Position Summary: Family Engagement Liaisons (FELs) are an integral member of the Beyond Housing Education Department. As school-embedded staff, this position supports students and families by providing resources, hosting trainings, and facilitating collaboration between home and school. FELs work onsite throughout Normandy Schools Collaborative (NSC). This position will serve as a communication link between Spanish-speaking families and the school community. The Spanish-speaking FEL will establish meaningful relationships between students, families, Normandy Schools Collaborative, and the broader community. The ideal candidate must have strong verbal and written communication skills and be fluent in both Spanish and English.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Communication and Translation
- Providing verbal interpretation services in Spanish/English for students, parents/guardians, and school faculty and staff onsite or over the phone.
- Translating NSC and Beyond Housing communications such as event flyers, documents, forms, website, social media posts, and other publications.
- Translating or composing NSC and Beyond Housing information requests.
- Collaborating with onsite FEL(s) and school social worker/counselors to translate or interpret necessary services for students.
- Assisting in planning and providing interpretation/translation services for school activities such as parent/teacher conferences, open houses, back-to-school events, recognition activities, and community meetings
- Planning and hosting FEL-led Parent Engagement Events for Spanish-speaking families
Engagement and Resourcing
- Demonstrating empathy, respecting and establishing healthy boundaries, and hosting consistent, high-quality interactions with students and their families.
- Assessing family needs with an emphasis on basic needs such as safety, housing, food, clothing, and transportation.
- Staying up-to-date on resources and services offered by peer and partner organizations.
- Collaborating with school administration to support school-community needs.
- Providing direct case management to a small cohort of students and families.
- Conducting occasional home visits.
- Planning, hosting, and/or attending monthly Family Engagement Liaison Network meetings.
- Identifying and attending professional development and training opportunities to further develop expertise.
- Documenting and reporting provision of basic need items, interactions, activities, events, and other data.
- Attending bi-weekly supervisory meetings with the Sr. Director of Education.
- Other duties as assigned.
Personal Qualities:
- Collaborative — A dynamic personality that is collaboratively minded, can recognize and identify strengths, seek consensus around mutual goals, and build meaningful relationships.
- Creative and Curious — A systems-thinker and builder who is not afraid to be innovative in designing solutions and has skills in articulating these ideas and concepts.
- Methodical — Strong analytical, systems, and problem-solving skills to evaluate performance, prepare reports, and recommend/implement solutions using independent judgment. Able to move from concepts to action through strong program design and evaluation.
- Reliable — Leadership skills that reflect and value a team approach, demonstrated integrity, effectiveness, efficiency, and the ability to deliver high quality service. Highly capable of handling multiple tasks, projects and timelines. Excellent oral and written communications skills.
- Trusted — Ability to work with residents, partners, and staff of diverse backgrounds with a positive, optimistic, solutions-oriented attitude. Shares a deep respect for the community, its stakeholders, and the residents that we serve.
- Driven — Passion for the work and an interest in continuous learning and improvement.
Preferred Experience and Qualifications:
- 2+ years of experience of professional translation/interpretation, preferably in an educational setting.
- Experience in early childhood education, primary/secondary education, special education, social work or related fields.
- High School Diploma or equivalent required. Bachelor’s degree is preferred.
- A combination of education and experience will be considered.
- Must possess advanced Spanish and English communication skills in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and comprehension.
- Computer literacy with strong proficiency in Microsoft Office applications is required.
- Familiarity with Salesforce or other CRM databases.
- Strong interpersonal skills. The Spanish-speaking Family Engagement Liaison must establish meaningful relationships with organizational peers, students, families, schools, and other external stakeholders.
- Ability work some evenings and weekends.
- Must have reliable transportation, valid driver’s license, and proof of auto insurance.
- Position requires driving between Beyond Housing Headquarters, NSC schools, and home visits.
- Knowledgeable about the challenges residents in low-income, majority minority neighborhoods face from long-standing racial exclusion.
- Demonstrated commitment to the principles of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion.
Supervisor:
Senior Director of Education
Supervises:
None
Salary and Benefits:
- $45,000 annually—to ensure pay equity, this is the best and final salary for this position, and it is not open for salary negotiations.
- Benefits for full-time position as determined in current Beyond Housing Employee Handbook.
- This position is full-time, following the Normandy Schools Collaborative academic calendar (10-months). Salary is paid and benefits are maintained across all 12 months of the year.
Application Instructions:
Please send your resume and cover letter to hr@beyondhousing.org by July 26, 2024. For more information on Beyond Housing, visit www.beyondhousing.org.
ADA Statement:
Beyond Housing is committed to furthering the purpose of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). We are always willing to consider reasonable accommodations, which may allow a disabled person to perform this or any other job. The Summary of Physical Requirements is a list of what we believe is necessary to perform the job’s essential functions.
Summary of Physical Requirements:
This position works in a professional office environment and in school-related facilities. The Spanish-speaking Family Engagement Liaison position requires the use of computers, phones, and face-to-face conversations. The constant use of eyes, ears, and hands will be required in all environments where work is performed. The incumbent is required to stand, walk, reach, stoop, climb, lift, carry and bend when performing essential job functions in the office and at other locations. These activities may include walking through various locations during activities, operation of common office equipment – such as photocopiers, fax machines, mailboxes, scanners, etc.
Diversity & Inclusion Statement:
At Beyond Housing, we are committed to promoting diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion throughout our organization and culture. We strive to understand and appreciate the individuality of every employee and create a better place to work for all. We nurture a culture where everyone positively acknowledges equity through action and is aware, understanding, and appreciative of diversity.
Our vision is to go beyond simple tolerance and fully embrace the things that make each person unique. We recognize that our employees’ differences support our ability to advance equity for the communities we serve. Further, we understand that equity is critical to the fulfillment of our mission to help entire communities become better places to live.
The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. They are not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. Beyond Housing is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
