Destination Home: Community Engagement Specialist

OVERVIEW
Destination: Home, a supporting organization of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, is a public-private partnership serving as the backbone organization for collective impact strategies to end and prevent homelessness in Santa Clara County. Destination: Home drives and aligns resources to create permanent housing and sustainable support systems. The organization is improving how systems work together to end homelessness and protect individuals and families at risk of becoming homeless.
The Housing Ready Communities initiative brings together neighbors, community groups, faith communities, nonprofit organizations, housing developers and government to increase public education and support new supportive housing and extremely-low income affordable housing throughout Santa Clara County.
THE POSITION
Reporting to the Housing Ready Communities initiative manager, the Community Engagement Specialist will support implementation of Destination: Home public outreach and civic engagement activities, including the Housing Ready Communities initiative. The position will be based in the Destination: Home office in San Jose. Core responsibilities include:
● Increase activation and growth of the Housing Ready Communities Action Network
● Implement public- and partner-facing communications campaigns to increase understanding of and involvement in proven strategies to prevent and end homelessness
● Establish and maintain relationships with neighborhood leaders, community-based organizations, homelessness service providers, supportive housing developers, allied organizations, and elected officials and government staff throughout Santa Clara County
● Build and maintain relationship management process and system for Housing Ready Communities advocates, volunteers, partners and other stakeholders
● Recruit and manage volunteers; support implementation of volunteer action plans
● Create and deliver public presentations and facilitate discussion at community meetings
● Organize tours of affordable and supportive housing developments for the community
● Assist development and delivery of Housing Ready Communities Neighborhood Ambassador leadership and advocacy training workshops
● Support implementation of initiative workplans, systems and processes
● Answer, triage, and route incoming inquiries related to community engagement
● Draft blog posts, community engagement case studies, newsletters and social media
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● Track and report on initiative impact metrics
● Coordinate and prepare materials for meetings and workshops
● Additional duties as requested
QUALIFICATIONS
● Minimum of one year of community engagement or volunteer management experience
● Minimum of one year of experience in a nonprofit setting, including familiarity with collaborative partnerships and coalition building
● Proficient in Microsoft Office and Google Suite, including development of effective PowerPoint and Google Slides presentations
● Experience mobilizing groups to meet goals
● Strong communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills, including proficiency with graphic design and social media tools
● Exceptional public speaking skills and experience giving public presentations
● Ability to manage multiple tasks and timelines simultaneously
● High degree of independence, initiative, diplomacy, integrity, and accountability
● Commitment to ending homelessness and serving our most vulnerable residents
● Ability to think creatively to accomplish work and organization mission
● Willingness to travel throughout Santa Clara County
● Positive attitude and excellent people skills
REQUIREMENTS
● Availability to work evenings and weekends
● Reliable transportation
● Valid California driver's license (driving is an essential function of the position)
● Proof of automobile insurance coverage
DESIRED SKILLS
● Awareness of public policy affecting affordable and supportive housing at local and state levels
● Experience working in partnership with people who are experiencing or have experienced homelessness
● Familiarity with affordable housing development, neighborhood concerns, supportive housing and supportive services
● Effective communication about supportive housing and the Housing First approach
● Experience facilitating small group discussions
● Ability to remain calm in challenging public settings
● Experience recording, writing and editing effective first-person narratives of individuals and families experiencing homelessness
● Experience developing infographics, creating custom Google Maps, photographing events, and managing social media campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin
● Experience using MailChimp, Wordpress, Canva, Google Analytics, Asana and Adobe Creative Suite
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● Bilingual (spoken and written) in English and Spanish or English and Vietnamese