Philadelphia, PA

Program Associate, Creative Communities, William Penn Foundation

The Organization

The William Penn Foundation is a leading American Philanthropy located in Philadelphia. With approximately $3 billion in assets and a significant annual grant budget, the Foundation is a vital part of the civic life in one of the country’s most important and historically significant regions.   A recently completed strategic plan charts a vision consistent with the Foundation’s enduring focus on education, the environment and the cultural vitality of Greater Philadelphia, yet with a renewed sense of urgency, leadership and entrepreneurship.

The Foundation’s core strategies include:

• Fostering a vibrant city through support to arts and culture organizations, art education programs, and creating great public spaces
• Increasing the number of low-income children receiving a high-quality education
• Ensuring clean water by protecting the Delaware watershed

Position Overview

Position Summary
The Program Associate will spend the majority time as a member of the Creative Communities team, which is focused on:

• Providing core organizational support to advance the artistic mission of arts and cultural groups in the region;
• Enriching community life and fostering creative expression through high quality public art and performance programing in community and public spaces that engage new audiences,
• Fostering creativity and resiliency in young people by connecting them to Philadelphia’s rich cultural sector through high quality arts education programs working underserved schools, and
• Improving access to and revitalizing parks, trails, and public spaces, that enhance the quality of life of residents and promote greater social and economic integration

Responsibilities
The duties include, but are not limited to:
• Respond to inquiries made to the foundation via telephone and email; provide instruction and guidance to people making inquiries.
• Facilitate project planning, coordination, reporting, monitoring and communications, including administrative tasks necessary to ensure successful completion of the work.
• Participate in team meetings, planning, and goal setting, providing notetaking and reporting support.
• Manage planning, logistics, and preparations meetings with individual organizations and multi-stakeholder convenings, among other events. This may include scheduling, event logistics, agenda preparation, document review, and coordination with various parties. Attend key meetings, document key results, distribute meeting summaries, and coordinate follow-up and next steps.
• Manage a portfolio of grants related to the Creative Communities program.
• Participate in joint grant making projects and initiatives with other program areas of the Foundation,
• Assist with preparation of updates to the staff.
• Other responsibilities, as assigned

Expected Competencies
• Excellent organization, prioritization, judgment, and time management skills.  Strong detail orientation and follow-through.
• Demonstrated ability to manage time effectively with multiple projects on different timeframes, ensuring all deadlines are met.
• Sense of urgency, goal orientation, strong work ethic and ownership. Ability to handle multiple priorities, deadlines, and challenging situations while maintaining composure.
• Track record of strong ownership of work, active self-management, taking initiative, identifying opportunities for enhancements, and implementing process improvements.
• Adaptable and flexible – quickly able to adapt to changing environments. Able to identify new approaches to support a dynamic organization.  Capable and willing to do work at all levels, including thinking strategically and performing administrative tasks.
• Team-oriented with strong interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with and achieve actionable results through others, the ability to build strong and sustainable relationships and the capability to interact within all levels of the organization and external constituents.
• Demonstrated ability to deal with highly confidential information and act as a liaison between senior management and other constituencies, both internal and external.
• High degree of integrity, poise, humility, diplomacy, and tact.
• Acumen to handle complex situations and multiple responsibilities, simultaneously balancing long term projects with the urgency of immediate demands on the operations.
• Good judgment with an ability to make decisions wisely based upon limited data.
• Background in, or familiarity with, one or more of the four funding areas within the Creative Communities program

Essential Functions
• Project management including an ability to define project scope, roles, responsibilities and deliverables.
• Customer service to grantee organizations and non-grantee organizations
• Strong research, analysis, writing, speaking, and presentation skills including the ability to communicate technical concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Clear, effective writing style.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and Power Point).
• Skilled in the use of Salesforce database (comparable experience is welcomed)
• Review and analyze financial reports of grantee organizations

Education, Training and Experience
• Bachelor’s degree required or relevant experience required.
• A minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience related to arts and culture or public space development, may include administration, research, advocacy, and/or policy.
• Experience in setting priorities, long-term project management, and working under tight deadlines.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Prior foundation experience is not required.

The William Penn Foundation values diversity, inclusion, and equity as matters of fairness and effectiveness. We are committed to hiring and retaining a staff that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, fostering an inclusive working environment where staff of all backgrounds feel welcomed and engaged in the Foundation’s mission, and to promoting racial equity in our work.
The William Penn Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and encourages applications from individuals underrepresented in the philanthropic sector, including people of color, and persons with non-traditional work and educational experience.

How To Apply

All who believe they meet the stated qualifications are invited to apply. Applications may be submitted to wpfjobs@williampennfoundation.org .

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