Program Coordinator

Silver Lining Mentoring

Job Description

Position Tagline: Bring clinically-informed expertise to support long-term mentoring relationships for youth impacted by foster care, and support with mentor and mentee enrollment.

Office Location: Boston, MA – Currently Silver Lining Mentoring works in a hybrid capacity with all staff working in-office on Wednesdays. This position is based in Massachusetts; applicants must be a resident of MA, NH or RI. This position requires local travel and attendance at events/activities on occasional evenings and/or weekends. 

Salary & Benefits: Salary commensurate with experience, with an anticipated salary between $60,000-$65,000. Silver Lining Mentoring offers a strengths-based collaborative team, flexible work environment, accessible office location in downtown Boston, and excellent benefit package with generous vacation including a 1-week closure in the winter. 

To Apply: Candidates should submit a resume and thoughtful cover letter explaining why you would like to be considered for this position to leah@silverliningmentoring.org. Applications will be reviewed starting in November for an anticipated January 2024 start date.

Organizational Overview:

Silver Lining Mentoring (SLM) empowers youth in foster care to thrive through committed mentoring relationships and the development of essential life-skills. For over 20 years, SLM has matched young people in the child welfare system with highly committed volunteer mentors. The match relationship is supported by in-depth training and ongoing personalized match support from clinically-informed staff. Most youth participants are preparing to age out of the child welfare system, and Silver Lining mentors offer both companionship and guidance in navigating critical life skills. 

SLM offers four core services to young people impacted by the child welfare system. This includes Community Based Mentoring, which provides one-to-one volunteer mentorships to youth ages 7+; Learn & Earn, a life skills curriculum accompanied by a 1:1 volunteer mentorship available to young people ages 16+, and Transition Age Youth Services, which provides life skills development and leadership opportunities to help young adults navigate their independent living goals. SLM’s fourth core service is offered through the Silver Lining Institute, the organization’s national initiative to expand access to mentoring relationships for youth impacted by foster care. 

Position: 

The Program Coordinator is the cornerstone of our strong mentoring match relationships. The Program Coordinator leverages clinical and human services education, the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, and Silver Lining Mentoring’s policies and procedures to help cultivate long-term mentor/mentee relationships. 

The primary responsibilities of this role are to provide clinically-informed support and guidance to a caseload of mentoring matches, assess progress of the match relationship, and participate in program evaluation efforts. This individual will also support SLM’s efforts related to youth and mentor enrollment by interviewing and training new volunteer mentor candidates in preparation for long-term mentorship. The position reports to the Program Manager and collaborates closely with members of the programming team.

Responsibilities:

Mentoring Match and Youth Support (60%)

  • Develop expert knowledge of Silver Lining Mentoring services as well as policies & procedures to effectively manage a caseload of mentee-mentor matches
  • Ensure program quality related to matching, monitoring, supporting, closing, or transitioning the relationship between the mentor and mentee to uphold healthy, long-term match relationships
  • Proactively communicate with key stakeholders relevant to the mentoring relationship, including but not limited to: the mentor, mentee, youth’s social worker, parent/guardian, caregiver, youth’s clinician, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and its lead agency Family Networks
  • Serve as a resource broker for youth and mentors in need of additional services, upholding SLM’s strengths-based and trauma-informed framework
  • Mediate and resolve challenges within mentoring relationships
  • Identify potential or actual participant safety concerns, and take measures to rectify the situation in accordance with SLM’s safety policies and procedures
  • Collect and enter ongoing efforts & evaluation data into the Salesforce CRM database to support mentors, mentees, and matches
  • Assist and support with community enrichment activities such as mentoring group events, and SLM organizational activities such as the annual Match Gala

Mentor Recruitment, Screening and Training (20%)

  • Work collaboratively with the Volunteer Management & Program teams to recruit mentors whose identities reflect those of the young people we serve, including people of color, men, and people with foster care experience
  • Ensure program quality related to the screening of volunteer mentor candidates, co-facilitate mentor training, and conduct weekly mentor candidate interviews

Youth Enrollment (20%)

  • Work collaboratively with Program teams to orient new and waitlisted mentees to SLM
  • Liaise with caregivers and youth provider teams upon enrollment with SLM
  • Ensure mentees transition smoothly into Community Based Mentoring programs 
  • Serve collaboratively as a member of the Program team by assisting with the implementation of youth and match cohorts such as Build-A-Match and Learn & Earn, as well as Transition Age Youth Services workshops.



Who You Are & What You’re Good At:  

Our ideal candidate will be a values-led, adaptable individual interested in supporting youth impacted by foster care. Data shows that BIPOC and women often rule themselves out from job opportunities when they don’t feel they fit 100% of the criteria listed in a job description. If that sounds like you, don’t rule yourself out!

  • You’re mission driven. You demonstrate a deep commitment to and belief in the mission, vision and values of Silver Lining Mentoring. 
  • You’re clinically-focused. You have a Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW), a comparable degree, OR work experience that demonstrates skill in providing youth-focused, trauma-informed, harm reduction, and strengths-based support. LCSW, LICSW, LMHC, or comparable human services licensure a plus. Experience working with youth with out-of-home experience, young people of color, and/or youth who identify as LGBTQ and/or TGNC preferred. 
  • You’re a skilled facilitator & communicator. You have experience creating and delivering presentations and feel comfortable facilitating meetings. You have strong interpersonal skills that allow you to effectively engage audiences. It’s a plus if you’re bilingual or fluent in Spanish.
  • People can trust you. You have a proven record of reliability when managing multiple responsibilities and collaborating with multiple stakeholders. You have strong emotional intelligence and can build trusting relationships. You have a high level of self-awareness, accountability, and adaptability.
  • You’re on top of your stuff. You know how to manage projects and can maintain a large plate of varied tasks to support mentor-mentee matches – including ample email/text correspondence and communications through Google Suite. You complete tasks within expected time-frames and communicate with partners throughout your work. You demonstrate strong oral and written communication skills. You are very organized!
  • You leverage systems for good. You can use existing resources and locate new-to-SLM resources to further our work. You can manage a library of material and maintain consistent documentation. Familiarity with Google Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, SalesForce, and Box software preferred.
  • You show up fearlessly. You’re earnest, passionate, and open to learning from mistakes. You are strongly encouraged to apply if you are a person of the global majority (PGM)/black and/or indigenous person of color (BIPOC) and/or if you have lived foster care experience. 
  • You’re an awesome teammate. You work well with others, can be counted on to work independently, receive and incorporate feedback, provide quality feedback, and are always ready to complete supportive tasks to further the organization’s mission. You are flexible in our ever-evolving environment.

Please note that at this time Silver Lining Mentoring is not able to sponsor U.S. work authorization for this role. 

Silver Lining Mentoring is an Equal Opportunity Employer