Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation
The Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation (the Foundation) convenes and catalyzes business, education, and community to enhance college and career readiness, develop a stronger workforce, and build healthier communities throughout Arizona. The Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, leads the charitable and education initiatives of the Greater Phoenix Chamber under the four pillars of education, workforce development, wellness, and research. Through strong alignment between education, business, and community, the Foundation prepares individuals for college and career and serves as an intermediary to convey workforce needs and champion scalable workforce solutions. In addition, the Foundation makes Arizona and the Greater Phoenix region known as destinations for healthy talent and healthy communities through workplace wellness efforts and publishes data-driven research to inform policymakers, business leaders, and the general public.
Greater Phoenix Chamber
The Greater Phoenix Chamber (Chamber) is the leading business organization for the Greater Phoenix region. Our mission is to promote regional prosperity, serving as a catalyst for economic vitality and strong communities. We accomplish this through our ability to convene and connect business leaders, elected officials and community leaders; cultivate thought leadership; advocate for pro-business policies; and communicate and promote the region’s strengths.
Who are we looking for today?
We are interested in hiring people who have a passion for Phoenix and a desire to make the Greater Phoenix region a great place to live, work and play. Ideal candidates will also have a passion for education and working with businesses to define and integrate viable career pathways into Arizona’s education system.
Primary Responsibilities
The Foundation is looking for a College and Career Coach for our education initiative, ElevateEdAZ, to prepare Arizona students for college and career through stronger engagement of education, business and the community. In collaboration with local high schools, ElevateEdAZ is working to align classes and curriculum with workforce need, increase student exposure to career pathways and create opportunities for students to apply academics through work-based learning. This is part of a pilot program from January 2021 through June 2023 with plans to scale over the long-term.
The College and Career Coach works in collaboration with school educators and administrators to coordinate a variety of career development opportunities for students and educators from broad career awareness to student internships and educator externships. This individual supports students by increasing program enrollment and completion of programs leading towards high-wage, high-demand industries. Program goals include increasing the number of students obtaining industry recognized credentials, increasing post-secondary credit attainment, and growing the school’s work-based learning programming with a focus on high-quality internships. The College and Career Coach will also work with school administration to better align magnet and Career and Technical Education pathways to employer demand and postsecondary opportunities.
This individual will work in collaboration with the ElevateEdAZ team of College and Career Coaches and Business Partnership Coordinators, consultants, and partner school administrators to identify and align education to workforce pathways, increase student exposure to career pathways and engage employers in work-based learning and educator externships.
The ideal candidate must be able to work effectively with youth, employers, teachers, school administrators and Chamber/Foundation staff. The candidate will communicate in a strong, positive, and effective manner, both verbally and non-verbally and be a self-starter with the ability to sustain and move work forward with minimal direction. All Chamber/Foundation employees are expected to work collaboratively with other departments and be team players to help accomplish our organizational mission. The ideal candidate must be well organized with the ability to ensure continuous progress of various projects. This position will work from multiple locations, including at Westwood High School (3 days/week), the Chamber/Foundation office (1 day/week) and remotely. Typical workday is 7:30am to 4:30pm.
Position Objectives
- Work with school leadership and consultants to better align education to workforce pathways towards high-demand, high-wage, high skill occupations.
- Coordinate and ensure participation of work-based learning experiences, including but not limited to career fairs, career panels, guest speakers, industry-related fieldtrips, job shadows, and internships.
- Identify, prepare, and match students with work-based learning opportunities throughout the school year and during the summer.
- Support and encourage offerings for students to complete industry recognized credentials.
- Promote postsecondary pathways into local community college and university programs, maintaining a strong understanding of the options available within priority industry programs.
- Train and support educators on using the CommunityShare matching platform to increase employer connections into classrooms.
- Provide 1:1 and/or group career preparation support to students, including but not limited to resume writing, mock interviews, and workplace etiquette training.
- Establish and keep office hours for student drop-ins.
- Support students as they explore career pathways, facilitating the student aptitude testing and helping students interpret results.
- Identify and connect teachers and employers for teacher externship opportunities. Assist in teacher commitment to business engagement.
- Maintain employer relationships within the schools in collaboration with the ElevateEdAZ Business Partnership Coordinator and Mesa Public Schools faculty and administration.
- Document all activities in a timely, complete, and accurate manner. Prepare related reports as needed.
- Meet established work-readiness milestones and placement goals.
- Collaborate with ElevateEdAZ team and consultants to carryout Strategic Action Plan at school.
- Refer students needing social or academic assistance to appropriate support services.
Candidate Qualifications
The Foundation is looking for candidates with the following knowledge, skills, and abilities desirable for job success:
- Minimum two-years’ experience in volunteer management, community relations or customer relations
- Minimum one-year experience working with youth required, preferably in a teaching or guidance counselor capacity
- Minimum one-year experience working with schools, school leaders and/or staff
- Experience working in industry is also highly preferred
- Experience implementing a strategic plan highly preferred
- Understanding of, and experience with, embedding work-based learning, project-based learning, and/or experiential learning opportunities into curriculum
- Must have excellent communications skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to establish professional relationships
- Must possess analytical ability to solve problems, anticipate challenges, and identify opportunities and solutions
- Must be able to interpret data and analyze graphs regarding industry research
- Must be able to provide superior customer service to both internal and external customers at all levels of an organization
- Detail oriented with ability to stay organized while handling multiple tasks. Able to work independently with minimal supervision
- Highly motivated to learn, grow professionally, and work in a team environment
- Proficient in all MS Office products
- Must maintain a neat and professional appearance
- Must be able to travel to schools and partners regularly; reliable transportation is necessary
- Must be able to pass a background check, fingerprint clearance and a drug test
Successful candidates will also be expected to bring the following personal attributes to the position:
- Innovative by continuously looking for ways to improve processes, always for the best use of resources
- Takes a diplomatic approach to work and communications and an ability to easily establish credibility among a wide variety of stakeholders (i.e., business, nonprofit, academic, and policy/public sectors)
- Possess the ability to exercise mature judgment, tact, and professionalism
- Collaborates and builds bridges internally/externally; works with others to achieve common goals and furthermore possesses the ability to work with all levels of management and leadership both internally and externally
- Executes with excellence by consistently delivering on promises to the highest standards; appreciates and demands quality
Application Information
Qualified candidates should respond by sending a confidential cover letter, resume and salary requirements to [email protected]. Please include the position in the subject line of your submission.
NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. GPC is an equal opportunity employer. No person will be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, color, age, national origin, disability or any other legally protected classes.