Community Engagement Specialist

Title: Community Engagement Specialist

Supervised by: Director of Partnerships

Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Date: October 2025

ORGANIZATION HISTORY

VOCEL is a nonprofit early childhood education organization that equips and supports parents, teachers, and school leaders to strengthen early learning in their homes and schools. With a core focus on brain-building, playful learning, VOCEL designs and implements group learning programs across Chicago, prioritizing under-resourced neighborhoods that have experienced decades of disinvestment. On a mission to help ensure every child has the foundation to learn, grow, and lead, VOCEL is committed to raising the bar for early childhood excellence in Chicago and propelling children citywide to social, emotional, language, and academic success.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Having completed a five-year strategic plan that focuses on the growth in size, scope, and impact of family-facing programming, VOCEL is poised to accelerate program offerings across all of our programs and partners across Chicago and Chicagoland. To support this expansion, VOCEL is seeking a creative and community-driven Outreach and Communications Specialist to strengthen connections with partners, key stakeholders, and the broader community through relationship-building, storytelling, and communication efforts.

The Outreach and Communications Specialist will support outreach and engagement initiatives, inform VOCEL’s social media presence, and support partner communications that amplify the organization’s mission and impact. This role will also coordinate supplies and logistics for community events and programs, ensuring seamless support across VOCEL’s expanding network.

WHAT YOU’LL DO: ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

In addition to general outreach and program recruitment efforts, this role informs social media and marketing strategies, supports community events and supply coordination, and contributes to data collection and storytelling that highlight VOCEL’s impact across Chicago.

1. Outreach & Member Communications (40 – 50%):

• Represent VOCEL at on-site and virtual community events and network meetings to increase visibility and engagement.
• Support Partnership Director with creating and distributing newsletters, digital event updates, and outreach materials for families, partners, and other community stakeholders
• Use data to inform local outreach methods and locations, and serve as a primary contact
• Creates marketing materials that increase awareness of program offerings
• In collaboration with the Partnerships Director, develops a plan for recruitment, with targeted goals for recruitment in each program

2. Social Media and Marketing (20% – 30%)

• Ensure brand consistency across member platforms and outreach materials
• Create engaging written, photo, and video content for social media that highlights VOCEL staff, families, and partners
• Attend program classes and events to capture quotes, photos, and content to share across social media
• Support the Partnerships Director with creating and implementing social media strategies that increase online engagement and promote brand awareness
• Support in developing materials and execution of social media advertisements

3. Supply Coordination &Program Support (10% – 15%)

• Maintain accurate inventory and ordering systems for all program needs.
• Support program staff with preparation for workshops, events, and classroom experiences.

4. Research and Data Collection ( 5%-10%)

• Update Salesforce data for members and partners as needed
• Assist with surveys, feedback forms, and data entry for reporting and storytelling.

5. Miscellaneous (5% - 10%)

• Participate in additional VOCEL initiatives and projects
• Update Salesforce data for members and partners as needed
• Assist with surveys, feedback forms, and data entry for reporting and storytelling
• Other duties as assigned

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• This role is full-time, hybrid, with a minimum of 36 hours a week and not to exceed 40 hours per week. The daily schedule can be expected to fall between 7am and 5pm Monday through Friday. Some weekend hours may be required.
• This position operates in multiple contexts: an office environment with wireless internet and limited space, and remotely at home. Weekly travel in the Chicagoland area is expected
• Employee is expected to work at VOCEL office 2-3 regular days per week, in coordination with the manager.
• This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers (laptops), photocopiers, scanners, filing cabinets, and common office supplies, as well as software, including Google Workspace, Slack, etc.
• This position requires a reliable cell phone with the capability to add apps for communication with participants and staff, i.e., Slack, Bamboo, etc.
• This position requires a reliable vehicle to transport materials to and from community events.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee will be regularly expected to:
  • communicate with colleagues
  • operate office equipment

• VOCEL offers a smoke- and drug-free environment
• Employee will be required to provide documentation of U.S. citizenship or eligibility to work in the U.S.
• Equal Opportunity Employer. All decisions and criteria governing the employment relationship with all employees are made in a non-discriminatory manner, without regard to race, ethnicity, creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, age, national origin, marital status, pregnancy, military service, order of protection status, physical, mental, or neuro disability, or any other factor determined to be unlawful by federal, state, or local statutes.

WHAT YOU BRING

This is an extraordinary opportunity for an individual who is interested in working in an entrepreneurial and collaborative organization that is highly focused on its mission. Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Background and experience we’d like to see:

• Ability to speak, read, and write proficiently in English and Spanish is required
• Demonstrates positive and enthusiastic interactions with children, parents, staff and other VOCEL stakeholders
• Previous experience working with Canva, Mailchimp and Salesforce to develop branded materials and support outreach efforts using data metrics
• Previous experience with social media content creation and managing online platforms
• Eager to work with racially, culturally, and socioeconomically diverse individuals and groups

The ideal candidate demonstrates:

• Alignment with VOCEL’s core values (https://www.vocel.org/core-values)
• Strong attention to detail
• Strong communication skills
• Excellent collaboration and support skills, including the ability to work with individuals with different working styles, gauge what support is needed, and proactively offer support and suggest next steps to move collaborative efforts forward
• Excellent organizational and logistical skills
• Commitment to cultural sensitivity, equity, self-reflection, and growth
• Strong ability to project plan, delegate responsibilities to team members, take accountability, and follow up accordingly to meet deadlines and due dates
• Patience and willingness to provide support to others
• Entrepreneurial spirit and flexibility

VOCEL OFFERS A COMPETITIVE COMPENSATION PACKAGE INCLUDING:

• Salary of $57,583-$59,200 per year, at 36 hours per week
• Health, dental, and vision insurance (50-60% covered by VOCEL)
• IRA with employer matching up to 3%
• Technology reimbursement
• Mileage reimbursement
• Generous paid time off, including:
  • Paid holidays with the opportunity to swap holidays for personal/religious observance
  • 12 days of elective paid time off per year
  • 17 days of Fall, Winter, Spring Break
  • Up to five paid sick days
  • Up to five paid self, family, and community care days
  • “VOCEL Fridays” (staff work an abbreviated workday ending at 1pm)

TO APPLY:

• Follow instructions at this link
  
• Incomplete applications will not be accepted
• No phone calls please
• Deadline is November 14, 2025