Youth Engagement Coaching Manager

Over 13,000 unaccompanied young people are surviving homelessness on their own in Washington state, at disproportionately higher rates for Black, Indigenous, and other youth of color as well as young people identifying as LGBTQ+. Lack of housing stability, supportive connections, and necessary services significantly impacts a young person’s transition to adulthood, leaving their economic, social, civil, and political rights unrealized. But what can be done? Is it possible to not just prevent but ultimately end youth and young adult homelessness in Washington?

A Way Home Washington answers that question with an unequivocal “yes.”

Who We Are

A Way Home Washington (“AWHWA”) is a statewide movement to prevent and end youth and young adult homelessness, prioritizing the existing disproportionality of homelessness rates among young people of color and LGBTQ+ youth. We partner with communities, agencies, young people, and leaders across Washington state to realign local and state youth-serving systems to meet the needs of young people in ways that matter most to them and result in safe and stable housing. By engaging on a local level and creating a statewide network, we connect communities and provide opportunities to discuss common barriers and solutions for ending youth and young adult homelessness.

Throughout our history, we have focused on integrating evidence-based practices and applying Continuous Quality Improvement to test, learn from, and develop innovative solutions. Ending youth homelessness won’t be achieved by maintaining the status quo; we think outside the box resulting in cutting-edge initiatives. We know that young people believe “nothing about us without us” and as a result, we have a duty to ensure that youth and young adults hold key roles in shaping and influencing the effective systems change that leads to ending homelessness.

A Way Home Washington is a fiscally sponsored organization of TSNE (tsne.org).

About the Anchor Community Initiative

The Anchor Community Initiative (ACI) is A Way Home Washington’s flagship program. In each Anchor Community, a diverse coalition brings together all parts of a community with partners committing to work across systems and silos, sticking with their collective approach until they have functionally ended homelessness for unaccompanied youth and young adults. These efforts ensure just and equitable outcomes for disproportionately impacted youth of color and LGBTQ+ young people and center the experience and expertise of young people. Anchor Communities work toward a measurable, time-bound end state called functional zero or “Yes to Yes,” which means functionally ending homelessness. When a young person says “Yes, I need help,” a community is able to say “Yes” back - Yes to Yes! Our current Anchor Communities are Pierce County, Spokane County, Yakima County, Walla Walla County, Clark County, Whatcom County, Skagit County, Thurston County, and Jefferson and Clallam Counties.

Reporting to the ACI Director, the ACI Youth Engagement Coaching Manager will be responsible for supporting Anchor Communities in ending homelessness for youth and young adults and will assist with delivery of strategies focused on improving local progress toward this end. The ideal candidate will have expertise and experience with issues related to youth homelessness and/or youth engagement, leadership and youth action boards.

The Youth Engagement Coaching Manager works as part of the overall ACI Team to support communities as they use data to develop, test, implement, and spread system changes. These continuous improvements will result in reducing the number of young people experiencing homelessness month-to-month and move communities toward functional zero. This role will provide targeted technical assistance to communities to reach high levels of youth and young adult engagement and leadership in their systems change efforts.

AWHWA is committed to equitable outcomes for young people experiencing homelessness, thus all data and strategies will be analyzed and implemented through a racial and LGBTQ justice lens.

Essential Functions

Strategy

• Participate in strategic planning and implementation for the ACI with a commitment to iteration and improvement
• Work with the Data Coaching Manager and ACI Coaching and Improvement Managers to refine the overall coaching strategy and implementation plan, as needed
• Lead the iteration and execution of the ACI strategy for youth engagement and leadership in the initiative

