Storytelling Manager

MENTOR National (Positively Partners)

Job Description

ABOUT MENTOR

Potential is equally distributed; opportunity is not. A major driver of healthy development and opportunity is who you know and who’s in your corner.

30 years ago, MENTOR was created to expand that opportunity for young people by building a youth mentoring field and movement, serving as the expert and go-to resource on quality mentoring. The result – a more than 10x increase in young people in structured mentoring relationships, from hundreds of thousands to millions.

Today, we activate a movement across sectors that is diverse and broad and seeps into every aspect of daily life. We are connecting and fueling opportunity for young people everywhere they are -- from schools to workplaces and beyond.

Commitment to Diversity

MENTOR is committed to fostering an environment of diversity and inclusion for all. We embrace our differences and celebrate our common humanity in advancing awareness of the need for the transformative power of supportive relationships for our young people. We believe that varied perspectives, experiences, and opinions are central assets in our mission to close the mentoring gap. As we seek to build the most complementary team when it comes to skills, perspectives, and experiences, we strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented communities to apply.

About the Position

MENTOR seeks a full-time Storytelling Manager to join the Marketing and Communications team at our national office. The Storytelling Manager will commission, curate, produce, and edit stories across media formats to tell the story of MENTOR. The MENTOR team is highly collaborative, and this role will work with every team across the organization and report to the Director of Communications. This role is based in our Boston office.

This position is an in-house content developer who will use storytelling to elevate the mentoring movement, elevate MENTOR the organization, and elevate youth voice by:

  • Promoting MENTOR's 24 local Affiliates with internal and external audiences.
  • Spotlighting our corporate partners such as Starbucks, LinkedIn, Nike, and the NBA in their efforts to close the mentoring gap
  • Identifying and elevating stories and partners in systems-change priority areas (education and workforce development) through blog posts and columns.
  • Showing MENTOR's position as thought leaders in the field.
  • Conceptualizing and managing a youth journalism program.

Responsibilities

Writing and Content Production

  • Source, report, and write communications materials focused on:
    • Impact and implementation of MENTOR’s expertise and resources, including how mentoring programs are using and learning from them.
    • Local leadership and impact of MENTOR Affiliates.
    • Profiles about programs using the National Quality Mentoring System.
    • MENTOR’s public events, training, and thought leadership.
    • Impact of mentor recruitment efforts and corporate mentoring initiatives by a variety of partners, including global brands and national nonprofit partners.
  • Create written pieces that are consistently brand appropriate with key messaging and impact storytelling, ensuring a spirit of inclusivity and equity.
  • Conceptualize and manage the Youth Storytelling Corps program, a group of diverse youth journalists for the mentoring field.
  • Work with MENTOR Affiliates to identify and elevate examples of youth leadership and voice.
  • Write or produce stories, video scripts, interviews, and other copy for MENTOR.
  • Cover, either in-person or through reporting, MENTOR speaking engagements.
  • Support the Marketing and Communications team with other writing projects as necessary.

Digital Story Collection

  • Curate, grow, and lead MENTOR’s storytelling repository, an online hub for collecting real-life, diverse mentoring stories. Train staff to utilize and maximize the tool.
  • Work with the Director of Communications to create and implement an annual storytelling content plan.
  • Collaborate with the Director of Digital Marketing to report regularly on content performance and recommend ways to increase reach and engagement.

Requirements

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. This said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below.

  • 3+ years progressive experience in communications, media, or related field; journalism experience a plus.
  • Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills with a knack for storytelling and appropriately representing tone and message for varied audiences.
  • Experience executing on organizational messaging and translating high-level messages into tangible examples and stories.
  • Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.
  • Experience writing to deadlines and for various media, including web, blogs, emails, videos, and podcasts.
  • Ability to manage up and across an organization, distilling feedback from various viewpoints.

Making the Decision to Apply

We hope to have phone interviews in January with select candidates followed by video interviews with Krista Mason, Director of Communications at MENTOR. A few finalists will have a virtual interview day with other staff and leadership at MENTOR followed by a holistic reference check process. Expected start date is Early Spring, 2022.

This position is full-time and remote with the expectation of occasional trips to our office in Boston, MA once we can safely return to the workplace following COVID-19. Greater Boston area applicants preferred.

Benefits

Salary for this role will be commensurate with experience and starts at $55,000. Full benefits include health, dental, 403B, pre-tax transit, generous vacation, STD/LTD/Life insurance, and paid professional development. The summary of the benefits could be found HERE.

MENTOR is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages candidates of all backgrounds to apply. Diversity of opinions, experiences, and backgrounds is a key asset.