Community Development Educator

Current Employees:
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Job Category:

Academic Staff

Employment Type:

Regular

Job Profile:

Outreach Specialist

Job Summary:

The Community Development Educator serves the people and communities of Wisconsin by addressing local, statewide, and national issues, improving lives through research-based education, fostering partnerships and action, and facilitating positive impacts that support: thriving individuals and families; effective organizations; healthy and vibrant communities; and strong economies.

This Community Development Educator position will serve Fond du Lac County, WI, and surrounding communities. The Community Development Educator designs, delivers, and evaluates research-based educational programming and services aligned with the position's programmatic focus: building the capacity of nonprofits, community organizations, and coalitions. The Educator will assess needs and develop educational responses (e.g. workshops, peer networks, facilitated processes) that support community-serving organizations with action planning, board governance, volunteer engagement, fund development, and program/service evaluation.

The Educator will collaborate with local partners already serving the area.

This position will work with a team of colleagues to refine and deliver existing peer-learning programs aimed at increasing the capacity of nonprofits to deliver on their mission, implement continuous improvement and equitable practices, and work jointly with other organizations to address local needs. The Educator will also develop new content to meet additional needs of nonprofits, especially in areas of the state with fewer resources available to support nonprofits.

As part of the position's county-based work, the Community Development Educator connects Fond du Lac County and its communities to other Community Development and Extension resources and supports priority local initiatives through the facilitation of group and community engagement processes.

Programmatic Focus:
Organizational and Leadership Development with an emphasis on building the capacity of nonprofits, community organizations, and coalitions. Examples of this work include:

* Assess the organizational development needs of community-serving organizations (e.g. nonprofits, coalitions, school districts, local governments) and develop educational responses (e.g. workshops, peer networks, facilitated processes).

* Collaborate with local partners already serving area nonprofits (e.g. Fond du Lac Area Foundation) to support their capacity building efforts in the following ways: assist with needs assessments, advise on curriculum design, and deliver organizational development content (e.g. fund development strategies, board governance, volunteer management, program planning and evaluation).

* Support community-serving organizations with consultation, design, and facilitation of goal-setting, action planning, strategic planning, and program evaluation processes.

* Support local coalitions addressing community development issues (e.g. housing, transportation, childcare) in the following ways: training and resources on group processes, assist with adopting appropriate structures and policies that support their ongoing work, facilitate group action planning and goal setting, and advise on evaluation strategies.

Meeting Other Local Needs:

The Community Development Educator will prioritize and spend most of their time on a clearly defined programmatic focus: building the capacity of nonprofits, community organizations, and coalitions. To the degree local needs shift or other programmatic needs arise, the CD Educator will serve as the primary conduit for the community to access the appropriate research and educational resources, if they are available within the Community Development Institute.

The Educator serves as the 'on-ramp' for the community to access the wide range of resources in Community Development and Extension more generally. Examples of such resources include: training for local government officials, assistance with housing needs studies, broadband, and food entrepreneurship.

Recognizing that, regardless of programmatic area of focus, CD Educators are often called upon to support the facilitation of community and group processes (e.g. action planning, visioning, group decision-making), all CD Educators will have these core competencies and support these efforts as resources allow.

Statewide Contributions:

All CD Educators are expected to contribute to statewide efforts related to their area of focus. This benefits the local funding partner. Through their statewide work, the CD Educator is connected to the most current research, best practices, programming, and networks. They bring that expertise back to the county for application to local issues and needs.

This particular CD Educator will work with a team of colleagues to refine and…