Coaching and Technical Assistance

• Serve as key point-of-contact and source of support for the Youth and Community Engagement Coordinators (YCEC) in their 4-5 assigned Anchor Communities
• As part of a Coaching Team, work collaboratively with ACI and Data Coaches, consultants and other subject matter experts
• Use identified methods and tools to coach each community, so they develop and achieve local plans to end youth and young adult homelessness (reaching “Functional Zero”), with youth and young adult leadership as a key strategy on Path to Zero
• Provide technical assistance to communities to ensure youth and young adults with lived experience of homelessness are engaged in our work according to AWHWA and ACI standards; including developing work plans, resources, training opportunities, facilitated conversations, sharing best practices, etc.
• Identify, create, and facilitate opportunities for cross-Anchor Community learning and collaboration around youth engagement and leadership to reduce YYA homelessness
• Work in partnership with ACI Coaching and Improvement Manager and Data Manager, as well as with local community partners, to understand the unique opportunities and challenges in homelessness systems and identify innovations to be tested
• Provides technical assistance on building and maintaining a Youth Advisory Board (YAB); outreach and recruitment; managing and overseeing the YAB budget as well as YYA lived experience stipends
• Support YCECs to develop Youth and Young Adults to lead system change efforts locally
• Lead on developing YCECs’ understanding of and fidelity to the ACI model in local Anchor Communities
• Hold ownership of deployment of initiative-level strategies
• Ensure local YCECs and YABs have the technical information and expertise to fully participate, and lead system change efforts in the ACI locally
• Provide mentorship and engage with YAB leaders
• Convene YABs across ACs and lead reflection, local action planning
• Develop understanding of local governance structures and how to embed YYA leadership
• Develop and facilitate trainings on topics such as authentic youth engagement and anti-adultism
• Develop resources, training curricula, and materials needed to support communities to make progress towards ACI youth engagement goals
• Capture and organize lessons learned from the communities by writing case studies and documenting successes and challenges

We will consider exceptional candidates who demonstrate a strong combination of the specific qualifications and skills described below.

• Belief that preventing and ending YYA homelessness in Washington state is possible.
• Familiarity with local, state, and national issues related to youth and young adult homelessness, and/or knowledge of youth-serving systems and homelessness in general.
• Experience working in youth programs, youth development, youth action boards and/or youth engagement.
• Emotional intelligence and trauma-informed sensibilities pertaining to professional interactions in a work environment shared by those with lived experience.
• Strong facilitation skills, specifically the ability to lead community engagements staying effectively and respectfully on topic and focus. Demonstrated facilitation experience preferred.
• Excellent communication skills, specifically the ability to understand the needs of your audience and adapt your communication style accordingly.
• Strong Facilitation and Agenda Setting experience.
• Strong critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
• Motivated by creativity and contributing forward-thinking, innovative strategies towards AWHWA’s mission.

Preferred Qualifications

• Personal experience of homelessness in youth or young adulthood;
• Ability to coach and supervise staff;
• Experience in a nonprofit, government, or professional setting;
• Awareness of other state systems a plus, including but not limited to schools, juvenile justice, child welfare, and/or behavioral health;
• Ability to be self-guided and work effectively and with sensitivity across barriers such as language and distance;
• Experience with project management software, such as Trello or Asana.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those for this position. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. Work is performed in an office environment and in close proximity to other workers.

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is required to:

• Handle, or feel objects, tools or controls;
• Reach; traverse; sit (usually for longer periods of time); occasionally ascend/descend; and position self (to) move;
• Occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds;
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate;
• Job is not subject to significant occupational or environmental hazards;
• Likelihood of personal injury would be relatively slight;
• Environmental and work hazards are not present to a measurable degree.

Compensation and Benefits

Location: Work will be primarily performed hybrid/remote and must be based in Washington state.

Compensation: The starting salary range for this position is $77,250 - $92,700/yr., dependent on experience and internal equity within AWHWA. The full salary range possible within the role in the future is $77,250 - $108,150/yr. dependent on experience and performance.

Benefits: This position is eligible for a full benefits package including:

• Generous Paid-Time-Off (PTO): twelve paid holidays, three weeks of vacation, one week of personal holiday, and ability to accrue up to 487.5 hours of health leave time for benefited staff;
• 80% Employer-paid, offering some $0 deductible Health Insurance through Harvard Pilgrim along with several low-deductible plans;
• Low-cost Guardian Dental and Vision;
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for Health and Dependent Care;
• Employer-paid Life, Long- and Short-Term Disability Insurance;
• Employer-paid Pension through TIAA;
• ...and more!

TSNE/AWHWA strives to achieve excellence through a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment that embraces all of our individual and collective differences. Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Middle Eastern and North African, Bilingual and/or Bicultural candidates, and LGBTQ2SIA+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We value and honor the unique talents, learning styles, and lived experiences of each individual that enrich and strengthen our workplace culture, and we are proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

All employment conditions are based on an individual’s performance and job qualifications. TSNE/AWHWA prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, creed, color, religion, native language, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, parental status, pregnancy, race-based hairstyles, or any other protected characteristic stated by federal and state law. Regardless of any class’ protection under the law or lack thereof, TSNE/AWHWA celebrates diversity and values the strengths that come with having a diverse team of employees. It is represented in our workplace culture, and it is who we are.

TSNE/AWHWA's EEO statement extends to volunteers, interns, contractors, vendors, and clients.