Who We Are:

Teen Empowerment believes that the voices and energies of youth are essential to positively transforming inner city youth culture and establishing peaceful communities. Our mission is to empower youth and adults as agents of individual, institutional, and social change.

In our youth organizing program, Teen Empowerment employs urban youth, ages 14 to 21, to work every afternoon to identify the most pressing issues in their community and develop and implement a strategy to positively impact those issues, helping to lower rates of crime and violence and increasing levels of positive participation among their peers in community life. Youth receive the support, training, and resources they need to become leaders of a powerful social change movement that sees young people as a critical asset in an effort to rejuvenate urban community life. Youth take effective action to address the issues most pressing in their community through social change initiatives using group facilitation, public speaking, the performing and visual arts, and more. These initiatives work to build relationships based on cooperation and respect between diverse community members, engaging thousands of teens, public officials, police, and community adults annually.

Over the past 40 years, Teen Empowerment Model has successfully implemented a comprehensive and ever-evolving asset-based youth development system. Currently, TE works in Boston and Somerville, MA, and in Rochester, NY. Centered on the use of innovative group methods, the Model’s operational structure includes a youth hiring process, training and professional development of the youth organizers, a behavior management system, and a systematic process for initiative planning, implementation, and evaluation. Through meaningful leadership jobs and working within the Teen Empowerment Model, young organizers experience substantial individual growth and create and implement powerful youth-led social change initiatives that help to positively transform adolescent norms and behavior patterns

Who We Seek:

TE is in search of an individual to join our team of program coordinators in Boston who is

passionate about working with young urban leaders,
grounded in community organizing,
a creative thinker and self-motivated,
and an activist for just and inclusive systems.

We seek someone who is motivated to engage young people from the Boston communities of Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan to realize and actualize their fullest potential as agents of positive social change within their communities.

Job Responsibilities:

The program coordinator position is multifaceted and instrumental to the success of our work. Program coordinators use their skills and professional experiences, in both group and individual settings, to help young people realize and actualize their leadership potential. Through the use of Teen Empowerment’s interactive model, Program Coordinators guide youth organizers to deepen their understanding of social dynamics and aid youth in developing skills in technical training in organizing. Additionally, program coordinators provide youth organizers the logistical support needed to insure the maximum degree of success in reaching project goals of individual growth, positive community-wide change, and challenging societal values and social structures.

Responsibilities include:

Hire and work directly alongside a group of youth organizers ages 14 – 21, facilitating daily 2 – 3 hour session for Youth Organizers to plan and implement strategic initiatives to address most pressing issues that young people face in the communities of Dorchester and Roxbury.
Work with team of Boston Program Coordinators to plan and facilitate daily group programming based on Teen Empowerment’s interactive, youth-centered methodology that engages young people through research, discussion, and the arts to think deeply about the most difficult issues within their community–including issues of social equity, violence, family, police/community relations, sexuality, etc.
Assist youth organizers to plan and implement small and large scale events and initiatives that address identified issues, including the annual Youth Peace Conference, youth-police-community dialogue sessions, community and youth-centric events, civic action campaigns, and more.
Cultivate relationships and develop collaborations to address issues of critical importance to youth with community stakeholders, including residents, youth organizers, community-based organizations, public officials, and policy makers
Advocate on behalf of youth to ensure their emotional and physical health and future educational, vocational, and emotional well being
Some evenings and weekends required

Qualifications:

A commitment and passion for community organizing, social justice work, and/or youth development
A sophisticated understanding of the socio-economic, educational, and relational challenges facing urban communities and how racism, discrimination, and oppression directly and indirectly impact these challenges
A comprehensive understanding of best practices to implement positive change strategies
A minimum two years’ experience in group facilitation and/or teaching, preferably with urban youth aged 14-21
Willingness to learn and use Teen Empowerment’s approach to group facilitation and behavior management.
Ability to mobilize the creativity, knowledge, and energy of urban youth
Experience in event planning and public speaking
Experiencing in the performing and visual arts a plus
Excellent communication, facilitation, conflict resolution, and mediation skills
Ability to work as a team and with diverse stakeholders in the community
Ability to attend to details, remain organized, and have the ability to manage multiple responsibilities at once
Commitment to Teen Empowerment’s mission
A bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience
Understanding and familiarity with the communities of Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan a plus

How to apply

To apply

Please send your resume and cover letter to Samantha Hale at samantha@teenempowerment.org

The Center for Teen Empowerment

384 Warren Street

Boston, MA 02119

Fax: 617-536-4311