Specialist - Volunteer

Summary

The Downtown Women’s Center is the only agency in Skid Row focused exclusively on serving and empowering women experiencing homelessness and formerly homeless women.

Our mission is to end homelessness for women in greater Los Angeles through housing, wellness, employment, and advocacy.

The Volunteer Specialist is a passionate relationship builder who will oversee DWC’s volunteer program and promote a culture of volunteerism throughout the agency.

This position works with program staff to identify volunteer needs and opportunities; recruits, trains, and schedules volunteers;

stewards relationships with DWC’s volunteer community; and collaborates across all departments to ensure the needs of the Center are being met.

Part of the Development team and reporting to the Manager, Corporate and Community Relations, this position is an essential part of the team that manages DWC’s public profile, community relations, and secures resources to support the Center’s ongoing operations.

We welcome applicants of diverse backgrounds who can speak to their experience building relationships and coordinating projects, and who are committed to ending homelessness for women in Los Angeles.

Please submit a resume and cover letter through DWC’s application portal. This role will require a combination of remote and on-site work at DWC’s Downtown LA office.

Essential Functions

• Manage the volunteer inbox. Provide timely and accurate responses to volunteer inquiries, communicate about upcoming shifts, and connect volunteers with skills-based opportunities.
• Lead monthly volunteer trainings to introduce prospective volunteers to DWC’s approach to service provision and educate them on the unique challenges faced by our participants.

Periodically review and update handbooks, training presentations and manuals, and other program materials to help volunteers meet the mission of DWC.

• Coordinate with program staff to identify volunteer opportunities that further programmatic goals and support participants’ needs.
• Support DWC staff in working with volunteers : establish clear roles and responsibilities for volunteer supervisors, communicate about schedules, and coach staff through any challenges they might have with volunteers.
• Maintain DWC’s volunteer calendar with information about upcoming volunteer shifts
• Accurately track volunteer engagement and activities in our volunteer and donor databases. Provide regular reports to DWC’s leadership on the volunteer program.
• Steward relationships with DWC’s community of volunteers through volunteer appreciation events, campaigns, and engagement activities.

Implement volunteer retention strategies.

• Coordinate with the Communications team to send out a monthly newsletter to DWC’s volunteer community.
• Support volunteer recruitment for large-scale events and initiatives, such as the Homeless Count, Needs Assessment, and Every Woman Gala.
• Oversee special volunteer opportunities and programs, including the Birthday Guild, Whole Woman Saturdays, DWC Ambassadors, Housing Navigators, MADE by DWC pop-ups, and more.
• Collaborate with the Donor Relations team to identify opportunities to convert volunteers to donors (and vice versa).
• Collaborate with the Communications team to highlight DWC’s volunteer opportunities and celebrate our community of volunteers.
• Collaborate with the Policy team to identify opportunities for volunteers to participate in DWC’s advocacy initiatives.
• Provide additional assistance as needed with activities that further Development and Communication activities, including advocacy and fundraising.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Competencies

• Relationship building
• Project Management
• Attention to Detail
• Verbal and Written Communication
• Problem Solving

Required Education, Experience, Qualifications

• BA / BS or equivalent experience preferred
• Two years of managing volunteers and or staff preferred
• Hands-on experience in program development and coordination of volunteer programs
• Proficiency with donor and volunteer databases preferred
• Experience leading and inspiring individuals
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a proven track record of building meaningful relationships in the workplace
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including an ability to tailor communication style based on audience
• Comfortable with public speaking
• Exceptional project management skills, including communicating expectations, meeting deadlines and coordinating across departments
• Strong multi-tasking and problem-solving skills; ability to maintain composure in a fast-paced environment
• Outstanding attention to detail
• Demonstrated record as a successful team player, including the ability to develop and maintain a goal-oriented, positive attitude throughout the organization
• Knowledge of issues related to homelessness and compassion and understanding of the Center’s unique approach to service provision
• Commitment to racial equity and social justice; recognition of the role of race, gender, and other identities in contributing to homelessness and inequity
• Commitment to DWC’s mission to end homelessness for women in greater Los Angeles through housing, wellness, employment, and advocacy
• Cultural humility.
• Must be a CA resident and live no more than 75 miles from DWC; must be available for in-person meetings at DWC.
• Must provide documentation of a negative TB test result within the last twelve months, on first day of hire.
• You will be required to be up to date on your vaccinations against COVID-19 and provide documentation. If you are fully vaccinated and not yet eligible to receive a booster dose, then you must receive the booster dose within 30 days of becoming eligible and eligibility begins 5 months after receiving the final primary dose.

If you are fully vaccinated and have received a booster dose, you are considered up to date with your vaccinations. Unvaccinated individuals must receive their 1st dose before their first day of hire.

Partially vaccinated (for 2-dose series) individuals must receive their 2nd dose within 30 days of being hired. The second dose of a two-dose vaccine series is due 4 weeks after the primary dose.

Supervisory Responsibility

This position does not have supervisory responsibilities.

Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets, and fax machines.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk and hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and ability to adjust focus.

Occasionally assisting with lifting and sorting in-kind donations is expected. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time, non-exempt position, and is eligible for DWC’s comprehensive benefits package that includes training, paid time off, medical, vision, dental, parking and transportation benefits.

This role will require a combination of remote and on-site work at DWC’s Downtown LA office.

Schedule : Monday through Friday from 9 : 00am to 5 : 30pm, with flexibility to work evenings and weekends if needed.

Travel

Local travel for presentations to recruit and educate the community regarding volunteering and DWC is expected.

Work Authorization / Security Clearance (if applicable)

Being authorized to work in the U.S. is a precondition of employment. DWC does not sponsor employment visas, such as H-1B.

Downtown Women’s Center provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants and actively seeks candidates who reflect the rich diversity of the communities that we serve.

We are committed to a work environment that embraces and promotes individuality and inclusion. We believe that diversity and inclusion of varied perspectives, backgrounds, and life experiences are essential to our organization’s effectiveness, and allow us to serve our clients in the respectful, responsive, and understanding way that they deserve.

We define diversity in broad terms to include race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, mental or physical disability, marital status, pregnancy, military and veteran status, medical condition, geography, socio-economic status, and other unique attributes that make us who we are.

Downtown Women’s Center complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.

Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.