control of their housing and enhance communities by creating strong tenant associations and lasting affordable co-ops. Since 1973, UHAB has helped form hundreds of tenant associations and transformed troubled rental buildings into 1,200 affordable co-ops, providing homeownership opportunities for over 25,000 families. With democratic community control at the core of our mission, we work to sustain this thriving affordable housing community for this generation and those to come.

We organize residents to be active participants and decision-makers in shaping their neighborhoods. UHAB’s programs address a full spectrum of affordable housing needs: from building resident power and organizing tenants as community leaders, to developing thousands of units of affordable housing across the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, to making small loans to first-time homeowners, to preserving affordable co-ops through training, education, and technical assistance. UHAB’s programs address the needs of future generations through long-term solutions: developing new affordable co-ops, increasing energy efficiency and introducing renewable technologies, and strengthening housing policy.

About the Training Department

UHAB provides training and technical assistance to two audiences primarily. The first are owners in housing cooperatives that have as their mission to provide affordable housing. The second are tenants in rental buildings that are undergoing the process of converting to affordable housing cooperatives e. UHAB’s own participatory adult learning method is used by the Training Department in formal classes for building residents. We believe that adults learn best by doing and we instruct using the “Small Group Activity Method.” This involves a set of questions in scenarios which a class works off, together, to answer. UHAB staff do not lecture; we actively facilitate a group discussion to the correct answer or logical conclusion for a group. We train under three broad categories: financial management, co-op governance and physical building health. Specific topics range from budgeting to running effective meetings, board and shareholder responsibilities, and more. Through formal training, UHAB provides residents with the knowledge and skills to democratically govern and preserve as affordable their housing co-ops.

Position

The Training Department Project Associate will coordinate and facilitate classes for shareholders and leaders in existing co-ops and for renters in buildings undergoing the conversion from rental to co-op. This work will focus on buildings in NYC but may occasionally include trainings in other cities or states. Training Department also coordinates and facilitates internal staff trainings as needed. The Project Associate will conduct these trainings and assist the department Director and Assistant Director to develop new curricula for external use and as staff resources. Responsibilities include:

Responsibilities

• Delivering trainings both virtually and in person at resident buildings or community sites two-four times a week, during evening hours
• Providing technical assistance to co-ops and future co-ops as needed
• Researching and creating new training material or revising existing classes
• Maintaining accurate records of attendance and certificates of completion.
• Translating or editing curriculum into Spanish as needed
• Creating and distributing class materials via direct mailings, phone or text contact, email blast, appropriate social media if relevant, etc.
• Coordinating with co-op or resident association leadership, co-op sponsor, or appropriate NYC agency to set the training schedule for the target audience
• Coordinating with UHAB staff, Directors and Training Department to set internal trainings e.g.
• “Training 4 Trainers”
• Managing ongoing resident contact
• Updating database of resident contact information
• Writing unique training reports as needed

Qualifications

• Relevant or equivalent work experience (adult education, curriculum development, labor organizing, community organizing, project management or related employment)
• Fluent in Spanish (read, write, and conduct trainings in Spanish)
• Available to work evenings on a regular basis
• Understanding or interest in cooperatives; housing co-ops and alternative models of ownership is a plus
• Self-motivated and able to work independently
• Excellent organizational, multitasking, and follow-up skills, careful attention to detail.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to adapt to or experience working in fast-paced environments
• Proficient knowledge of technology, including virtual platforms such as Zoom and GoToMeeting
• Proficient knowledge of Word, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, Google Docs, Publisher
• Commitment to inclusion

The interview will be conducted in English and Spanish.

Location

UHAB’s work is carried out from our main office in Lower Manhattan. This position is hybrid, requiring class delivery, virtual class delivery, in-office work and some work from home.