Training & Communications Associate: Health Justice

Opportunity: The Young Women's Project (YWP) is a dynamic, brave organization that develops leaders, takes on institutions, and builds youth power in DC. We are looking for an experienced trainer with a flexible skill set to help us develop and deepen our youth-led health education and expand our communications and social media work. Ideal candidates should have experience working with youth and demonstrated social media and communications experience. Commitment to reproductive justice and mental health-wellness is a must. Organization with a big agenda and limited resources—expect to learn a lot and wear a lot of hats and to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of youth. The position is situated at the intersection of public health practice, youth development, and policy.

YWP Mission: The Young Women's Project (YWP) builds the leadership and power of young people so that they can transform DC institutions to expand rights and opportunities for DC youth. YWP programs engage youth on three levels – as organizers (educating, engaging, mobilizing their peers, working as teams to make decisions), as advocates (presenting testimony to city Council, advocating with Agency leaders, developing and passing policies) and as system rebuilders (developing programs, creating new peer-led systems, integrating youth into decision making). Our work engages under-resourced BIPOC youth ages 14-21 from all DC Wards and most public high schools. The vast majority of your youth identify as women, 20% identify as LGBTQ. Last year, we hired and trained 242 young people from 25 DC public and charter schools. All YWP youth staff work 5-6 hours a week, develop a portfolio of products, build cross-neighborhood friendships, earn $10-17/hr and receive more than 150 hours of training. Founded in 1994 as a Collective, YWP has a staff of 6 adults and 150 youth and a budget of $650,000. We are value-driven, anti-racist, feminist, grounded in youth development and partnership, and work every day to dismantle oppression and rebuild institutions.

YWP Program: YWP's work is organized into two program areas, driven by long-term-system-change-focused goals. The Youth Health Educator Program (YHEP) develops youth as sexual health advocates and educators who work to expand reproductive rights, reduce unintended pregnancy, distribute condoms, and connect youth to sexual health services. Recent projects include the 2023 Sexual Education Centers that provide sexual health information, resources, and services, conducting a Youth Sexual Health Survey taken by 650 youth across 24 DC High Schools (Results are here) and presenting 22 testimonies to DC Council. The Youth Justice Campaign (YJC) develops youth as advocates and organizers to advance a bold agenda and leverage their power through collective action. In response to the youth mental health crisis and the need for school based services, YJC youth started the Mental Health Campaign, aims to strengthen school-based mental health programming, connect youth to services, reduce stigma, expand access to mental health education, and advocate for stronger school based programming and funding. Since 2019, YJC Youth Advocates conducted 3 Annual Youth Mental Health Surveys with more than 2,000 students, presented 72 Performance Oversight and Budget Testimonies on a range of health, employment and education issues to DC Council, helped create the School-Based Behavioral Health Student Peer Educator Pilot (P2P Pilot) that codifies the essential role of peer educators into law, and created the Student On-line Support (SOS) Virtual Wellness Centers in 16 schools (and in Spanish),

Position Summary: The Training-Communications Associate (TA) will work as part of a FT staff team of 6 (including the Executive Director, MHC Sr. Coordinator, YHEP Program Coordinator, Training Associate, and two interns) and 120 youth staff to meet four main objectives: 1) Recruit, train, and manage 3 youth staff teams who will engage in weekly trainings and bi-monthly working sessions; 2) Plan and lead youth social media & communications work including LP development, management, and coordination; 3) Working with youth leaders, develop and implement youth-led campaigns that address specific assist in the data collection, analysis, and policy research for YJC. The Associate position is a full time (40 hr a week) position that (like all YWP positions) requires youth partnership and engagement. Therefore, the Associate must be available to lead in person training sessions 2-3 nights a week (until 6:45) and virtual sessions 1 night a week from 4-530. YWP is currently operating on a hybrid schedule with 1.5 days of in-person office time and 10 hours of in person youth training time (depending on the position). YWP’s core operating hours are 1030-645 (M-TH) and 1030-530 on Friday. It’s our expectation that during this time, employees will be available for YWP meetings & trainings and not be engaging in outside work, study, or other activities. Youth trainings are conducted in person at libraries and the YWP office located at Dupont Circle. Because YWP programs operate on a school-year schedule, programming is heaviest from September – May.

Specific responsibilities of the Training-Communications Associate are as follows:

• Youth Staff Training Development, Preparation, Delivery, and Management (50%): Conduct weekly trainings and working sessions for 2-3 teams of ~15 participants each from 6-8 schools; guide participants to meet key objectives. Prepare training materials, contribute to lesson plan development, collect evaluation and attendance data, Oversee, track, and manage all aspects of youth work; provide individual support and referrals to youth staff as needed.

• Youth-Led Project Development (5%): Coordinate youth-led sexual health projects at 6-8 schools. Projects are likely to include: peer support groups, peer-to-peer resilience building training, virtual education and service links (see SOS VWC as an example), campaigns, clinic assessments, and other projects.

• Policy, Advocacy, & Campaign Development (5%) Contribute to YWP’s work with DC Agency and DC Council leaders to integrate youth into school-based health decision making and delivery systems: 1) Conduct policy research including primary data collection, collection state models, and policy analysis; 2) Develop materials for use in education, outreach, and advocacy including reports, briefing papers, and testimony; 3) Work with youth staff to tell stories through written and visual means, testimony development, and meetings hearings, and other events.

Communications & Social Media (40%): Work with ED and Program Coordinator to expand youth leader and organizational visibility through the following: 1) Train youth staff in social media; develop LPs and other training material to support this work; 2) Edit and coordinate youth posts on individual accounts and YWP youth-led social media accounts; 3) Oversee and track youth staff development and distribution of health-focused messages and outreach on social media; rack youth social media posts; 4) Contribute to website and social media content; write and edit quarterly e-newsletters, announcements and other email messages sent to our electronic mailing lists

Salary Range:$40,000-50,000 commensurate with experience

Benefits: Vacation, Sick, FMLA, Healthcare, 401(K) 6% match, Short and Long Term Disability Insurance

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in education, public health, social justice, communications, journalism, or related fields.
• 2 years of experience working with youth, women, and with communities of color;
• 1 years of experience as a facilitator and trainer; skilled in popular education and experiential learning; experience with virtual training a plus
• Experience creating engaging digital content, personally or professionally in multiple platforms
• Exceptional writing skills and capacity to translate complex information into engaging and accurate content.
• Proficiency in using Canva and Microsoft Office.
• Experience communicating across multiple mediums that may include web, print, publication, data, social and video.
• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience in mental health and wellness, school safety, sexual health, and comprehensive sexual health education;
• Deep, demonstrated commitment to building youth power and working with youth as partners to improve youth serving institutions; understanding of youth development framework
• Strong problem-solving & critical thinking skills, and written and verbal communication skills;
• Highly organized with a demonstrated ability to prioritize and manage complex projects
• Flexible, diverse skill set and work approach

To Apply: Please email a cover letter, resume, and four professional references to: Nadia Gold-Moritz (nadia.gold-moritz@youngwomensproject.org).Please write “Train-Comm Associate” in the subject line. The position is open now. Interviews will be granted on a rolling basis and the position will remain open until filled. The Young Women's Project is committed to affirmative action. See www.youngwomensproject.org and our 2023-24 Program Summary or link tree for more information.