Program Manager, Community Initiatives

THE ORGANIZATION

The Center for Justice Innovation is a community justice organization that centers safety and racial justice. Since our founding in 1996, the Center has partnered with community members, courts, and the people most impacted to create stronger, healthier, more just communities. Our decades of experience in courts and communities, coupled with our field-leading research and practitioner expertise, help us drive justice nationwide in innovative, powerful, and durable ways. For more information on how and where we work, please visit www.innovatingjustice.org.  

The Center is a 900-employee, $100 million nonprofit that accomplishes its vision through three pillars of work: creating and scaling operating programs to test new ideas and solve problems, performing original research to determine what works (and what doesn’t), and providing expert assistance and policy guidance to justice reformers around the world.

Operating Programs

The Center’s operating programs, including the award-winning Red Hook Community Justice Center and Midtown Community Justice Center, test new ideas, solve difficult problems, and attempt to achieve systemic change within the justice system. Our projects include community-based violence prevention programs, alternatives to incarceration, reentry initiatives, and court-based initiatives that reduce the use of unnecessary incarceration and promote positive individual and family change. Through this programming, we have produced tangible results like safer streets, reduced incarceration, and improved neighborhood perceptions of justice.

Research

The Center's research teams are staffed with social scientists, data analysts, and lawyers who are academically-trained or have lived experience and who conduct research in the U.S. and globally on diverse criminal-legal system and justice issues. Their work includes evaluating programs and policies; conducting exploratory, community-based studies; and providing research translation and strategic planning for system actors. The Center has published studies on topics including court and jail reform, intimate partner violence, restorative justice, gun violence, reentry, sixth amendment rights, and progressive prosecution. The research teams strive to make their work meaningful and actionable to the communities they work with, policymakers, and practitioners.

Policy & Expert Assistance

The Center provides hands-on, planning and implementation assistance to a wide range of jurisdictions in areas of reform such as problem-solving courts (e.g., community courts, treatment courts, domestic violence courts), tribal justice, reducing incarceration and the use of fines/fees and reducing crime and violence. Our current expert assistance takes many forms, including help with analyzing data, strategic planning and consultation, policy guidance, and hosting site visits to its operating programs in the New York City area. 

Center Support

A dedicated support team within the Center ensures the smooth functioning of operations across various domains, including finance, legal, technology, human resources, fundraising, real estate, and communications. Comprising 15% of the organization's staff, these teams provide essential infrastructure support and innovative solutions aligned with the Center's mission and values. 

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reimagining Intimacy through Social Engagement (RISE) Project transforms responses to intimate partner violence, focusing specifically on its intersection with gun violence. The Center’s RISE Project seeks to respond to the intersection of gun violence and intimate partner violence. RISE builds community capacity to prevent and respond to intimate partner violence, engages individuals who are causing harm to take accountability and change their behavior, and supports positive community norms around relationships. RISE’s approach is community-centered, survivor-informed, and holistic, rooted in principles of safety, accountability, and transformative change.

RISE Project seeks a Program Manager, Community Initiatives to oversee community-based programming. Reporting to the Deputy Director, the Program Manager, will lead RISE’s community initiatives department, including individual, group, and community programs designed to change norms around violence and promote healing. 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Oversee community based projects across the five boroughs, including community norms change campaigns, training and workshops, and community healing initiatives;
• Oversee the training, technical assistance, and direct support to the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services Crisis Management System sites around intimate partner violence intervention and prevention;
• Develop and implement new community-based interventions and prevention initiatives;
• Supervise a city-wide team of Community Coordinators and Operations Coordinator;
• Support with grant management, including researching grants, developing proposals, maintaining data for reports, and working closely with program staff to ensure grant objectives are met;
• Submit regular monthly reports to the Deputy Director to capture pertinent program data;
• Provide training, technical assistance, and direct support to Crisis Management System (CMS) sites around intimate partner violence intervention and prevention;
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with Crisis Management System providers, stakeholder groups, government agencies, community-based organizations, advocates, and justice involved persons;
• Develop and manage relationships with city-wide stakeholders;
• Manage all aspects of operations for Community Initiatives, including invoices, purchasing, vendors, etc.;
• Support with case management to individuals who have experienced harm;
• Develop and manage a comprehensive outreach and engagement strategy, including street outreach;
• Work collaboratively with the RISE team to co-implement program initiatives and projects;
• Develop community and city-wide partnerships to support program engagement;
• Engage the community around issues of IPV, their intersection with community gun violence, and strategies for promoting healthy relationships through training, information sharing, and collaboration;
• Develop and implement community strategies around community accountability, bystander intervention, and restorative practices;
• Assist with grant writing and fundraising;
• Communicate with community-based service providers to facilitate, follow-up, and assist participants with voluntary service referrals;
• Oversee data collection and reporting;
• Implement strategies for identifying, cultivating, and seeking grant opportunities;
• Maintain program outcomes to be accessed for grant reports and proposals;
• Attend staff meetings and on-going trainings as well as participate in community events;
• Support with the management of the RISE vehicle, including becoming an authorized driver, driving the van, supporting with transporting items to and from events and programming, managing drivers and driving duties, and maintaining the van; and
• Additional relevant tasks, as needed.

Position Type: Full-time, able to work nights or weekends.

Position Location: Bronx, NY

Compensation: The compensation range for this position is $66,490 - $85,600 and is commensurate with experience. The Center for Justice Innovation offers an excellent benefits package including comprehensive healthcare with a national network, free basic dental coverage, vision insurance, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance, and flexible spending accounts including commuter FSA. We prioritize mental health care for our staff and offer services like Talkspace and Ginger through our healthcare plans. We offer a 403(b) retirement plan with a two-to-one employer contribution up to 5%.

The Center for Justice Innovation is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace, and as such, we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other category protected by law. We strongly encourage and welcome applications from women, people of color, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, as well as individuals with prior contact with the criminal justice system. Our aim is to create a supportive and respectful environment where every individual, irrespective of their background or identity, feels valued and included.

As of February 10, 2023, New York City Executive Order 25 rescinded the requirement of the COVID-19 vaccination for City workers, new hires, and contracted employees. Accordingly, the Center does not require all new hires be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus; however, the Center recommends all staff, interns, and volunteers stay up-to-date on the vaccination.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete an employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. Kindly refer to the job posting for the relevant contact information. If the contact details are not provided, we kindly ask that you refrain from making inquiries via phone or email, as only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.