Community Resident Engagement Specialist (Temporary)

California State University - Hayward, CA

Full-time - Entry Level

Remote - Hayward, CA

Educational Services

About the position

The Community Resident Engagement Specialist (CRES) is a temporary, full-time position at California State University, East Bay, focused on enhancing resident engagement and community partnerships. The role involves coordinating cradle-to-career services for children and families, fostering trust among community residents and partners, and leading community events. The CRES will work closely with various networks and stakeholders to ensure effective communication and resource sharing, ultimately supporting the Hayward Promise Neighborhoods initiative.

Responsibilities

• Foster strong relationships with community residents, ensuring their voices are heard and they have access to available services or contacts.
• Coordinate creation and dissemination of marketing and newsletter materials with outreach and social media coordinators.
• Build and maintain trust and credibility among community residents, the University, and HPN partners by responding promptly and professionally to inquiries via phone, virtual, email, or in-person activities.
• Work collaboratively with the Executive Director, the Cradle to Career Director of Programs and Evaluation, and partner leads for the Early Learning Network (ELN), Cradle to Career Educational Reform Network (C2CERN), and the Neighborhood Health and Empowerment Network (NHEN).
• Enhance the coordination of referrals to partnering agencies in support of children and families across cradle-to-career services and resources.
• Develop and maintain contacts with partners and community leaders to extend and strengthen community understanding and support of the HPN initiative.
• Collaborate with social service providers to ensure comprehensive cradle-to-career support for residents, and explore new partnerships and opportunities to address community needs.
• Lead planning and executing community events with program staff and community partners, including Promise Fest, Words for Lunch, Fresh Foods for Families, and community fair participation.
• Develop practices that support events that are safe, engaging, and inclusive for the community.
• Oversee the recruitment, training, and onboarding of staff and volunteers supporting assigned events and programs.
• Assist in evaluating the effectiveness of community engagement strategies and programs aligned to grant and community outcomes.
• Provide feedback and recommendations for continuous improvement, including proposals for new strategies, programs, and activities.
• Document community outreach attendance, efforts and complete monthly and quarterly reports.
• Attend weekly in-person HPN staff meetings to report, collaborate, and support collective impact efforts.
• Attend and participate in trainings and conferences.
• Represent HPN and Cal State East Bay across University and community events.

Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree in social work, social studies, public administration, public health, education, or a related field and/or experience in community engagement, partnership development, or a related area.
• Strong understanding of cradle-to-career services and resources for children and families.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication (verbal and oral) skills, with the ability to build relationships and work collaboratively with diverse groups.
• Proven ability to lead and facilitate comprehensive strategies for resident engagement and/or community partnership.
• Maintain a flexible work schedule that may frequently include evening and weekend activities in various community locations.
• Access to reliable transportation and/or a valid driver's license for regular travel to community locations and events.
• Recognize when information is appropriate for public distribution and when it needs to be kept confidential.
• Advanced knowledge of and ability to use a variety of technologies including, but not limited to: Microsoft Office Suite, Google Suite, Zoom, and general in-house platforms and data collection tools.

Nice-to-haves

• A Master's degree in social work, social studies, public administration, public health, education, or a related field.
• Demonstrated ability to plan and execute small and large-scale community events successfully.
• Proven work experience involving study, analysis, and/or evaluation of qualitative or qualitative data leading to the development or improvement of administrative policies, procedures, practices, or programs.
• Demonstrated ability to create and disseminate marketing and communication material with attention to detail and graphic design elements to effectively promote HPN related programming and resources.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision insurance
• Retirement plans (CalPERS, 401k, 457, 403(b))
• Dependent and health care reimbursement accounts
• Life insurance
• Vacation and sick leave
• 14 paid holidays
• One personal holiday
• Tuition fee waiver