Community Engagement Manager

Community Engagement Manager

Organization: GRIP Training Institute

Location: Remote with travel to the Berkeley office and Various California Prisons

Type: Full time, Exempt (40 hours a week)

About: https://grip-traininginstitute.org

DO YOU?

Do you want to be on a team who works toward dismantling mass incarceration and strives to turn violence and suffering into opportunities for healing? Do you want to work with proven leaders in the growing global movement toward Restorative Justice? Do you want to make an impact on the lives of justice impacted people? GRIP Training Institute is seeking a Community Engagement Manager to join our growing team.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Community Engagement Manager will be responsible for supporting GRIP Training Institute programs involving GRIP alumni and survivors both inside and outside prison. This will include managing existing programs as well as implementing new programs. This is a new manager-level position responsible for building strong, sustainable systems and relationships to grow this mutual support network. This role will also coordinate GRIP’s advocacy team and organize stakeholders to be powerful advocates for policy and budget proposals as determined in GRIP’s advocacy strategies.

The Community Engagement Manager will report to the Program Director. Piloting these programs will include the eventual hiring and supervision of staff who function to provide various services overseen by the role. This position is a remote position with travel to GRIP offices, prison institutions and other locations throughout the state of California.

If you have a passion for justice, and seek to work with others who have a deep commitment to personal and social transformation, and desire to learn and advance your role, then come join our dynamic, diverse, and growing team!

WHAT YOU’LL DO

The main responsibilities of the Community Engagement Manager includes, but is not limited to the following primary areas:

Stakeholder Program Implementation and Growth (40%)

• Manage and grow GRIP’s alumni and survivor network in re-entry, through coordinating and overseeing a variety of strategies and activities, including monthly virtual support circles, quarterly alumni/survivor in-person events in Northern and Southern California, and volunteer opportunities.
• Plan and pilot a new program to provide more explicit, streamlined support for graduates in re-entry, with a particular focus on the first 10-to-90 days home, including gate pick-ups, mentoring, and warm-handoffs to partner re-entry organizations who specialize in housing, employment and basic needs support.
• Establish, train, and provide guidance to a team of alumni (including those on staff) to be mentors and re-entry navigators for newly released GRIP graduates.
• Cultivate relationships and grow the number of survivors participating in GRIP’s Mountain Road Survivor network, designing and implementing additional strategies of engagement for this key stakeholder population.
• Coordinate with Area Prison Leads to ensure healing dialogues with survivors are scheduled and implemented in each GRIP prison program.
• Partner with the Program Delivery team to operationalize new programs and training methodologies ensuring smooth transition from design to delivery.
• Continuously review program metrics and adjust/improve training curriculum, content and materials related to survivor and alumni engagement, as needed to improve on our program outcomes.

Data Collection & Reporting (10%)

• Develop, maintain and implement a database of GRIP Training Institute graduates, paroled graduates, key reentry partner contacts, and victims/survivors.
• Maintain profiles of our graduates, paroled graduates, and victims/survivors, and respect their preferences for how and when we engage with them, and how often.
• Use the data to to propose strategic adjustments to existing programs, and inform future programs and services required by the audience .
• Create, maintain dashboards and reports required for performance tracking, compliance and development/fundraising to provide updates on program metrics.

Organizing for Public Education and Advocacy: (40%)

• Using core community organizing strategies, develop relationships with a growing number of alumni, survivors and potentially family members of GRIP students, to build a strong stakeholder community that sustains the impact of GRIP and can take actions to educate and advocate for restorative justice and rehabilitation at local, state, and possibly national levels.
• Establish and manage an advocacy team, in collaboration with the Executive Director, that will work closely with GRIP’s lobbyist/government relations consultant to develop and execute annual strategies to influence budget and policy decisions in line with GRIP’s priorities.
• In support of communications and fund development strategic priorities, recruit and mentor community stakeholders to be voices for restorative justice, rehabilitation and criminal justice reform in the public arena (events, media, funder meetings, etc.)
• Represent GRIP, as well as train and support other GRIP staff representatives, at coalition meetings, conferences, and events related to GRIP’s advocacy and public engagement.

