VISION: Our vision is for all neighborhoods to be resilient, thriving, and equitable.
MISSION: Our mission is to engage Pittsburgh area residents and organizations with innovative tools that expand opportunity for transformative community change.
Senior Manager of Economic Opportunity Position Description
Position: Senior Program Manager of Economic Opportunity
Status: Full-time
Reports to: Vice President of Economic Mobility
OVERVIEW:
Neighborhood Allies advances economic opportunity for people of color, vulnerable populations, and under-resourced communities. We address racial, gender, ability, and geographic inequities in income, wealth, and opportunity. As the recognized regional leader in the financial empowerment field, we develop strategic partnerships, raise resources, and create innovative and measurable solutions. We convene a variety of community practitioners to share knowledge and resources to share the needs and priorities of the people we serve. We provide comprehensive programs and leadership that address individual, programmatic, and systems-level change.
Our initiatives position families to take transformational actions by accessing the resources and support they need to achieve long-term, sustained financial well-being and build generational wealth. Our North Star goal is to move 100,000 low-income Pittsburghers up the socio-economic ladder over the next 10 years.
Our Economic Opportunity initiatives provide the opportunity for individuals and families to increase their knowledge, hope, skills, and assets. We directly address the building blocks of wealth – income, investments, credit scores, savings, and banking access. We measure the number of newly opened bank accounts, increased bank account utilization (and decreased reliance on predatory services), increased saving and investment behavior, improved confidence and knowledge, reduced debt, and improved credit scores.
Neighborhood Allies has developed unique expertise in this field and has been recognized nationally by Prosperity Now, National Disability Institute, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, and CFPB. We also work with the FDIC, Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, and PA Treasury. Our role is to develop strategic partnerships, raise philanthropic and government funding, replicate successful national programs, launch new or expand existing initiatives, and provide ongoing data analysis for continued progress toward programmatic and client outcome goals. We measure quantifiable gains in account access, account utilization, credit scores, savings rates, and debt reduction.
Our Economic Opportunity portfolio includes the following programs and networks:
- Asset Building Network
- Bank On Allegheny County
- Allegheny County Financial Empowerment Center
- Fund My Future PGH
- Money Talks
- Pittsburgh Coalition on the Intersection of Race, Income, and Disability
- Youth Financial Capability
We have spent the past several years building and promoting programs through numerous community partnerships. In 2024, we plan to strategically expand the Financial Empowerment Center and Fund My Future PGH, as well as integrate programs with other internal Neighborhood Allies initiatives such as Digital Inclusion, Small Business Supports, and Steel Smiling. We provide a high degree of flexibility to creative and productive team members.
Upcoming opportunities to explore include:
- Rent reporting for credit building pilot with Credit Builders Alliance
- Integration with employer-supported benefits packages
- Community-based lending pilot with Princeton University
- Creation of new peer support groups for program participants
- Identification and implementation of innovative and practical connections between program areas
- Support for public policy measures that increase assets and decrease wealth extraction
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Provide program support to the Economic Opportunity initiatives listed above
- Contribute to fundraising proposals, reports, and ongoing communications with financial supporters and policy makers to sustain and scale the efforts
- Develop social media and traditional marketing content to promote initiatives with the general public and to share with programmatic and funding partners (design expertise not required)
- Collect and analyze data to evaluate program elements, determine effectiveness and communicate conclusions and successes with partners and funders
- Review research on relevant topics (financial capability, children’s savings, asset building, savings incentives, banking access, programmatic integration, etc.) and make suggestions for improvement and expansion of initiatives based on findings
- Nurture mutually beneficial programmatic partnerships with peers and service providers that contribute to higher programmatic participation and success
- Plan and implement network meetings and informational workshops
- Communicate with issue-specific networks, providing information and networking opportunities
- Join regular team meetings and strategy sessions
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Passion about financial capability as an approach to build assets and overcome poverty, including one-on-one counseling, banking access, policy reform, and savings incentives
- Creative, independent thinking; “self-starter” who can plan and implement a project
- Experience in service provision in the community sector
- Knowledge of equity/inclusion issues
- 5+ years of overall professional work experience or master’s degree
- Excellent written/oral communication and listening skills, and strong project management skills
- Ability to develop and analyze various evaluation metrics
- Intellectual capacity and curiosity
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- High level of interconnectivity with people
- Experience developing relationships with underserved or underrepresented communities, communities of color, and differently abled communities
- Openness to learning and eagerness to develop new skills and abilities.
COMPETENCIES:
Cultural Competence: Respects and works well with people of all backgrounds. Understands and invites diverse perspectives to the table and is sensitive to group differences. Views diversity as an opportunity. Challenges bias and intolerance.
Project Management: Set and adhere to deadlines and operate well under pressure of quick turnarounds. Exhibit strong planning and organizational skills and demonstrate an ability to collaborate well with others.
Relationship Development: Builds and grows lasting, transformational relationships at all levels. Internally, works collaboratively with all members of the Neighborhood Allies team and partners. Externally, demonstrates an ability to cultivate and to grow both new and existing relationships in the communities we serve.
SALARY:
Demonstrating our dedication to equitable compensation, the salary range for this position is $65,000 to $75,000, enabling us to customize offers based on individual experience. This underscores our commitment to embracing diverse skill sets and talents. We also provide an exceptional benefits package that enriches the overall employment offering.
TO APPLY:
Please send the following:
- Cover Letter
- Resume
- Salary Requirements
- 3 writing samples (e.g., project charters/plans, lessons learned documents, articles, grant reports, etc.)
Application will be accepted via email only. Materials should be submitted to info@neighborhoodallies.org with “Senior Program Manager of Economic Opportunity” as the subject.
No phone calls please.
Neighborhood Allies is an equal opportunity employer, hiring and promoting staff and providing equity training to individuals without regard to race, creed, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, age, or physical ability.
We do not discriminate against Race, Ethnicity, Religious Belief, Gender, Gender Identity or Expression, Age, Disability, Sexual Orientation, Military/Veteran Status, Color, National Origin, Creed, genetic information, family responsibilities, or any other characteristics protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
