Jewish Family Engagement Manager
3 days ago
Manhattan, New York
Please submit a cover letter or written statement discussing your experience with Jewish Culture and Programming as well as why you're interested in the position.
The 14th Street Y seeks a dynamic, creative, community-oriented Jewish Family Engagement Manager to design innovative Jewish programs for preschool parents and families. This person will be joining at an exciting time at the 14th Street Y having just welcomed a new Executive Director and Director of Jewish Life committed to revitalizing Jewish programming at the organization.
The 14th Street Y is a vibrant community center located in downtown Manhattan and is grounded in the belief that contemporary Jewish sensibilities and culture can be a source of inspiration, connection, and learning. Each year, tens of thousands of New Yorkers come to 14Y as members, visitors, or partners to experience our high quality, varied and inclusive programs centered around arts and culture, early childhood education, summer camps, fitness and aquatics, and older adult services.
The 14Y Preschool and Early Childhood Center welcome New York families of all races, ethnicities and religions, serving over 100 families each year. Along with its highly-regarded Emilio Reggio approach, and commitment to nurturing every child’s inherent curiosity and wonder, Early Childhood at 14Y strongly believes in the importance of serving the whole family as part of its holistic approach to early childhood education. We are also deeply guided by the 14Y’s Jewish identity, helping students and families celebrate Shabbat and Jewish holidays to experience the joys of Jewish culture.
JOB PURPOSE
The Jewish Family Engagement Manager is a newly created, part-time position designed to support the 14Y’s efforts to reinvigorate and expand its Jewish life and culture offerings. The primary responsibility of this position is to design and execute engaging Jewish programs for preschool parents and build enriching community. This role will use a “chavurah cohort model”—or different programming tracks—to excite and connect parents with the breadth and possibility of Jewish culture. Chavurah options might include: Jewish arts, food, wellness, field trips to Jewish cultural organizations and shows, traditional text study and more. The Family Engagement Manager will also design and program monthly Shabbat dinners and a number of Jewish holiday programs for young families to expand the 14Y’s Jewish offerings and further cultivate relationships with preschool parents. This role will work closely with preschool staff, and most especially preschool parents to identify areas of interest, and will work hand-in-hand with families throughout the year to co-design programming that is exciting, meaningful and engaging.
The successful candidate will have a deep commitment to Jewish values and culture and recognizes that Jewish life is extremely diverse and includes people of all races, ethnicities, observance, experience and interests.
The Jewish Family Engagement Manager role is a 10-month a year position (mid-August-mid-June) with leave and works 15-20 hours per week. There will be some evening and weekends required depending on the program schedule. This role reports directly to the Director of Jewish Life with a dotted reporting line to our 14Y Preschool Director. It is subsidized with a generous foundation grant for a three-year period, with the potential to continue following the initial grant period.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES
Event Management & Communication
Work closely with Director of Jewish Life, 14Y Preschool Director, and preschool parents to curate and design exciting, meaningful Jewish programs, and support the formation of chavurot groups or program tracks.
Manage logistics related to running successful programs including securing and hiring facilitators, teachers or artists; organizing logistics for cultural field trips; liaising with 14Y staff for on-site programs; contracting babysitting services for certain parent engagement programs, etc.
Design and manage monthly Shabbat and holiday programs for young families.
Manage all communication with parents for this initiative and attend preschool programs for parents to establish in-person relationships and drum up interest for programming.
Track and report on success of programs and adjust strategy as needed.
Manage $20,000 program budget.
JOB QUALIFICATIONS
Experience designing, planning and executing meaningful, cultural programs for specific audiences; experience working with parents, a plus.
Experience and understanding of building community collaboratively, ideally, cohort-based.
Experience working with groups with diverse needs and interests.
Knowledge of Jewish culture, tradition, and the city’s Jewish cultural landscape.
Experience working with early childhood or designing programming for young families, a plus.
Ability to be self-directed; willingness to pivot as needed.
Strong analytical, planning, and organizational skills.
Passion for Jewish culture, building community and working collaboratively with parents
