Organization Overview
Breakthrough Silicon Valley’s transformative two-pronged program launches talented but underserved middle school students on the path to college, while at the same time inspiring high school and college students to become educators, particularly in the communities that need the most help. Breakthrough Silicon Valley stands out among the many efforts to improve educational outcomes for underserved students, reaching beyond the typical goals of proficiency, and deeply changing the lives of individuals and their communities. While ambitious in its goals, BSV works: a stunning 89% of BSV graduates go on to attend four-year colleges immediately after high school.
Breakthrough Silicon Valley’s tuition-free program provides year round out of school time academic support, counseling, and advocacy for a diverse group of talented students, most of whom are first in their family to go to college, come from low-income families, or attend under-performing schools. Breakthrough also provides a consummate professional development experience in education by giving talented high school and college students the opportunity to design and teach classes under the direction of education professionals.
Located in San Jose, California, Breakthrough Silicon Valley is an affiliate of The Breakthrough Collaborative, a leading national service organization that establishes and promotes high standards for, ensures the success of, and acts as the national voice of, 25 Breakthrough sites across the country.
Position Overview
Breakthrough Silicon Valley (BSV) strives to provide our students with access to opportunities that will expand their horizons and prepare them for future experiences. Accessing and successfully navigating such opportunities is one of the ways BSV students make themselves more college-competitive, while simultaneously developing the skills and mindsets that will allow them to thrive in college and beyond.
By creating external partnerships in the local community and beyond, developing and delivering programming, and working directly with students and families, the Leadership Development (LD) Manager will be able to direct our students toward opportunities that challenge them, contribute to their growth, and better equip them for future opportunities. As a result of this work, Breakthrough students will develop a strong sense of themselves and their strengths, pursue increasingly meaningful leadership opportunities during school years and summers, become more competitive college applicants, and be ready to lead and thrive in their community, in college, and career.
As a critical member of the high school program team, the LD Manager will collaborate with colleagues to establish a shared vision for supporting BSV students to develop as leaders throughout their participation in Breakthrough. They will ensure that all students are supported throughout this process, providing guidance to the team where necessary, and will play a critical role in ensuring that all students are engaged and successfully meeting the expectations of the BSV program. The LD Manager will be data-driven, using data as a tool for student support and for evaluating program effectiveness.
Responsibilities and Functions
Student Advising and Family Engagement
● Provide individual and group advising to high school students, working with them to ensure that they are pursuing opportunities throughout the summer and school-year that build off-of previous experiences.
● Support students and families in acknowledging and problem-solving around potential barriers to participating in opportunities (such as travel, access to transportation, financial limitations, etc.)
● Provide individual follow-up with students to ensure engagement with appropriate opportunities, engaging families when necessary.
● Engage families in supporting students to pursue opportunities through workshops, events, and individual touch points; acknowledge and address potential fears and misconceptions.
Partnership Development
● Develop and maintain partnerships with organizations that offer summer and school year opportunities for students, ensuring that BSV students have access to a wide array of meaningful opportunities and regularly connect with professionals.
● Collect and track data to ensure that partnerships are best serving our students and meeting our programmatic targets.
Program Design and Delivery
● Create and execute age-appropriate programs pertaining to the importance of leadership development opportunities, especially as they pertain to first-gen, college-bound students.
● While working primarily within the High School Program, provide guidance to the Middle School Program on appropriate messaging and programming for middle schoolers that will enable them to pursue future opportunities.
● Work with the high school team to identify students who need support in finding and accessing summer and school-year opportunities, tracking student data, and regularly providing input to student advisors on student engagement and progress.
● As a member of a highly collaborative program team, provide input in the overall development and execution of BSV’s programming.
Other Responsibilities
● Update organization on progress of the program; produce reports on program quality indicators such as participation in school-year and summer opportunities, partnership development, and student engagement, assist with grant-writing and program evaluation.
● May design events for middle school students/ families related to pursuing opportunities.
● Collaborate with the Development (fundraising) Team and Executive Director with fundraising, marketing, and board-related activities as necessary.
● Support the student admissions process by delivering recruitment presentations at local schools, reading applications, and participating in new family interviews.
Qualifications
Ideal candidates will bring to the position a variety of attributes, knowledge, and skills.
● Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 3 years working in youth leadership development, ideally with first-gen students and families.
● Ability to be needs-responsive to our students and families, and a proven track record in supporting students of varied ability and motivation levels.
● Demonstrated success establishing and maintaining partnerships with schools, businesses, and partner organizations in support of programmatic goals.
● Experience creating and delivering programming (workshops, seminars, etc.) to individuals and groups, ranging in size from 15-100 people.
● Ability to engage multiple stakeholders, and track and share data relevant to each group.
● Ability to work successfully in environments and communities with people from diverse backgrounds (ethnic, socio-economic, educational, etc.).
● Experience in using tools and databases to track student data, such as Salesforce.
● Dynamic, entrepreneurial leader able to focus on program mission and details of program administration and operations.
● Excellent communicator, able to write and speak persuasively.
● Open minded with integrity and a sense of humor.
● Spanish or Vietnamese speaking preferred.
● As Breakthrough is an “out of school time program” candidates should anticipate working hours of 11am - 7pm Monday-Friday and occasional weekends during the months of September through May, and 7:30am- 4:30pm in June, July, and August.
Commitment and Compensation
● This is a full-time, exempt position
● Competitive compensation commensurate with experience
● Generous health benefits: Medical, dental, and vision health coverage and life insurance
● Retirement Benefits: 401(k) plan with immediate company match
● Generous paid time-off
Application Process:
To apply, please apply online. Incomplete applications without a cover letter and resume will not be considered. We will review applications on a rolling basis.
Breakthrough engages with individuals of all backgrounds and we are committed to embracing diversity within our organization, including developing a team who represents the communities we serve.
As an Equal Opportunity Employer Breakthrough is committed to providing employment opportunities to all individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
Learn more at www.breakthroughsv.org.