Detroit Program Manager

Job Summary:  Adamah cultivates vibrant Jewish life in deep connection with the Earth. Adamah Detroit implements Adamah’s national mission at a local scale: connecting people and planet in Detroit through Jewish environmental education, leadership development, and climate action.  

Our team provides critical and practical resources, support, and programming to over 40 local Jewish organizations integrating environmental values into Jewish life. We inspire and empower Jewish youth, teens, families, leaders, and institutions through programs and events that cultivate environmental stewardship through Earth-rooted holiday celebrations and experiential, nature-based programming. Our programs cultivate the next generation of environmental leaders, and support institutions in the development and implementation of climate action plans. 

The Adamah Detroit Program Manager works in collaboration with Adamah Detroit colleagues to develop and implement impactful Jewish environmental education programs and trainings, while supporting the diverse initiatives of the broader team.  

Responsibilities include: 

• Staff Supervision. Manage a Jewish environmental education team. Supervise a full-time educator responsible for the leadership development and holiday programs portfolios, and seasonal educators and interns as budget and programs expand. 
• Educational Programming:  
• Develop, coordinate, and facilitate impactful Jewish environmental education programming available to the Adamah Detroit Network organizations. Steward the growth and impact of these programs through relationship building with partner organizations and key stakeholders. Current initiatives include but are not limited to: Nature Chuggim: Jewish nature-based experiential education highlighting Jewish environmental values with elementary age students; Adamah Nature Camp at JCC Day Camp: Immersive weeklong nature camp hosted at the JCC Day Camp campus; and Teva Tots: Jewish early childhood and family nature programming. 
• Support the development and coordination of impactful Jewish holiday programs to showcase Adamah Detroit’s mission, values and share our work with the broader community.  
• Work with Adamah Detroit colleagues to contribute to impactful Network gatherings, including the annual Adamah Detroit Summit. 
• Program Administration: Demonstrate strong customer service and attention to detail with program logistics – responding to emails and inquiries in a timely and professional manner, keeping track of all program bookings, managing relevant invoicing and payments, logging program data in relevant information systems, and conducting timely program evaluations.  
• Field Building: Partner with colleagues to develop and facilitate impactful Jewish environmental training and leadership development experiences to build the field of Jewish environmental education in SE Michigan. Programs and initiatives include but are not limited to coordinating the Jewish Environmental Educator Cohort and developing and facilitating impactful training experiences at conferences, summer camps, and for other partner organizations. 
• Revenue Generation: Together with colleagues, identify opportunities for impactful and revenue-generating Jewish environmental education programming in the region, including developing training, consulting and curriculum development contracts with partner organizations. 
• Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Collaborate with other Adamah Hubs, local and national colleagues, to stay informed about Adamah’s Climate Action and Youth Empowerment initiatives and integrate learnings into Adamah Detroit’s strategy and programs. 

Additional Team Member Responsibilities: 

• Attend and contribute to regular Adamah Detroit team meetings, monthly all-staff meetings, and quarterly divisional meetings.  
• Support Adamah Detroit lay-leadership development, including attending and supporting quarterly Adamah Detroit advisory council meetings and participating in fundraising initiatives.  
• Collaborate with team members to support Adamah Detroit outreach, communications, and community building in the region, with a focus on supporting the Adamah Detroit social media to effectively tell the story of Adamah Detroit’s impact and connect with new communities and individuals. 
• While this role will focus on Jewish environmental education and leadership development initiatives, other responsibilities may be delegated and expanded as needed to support our interdisciplinary and collaborative team. Responsibilities could include but are not limited to: Supporting set up for adjacent Adamah Detroit programming, administrative support, marketing and communications support, and development and fundraising support.  
• Engage in ongoing learning and professional development consistent with Adamah’s mission. 

Helpful prior skills and experience include: 

• Supervision or management experience (at least 2+ years) in a relevant context, motivating and resourcing employees to meet their goals and grow in their work.  
• Considerable experience (approximately 5+ years) working directly as an outdoor experiential educator with children and young families in formal or informal educational environments, which could include leadership roles withing the Jewish summer camp field. 
• Experience developing curricula, lesson plans and training sessions.  
• Demonstrated commitment to environmental stewardship through professional experiences and personal practice and actions.  
• Demonstrated experience working on collaborative teams and working independently to move time sensitive and variable tasks forward. 
• Experience working within Jewish community organizations. 
• Strong personal organizational systems to effectively track and manage multiple projects.  
• Compelling written and oral communication skills – the ability to tell the story of our work through email communications, newsletters, program facilitation, public speaking, and social media coordination.  

Location and Schedule: This is a full-time position based out of Adamah Detroit’s shared coworking space at the Downtown Synagogue in Detroit, Michigan. Adamah Detroit has a hybrid work environment with some in-person meetings required and a great deal of flexibility for staff to conduct other work remotely as they wish. Candidates must also be able and willing to travel to regular meetings and programs around the Metro Detroit area. Adamah offers a seasonal early stop on Fridays and some Jewish holidays. Adamah Detroit cultivates a culture of “no meetings” on Fridays, meant to ensure staff have time for deep work and planning without meeting interruption. The Program Manager’s schedule will often vary to accommodate weekend programs on Sundays and occasional late afternoon/early evening programs. (This is estimated at 2 weekend commitments per month during high programming time.) Additional expectations include an annual all-staff gathering that is out of state and aligned professional development opportunities or conferences to be coordinated with the Adamah Detroit Director.  

Adamah Detroit values a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. Candidates may be of any (or no) faith or background but should be well equipped to work within the Jewish community and demonstrate literacy in Jewish environmental values and tradition which inform all of our educational programs. 

Adamah is strongly committed to equal employment opportunities for all individuals. All employment decisions are made without unlawful discrimination as to race, creed, color, national origin, gender identity and expression, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, alienage, citizenship, or any other basis protected by law. 

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, compensation, training and development, benefits, promotion, demotion transfer, discipline, or termination. 

Frequently cited statistics show that women and underrepresented groups apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the criteria. We encourage you to break that statistic and apply.