Program Director

Hours: 20/week

Salary: $25.00/hour

Supervisors: Pat Clark and Linda Wofford, Equity Kids Board Co-chairs

To Apply: Send cover letter, resume, and 2 professional references to info@equitykids.org

Overview

Founded in 2020, Equity Kids grew organically when a blended, biracial family recognized the stark difference the impact of racial injustice (specifically following the murder of George Floyd) had on Black, Latina and White family members.

Equity Kids explores ways of rejecting racism to make racial injustice a thing of the past. Our organization works towards this mission by building racially and culturally diverse communities where kids can learn about one another, develop friendships across races and other divides, learn about historical and current racial inequities, and explore ways to respond to racism and advocate for racial equity. 

Equity Kids provides programs for children ages 4-5, in grades 3-5, and for middle school youth.  Our curriculum was built on the framework of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Learning for Justice Program and focuses on four themes: Identity, Diversity, Justice and Action. 

In the 2023-2024 school year, we worked through Communities in Schools (CIS) to provide programs at two Austin Independent School District (ISD) elementary schools, and a program for middle school students at a Hays Consolidated ISD school. We returned for the 2024-2025 academic year at three elementary schools and two middle schools spread across Austin ISD, Hays CISD, and San Marcos. While our work through CIS was impactful, we are currently developing non-public school partnerships due to Texas legislation that prohibits DEI programs in public schools. 

Equity Kids partnered with El Ranchito Camp in 2024 and 2025, providing training to 25 counselors and staff and over 60 campers, and conducted a staff training workshop for Explore Austin. We anticipate partnering with additional organizations in the coming year and potentially offering a national workshop or launching program in a location outside of Central Texas.

Our goal is that all Equity Kids programming aligns with the diverse populations we serve by having our groups led by two facilitators of different races.

Position Summary  

The Program Director provides leadership and oversight of Equity Kids’ program activities, ensuring that they are innovative, strategic and aligned with the core values of Equity Kids. The Program Director works closely with other members of the Equity Kids Program Committee to develop, implement, and adjust activities as the organization grows. The Program Director will participate in the recruitment and hiring of other program staff and supervise this staff and volunteers.  They serve as an external spokesperson for Equity Kids to educate and provide visibility about the organization and strategically develop and maximize relationships with key partners and organizational stakeholders. 

Key Responsibilities

Management:

• Identify, recruit, train, manage and support program team (facilitators, staff, interns, volunteers)

•  Oversee a robust training program for the program team

• Identify locations for Equity Kids classes, programs and activities

• Recruit participants for classes and activities as necessary

• Serve as primary staff support to the Equity Kids Program Committee

• Track program attendance 

• Maintain volunteer and facilitator records

• Create new Google Drive files and folders as needed; keep the Program Team organized

• Collect photos and content for reports, publications and social media

• Track current and potential program partnerships through Little Green Light 

• Track and comply with programmatic budget

• Send information on all expenditures to Treasurer 

• Order and keep inventory of supplies

• Coordinate monthly supporter calls

• Provide pre- and post-evaluations, finalize assessment of evaluation results and keep record of evaluations. Work collaboratively with our grant writer on development of evaluations, timing of pre- and post-assessments, and ensuring that grant deliverables are met. 

Programs:

• Collaborate with the Board Co-chairs and Program Committee Chair in setting and driving programming vision and direction

• Provide presentations/reports to Equity Kids board

• Work with Program Committee Chair on development of new programs and revisions of current curriculum and mentor resource guide

• Develop and maximize collaborative relationships with key partners and organizational stakeholders

• Work with the Development Committee Chair to ensure that all grant deliverables are met

• Develop and oversee program evaluation and assist in grant writing or reporting as necessary

• Develop cultural competency training for teachers and partner organization staff

• Seek out and implement viable earned income strategies 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in education, child counseling, child development or other relevant fields of study. 

• Minimum 3 years’ experience working with educational programs supporting children

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills

• Expertise in operating general computer software programs

• Passion for racial and social justice equity

• Knowledge of local, state, and federal regulations concerning in-school K-12 programming.

Work Environment and Physical Demands:

• Ability to work remotely

• May be required to work evenings and weekends

• May be required to travel

Desired:

• Spanish speaker

• The ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations

• Cultural competence, including awareness of one's own cultural worldview, attitudes toward cultural differences, knowledge of diverse cultural practices and worldviews, and effective cross-cultural skills