Partnership & Resource Development (10%)

• Develop and maintain relationships with GRIP Training Institute partners and community services that could be valuable resources to support GRIP’s programs.
• Maintain and update a list of resources and partner organizations that can be shared externally with alumni being paroled.
• Implement a database that will track, maintain and update GRIP strategic partnership engagements, agreements, and procedures to ensure a smooth, reliable and trusted partnership to deliver the best experience for our students, graduates, paroled graduates, key contacts and victims/survivors.
• Use the data to inform and evaluate ongoing partnerships – which programs are used most, which programs are receiving high marks for service, and other relevant metrics to deliver an exceptional experience to our targeted audience

WHO YOU ARE AND KEYS TO SUCCESS

The ideal candidate has skills, experience, and passion to lead both internally in the organization (data, systems, program design/execution), and externally (people skills, organizing and advocacy experience), with a deep connection to the mission of GRIP and the justice impacted communities we serve.

Qualifications:

• High level knowledge and experience with the carceral and parole system.
• 3+ years of successful program management and/or managing multiple projects simultaneously to successful outcomes that span multiple organizations or programs.
• Advanced interpersonal skills and 3+ years experience with ‘people management’ including daily supervision of staff and long term planning for development and addressing staffing issues when required;
• Experience creating, monitoring and reporting on performance metrics, using data to inform decision-making and propose strategic adjustments, and building systems to track and manage program delivery.
• Successful experience with engaging and organizing people from a wide range of backgrounds/experiences, ideally with justice impacted communities, to be of service in their communities and/or advocate for social justice changes in the public arena
• Experience with creating strategic partnerships with governmental and community organizations, and with navigating complex policy environments.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to provide the best service to our community (eg., incarcerated graduates, paroled graduates, victims/survivors, etc.)
• Strong understanding of the impact of systems of oppression on communities of color, and experience working with impact communities.
• Fluency with productivity tools such as Microsoft Office 365, Google Workspace (Google Docs, Sheets, Gmail, Google Calendar, Forms, Sites, Groups, Photos, etc.).
• Must possess a valid CA driver’s license and clean driving record, and auto liability insurance.

Persons with lived experience of incarceration strongly encouraged to apply

ABOUT THE GRIP TRAINING INSTITUTE

GRIP’s perspective and the title of our coursebook is “Leaving Prison Before You Get Out.” ™ Together we learn that being free it’s not just about finding oneself on the other side of the prison gate; it’s not just a geographic fact. At the heart of being free is not where you are, but how you are. We believe that violence is learned and GRIP’s methodology facilitates unlearning violent behavior to replace it with an attitude of insight, compassion and service.

GRIP’s one-year intensive guides incarcerated people through deep personal transformation and accountability. Developed over 25 years in the California State prisons by founder Jacques Verduin, in collaboration with thousands of life-sentenced (with parole) incarcerated people.

GRIP provides its rehabilitation program to incarcerated people in 7 of our state prisons. Since 2012, GRIP graduated 1,512 students and 750 of those graduates were released from prison. In 2023, GRIP launched its first program at a women’s prison.

The GRIP Training Institute is an inclusive, equitable, respectful and accountable work environment. What we ask of our students inside, we ask of ourselves -- to practice the GRIP tools of emotional intelligence, mindfulness, do-no-harm, and understanding the impact of our actions on others.

We are committed to breaking down systemic structures which contribute to deep inequities in our society and organization, and support members of our community in being racially, culturally literate and ultimately anti-bias change makers.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

GRIP Training Institute offers competitive benefits, including 100% health and dental insurance, paid holidays and extended holiday office closures, generous paid time off, 401k annual contributions, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) . GRIP Training Institute prioritizes the wellbeing of our staff and teams and promotes self care.

Salary range: $90,000 to $100,000, depending on experience and qualifications.

To apply, please send an updated resume and tailored cover letter to: brian@insight-out.org

GRIP Training Institute is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage diversity in the workplace regardless of race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status