Community Outreach and Partnerships Specialist

Key Responsibilities

• Lead outreach and recruitment efforts to increase awareness of You Matter 2 programs among youth, families, schools, partners, and local stakeholders.
• Represent You Matter 2 at school events, community fairs, resource fairs, open houses, partner meetings, parent nights, and local events.
• Conduct direct outreach to families, youth, schools, faith-based institutions, libraries, park districts, agencies, municipalities, and referral sources.
• Maintain an outreach calendar that tracks community events, school visits, partner meetings, recruitment deadlines, and follow-up tasks.
• Support participant recruitment from initial interest through completed registration and program participation.
• Serve as a welcoming and supportive contact for families seeking to learn more about You Matter 2 programs.
• Help families and youth navigate program information, applications, consent forms, transportation options, and program expectations.
• Follow up with interested families and youth to answer questions and encourage completion of enrollment steps.
• Support retention strategies by checking in with families and participants when attendance becomes inconsistent.
• Help identify and address barriers to participation, including awareness, scheduling, transportation, communication, technology, and resource needs.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with schools, counselors, social workers, community organizations, faith-based institutions, libraries, municipalities, park districts, youth-serving agencies, funders, and local stakeholders.
• Serve as a key point of contact for community partners, referral sources, and families seeking information about You Matter 2 programs.
• Identify new partnership opportunities that expand access to youth development, wellness, leadership, college and career readiness, workforce readiness, service, and community-based initiatives.
• Help identify guest speakers, field trip partners, service partners, volunteers, mentors, community resources, workforce partners, wellness partners, and referral agencies.
• Support participant data collection, tracking, and reporting across programs, including enrollment, attendance, demographics, referrals, communication touchpoints, surveys, and engagement.
• Maintain accurate and timely records in You Matter 2’s data systems, including Salesforce/CRM, spreadsheets, Google Forms, registration platforms, attendance trackers, and other internal systems.
• Track outreach and partnership activity, including community events, school visits, partner meetings, referrals received, follow-up contacts, recruitment sources, enrollment conversions, and partner engagement.
• Support grant reporting and compliance by ensuring outreach, enrollment, participation, partnership, and demographic data are complete, accurate, and submitted on time.
• Work closely with the Program Director and program leads to align outreach and partnership efforts with program goals, enrollment targets, staffing capacity, grant deliverables, and participant needs.
• Support communications and community visibility by promoting programs through community channels, school networks, partner newsletters, parent groups, local organizations, and on-the-ground outreach.
• Ensure outreach materials are clear, accurate, accessible, and aligned with You Matter 2’s voice and brand.
• Gather stories, testimonials, participant feedback, community insights, and photos when appropriate to support storytelling and program visibility.
• Support promotion for organization-wide initiatives, including Back to School Bash, Juneteenth, youth showcases, college and career events, service opportunities, wellness events, and special programs.

Qualifications

• Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Community Development, Social Work, Public Health, Communications, Education, Human Services, Nonprofit Management, or a related field preferred; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.
• 2–4+ years of experience in community outreach, recruitment, partnership development, case management, family engagement, community organizing, youth development, public health outreach, school-based engagement, or community-based program support.
• Strong relationship-building skills and ability to engage diverse youth, families, schools, partners, and community stakeholders.
• Experience working in or with South Suburban Cook County communities preferred.
• Experience supporting youth programs, family engagement, school partnerships, nonprofit services, or community-based initiatives preferred.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, especially related to follow-up, documentation, data tracking, and reporting.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Comfort with basic data systems, including CRM platforms, spreadsheets, Google Forms, Google Workspace, registration systems, and/or attendance tracking tools.
• Ability to work independently while also collaborating closely with a team.
• Ability to manage multiple outreach activities, partner relationships, deadlines, follow-ups, and communication channels.
• Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings and some weekends for programs, community events, outreach, and special initiatives.
• Alignment with You Matter 2’s mission and commitment to equity, access, youth voice, and community-centered work.
• Valid driver’s license and reliable transportation preferred for community-based outreach.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Paid holidays
• Sick time
• Professional development opportunities
• Mileage reimbursement