Since 1979, LISC and its affiliates have invested approximately $29.7 billion in businesses, affordable housing, health, educational mobility, community and recreational facilities, public safety, employment, and other projects that help to revitalize and stabilize underinvested communities. Headquartered in New York City, LISC’s reach spans the country from East coast to West coast in 38 markets with offices extending from Buffalo to San Francisco and in 2,400 rural counties across 49 states and Puerto Rico.
Our team is seeking a full time Program Officer to guide, execute and support our community-centered economic inclusion development work. This is a very public facing role that requires a presence in the community. Through this work, we convene stakeholders, businesses, government, academics, and community leaders to identify comprehensive place-based community development opportunities, organize collective action and co-create systems change. The Program Officer will work under the guidance of the Director of Community Programs , and in collaboration with all office staff, to support the integration of inclusive economic and community development strategies into LISC’s comprehensive community development work.
Responsibilities:
- Co-lead the strategic program design, planning and implementation for LISC Houston’s community-centered economic inclusion and community development work.
- Build and maintain relationships with key organizations, residents, political figures and stakeholders.
- Identify organizational capacity needs of community partners, and facilitate the provision of technical assistance and trainings via LISC Houston staff, LISC National or consultants.
- Coordinate, align, and/or partner on program activities with other community development network entities.
- Work collaboratively to develop and implement diverse and inclusive neighborhood- driven plans (Quality-of-Life Agreements, and others)
- Provide guidance, facilitate peer learning opportunities, and build the programmatic capacity, sustainability and expertise of LISC’s current community development neighborhoods by identifying nationwide best practices, information sources, training opportunities.
- Identify system and service gaps and develop, execute means to fill those gaps: through strategic partnerships, how to guides, toolkits, curriculum, case studies, briefs, articles, and other materials trainings by drawing on content expertise of LISC team, field offices, partners, and national best practices.
- Maintain mutually trusting relationships with local government officials, consultants, contractors, community leaders, residents and other stakeholders to implement projects and programs.
- Lead management of grant funding including overseeing timelines, budgets, deliverables, reporting, communications, coordination, and collaboration with consultants and development leads.
- Process and monitor grants to CDCs and other non-profit organizations involved in the community development ecosystem.
- Work with local communications staff to raise the profile of LISC Houston’s community development work and advocate for systems change.
- Serve as a subject matter expert: lead content-specific trainings, participate in affinity/working groups; act as subject matter expert on place-based community development trends in the field, sharing knowledge locally, statewide, and nationally.
- Collaborate with team members to integrate work streams across community development portfolio, identify opportunities to amplify impact, identify gaps and streamline.
- Actively participate with local, state and national strategic coalitions to share information and develop partner responses to community needs.
- Performs additional duties, as required.
