Organization: The Grassroot Project
Location: United States
Eligible Citizenship: All Non-US Citizens
Application Code: US21-Int
Job Function: Direct Service, Health Promotion / Education, Partnership Development, Program / Project Management, Teaching / Curriculum Development, Volunteer Management
Issue Area: Education / Health Education, HIV / AIDS, Sports for Development, Youth
About
One in 20 adults in Washington DC is estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. This statistic puts our nation’s capital on par with some of the world’s least developed cities – DC’s HIV prevalence outpaces Port au Prince, Haiti and Lagos, Nigeria. Recent surveillance reports show that youth are at heightened risk, accounting for more than 10% of all new infections. Yet more than a third of DC students never receive information about sexual health during school. Of the education programs that are offered in schools, most were developed in the 1990s and are implemented by school nurses, who struggle to relate to youth.
In 2009, after witnessing the lack of effective, engaging HIV prevention services offered to youth in DC’s schools, a group of college athletes started The Grassroot Project (TGP). TGP trains all-star athletes as non-traditional HIV prevention educators. Our athletes implement innovative 8-week HIV prevention education and life skills programs as part of middle school physical education and health classes. Our curriculum uses games and sports as a way to create the knowledge, skills, and support that are critical to ending the AIDS epidemic.
Despite TGP’s successes, there are still thousands of students in DC who do not receive sexual health education. In the next three years, TGP is committed to ensuring that every student in the school system receives effective HIV prevention services, with the ultimate vision of creating an HIV-free generation. By 2017, TGP aims to double the number of middle school students who have access to TGP’s programs.
Position Overview
The Program Manager for Student-Athelete Programs will be based in Washington D.C. Now almost six years old, TGP is still in an early stage of development. We are making the transition from a start-up to an organization that is in a position to reach national scale. Before we expand to other US cities, our goals are to saturate the DC market with high quality HIV prevention programs and to fine-tune our organizational management model, which relies heavily on engagement with college student athlete leaders. The Program Manager, Student Athlete Development will be instrumental in helping us make this next step and will be expected to play a significant role in improving the quality and management of our core programming and improving our impact on youth by ensuring quality programming with the most impactful reach possible. The Program Manager in charge of athlete development will oversee the fidelity of our programs, and the development and oversight of our college student-athlete facilitators. They will be responsible for maintaining our relationship with our partner universities, recruiting new athletes, promoting growth in our facilitators by providing professional development opportunities, and basic supervision and human resource functions. They will lead athlete training and recruitment, and any other related projects as needed by The Grassroot Project.
Responsibilities
- Oversight of student-athlete recruitment and marketing strategy
- Oversight of student-athlete volunteers and paid employees
- Oversight of student-athlete training and supervision/quality control as they lead programs
- Planning and management of a student-athlete trip to Africa, or another location TBD, as part of their leadership training participation in project planning and execution for other Grassroot Project efforts, including middle school programs, fundraising, special events, and others TBD
- Construction and oversight of our Leadership Academy for college athletes
- Other duties as needed by The Grassroot Project (up to 10% of your time)
Required Skills and Experience
- Desire to work in a start-up environment and take on significant initiative and responsibility
- Comfortable with written and verbal communication, including public speaking
- Comfortable with basic human resource-related functions
- Ability to monitor expenses and correlate them to a budget
- Experience working with youth in an urban environment
- Comfortable in a fundraising setting, and the willingness to ask for donations
- Passion for the field of sport for development, as well as a sincere interest in HIV prevention and education
- Skilled in managing and leading projects
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Degree in public health or related field
- Experience working with college athletes
- Experience supervising and evaluating a team
- Knowledge of the social issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and sexual health
- Fluent in Spanish
- Experience planning and executing a marketing plan, especially in regards to social media
Fellowship Logistics
During the fellowship year, all fellows are provided with:
- A pre-tax living stipend of $1100/month
- Housing and utilities
- Health insurance
- A professional development grant of $600
- An award of $1500 upon successful completion of the fellowship year
- Travel costs covered to and from placement site, training and retreats
Living and Working in the United States: Fellows are provided with housing and utilities during the fellowship year. Housing arrangements vary based on location within the country. Fellows placed at The Grassroot Project will live with other fellows in a furnished apartment in Washington, DC, an urban center.
