Overview: The Deputy Director will work closely with our executive director, Kate Reuther, to support the operation and growth of Uptown Stories. The current Uptown Stories staff consists of Kate, the founder and executive director, nine teaching artists, a part-time anthology editor, and a part-time volunteer recruiter. Therefore, the DD will be taking on a major role in a small organization. Major responsibilities will include marketing upcoming workshops, volunteer management, parent communication, and maintaining digital tools. The DD will act as one of the most important “faces” and “voices” of Uptown Stories, and must have both the warmth and the professionalism to lead by example.
Background: At Uptown Stories, our mission is to inspire kids to discover and develop their inner voices in a diverse community of writers. Based in Washington Heights, we offer after-school, weekend, and summer creative writing workshops for children ages 7–16, led by rock-star teachers who are also professional authors and artists. The students learn the art and craft of writing, how to revise their work, and how to give and receive constructive feedback. At the end of each ten-week workshop, we hold a celebratory reading at the WordUp Bookstore where each student reads an original selection for the public. In addition, each student receives a paperback anthology that includes all of the writing and art from the semester. This paperback volume is also available for sale at WordUp and on Amazon, so our young writers leave our program as published authors. To ensure our program is accessible to our ethnically and economically diverse community, our tuition is pay-what-you-can. Uptown Stories creates an exciting, challenging, and supportive community in which young authors thrive.
Deputy Director Responsibilities:
- Marketing and Communication
- Design and write Mailchimp newsletter
- Maintain and grow social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
- Market upcoming workshops
- Respond to individual parent emails and phone calls
- Volunteer Management
- Recruit, onboard, and maintain volunteer participation for our innovative “Small Job Squad”
- Maintain and update digital tools and files
- Update workshops and staff pages on website
- Build registration forms
- Update student roster
- Create online student anthology
- Keep Google Team Drive files organized
- Verify receipt of student writing from teachers
- Represent Uptown Stories
- At readings, PTA meetings, street fairs, volunteer fairs, etc…
- To develop relationships with local businesses
- In one-on-one conversations with parents and students
Requirements:
- Strong writer, with a passion for Uptown Stories’ mission
- Highly productive, organized, and detail oriented.
- Comfortable multi-tasking, and wearing “many hats”
- Empathic, inspiring communicator with parents, children, teachers, and volunteers
- Experienced with or quick learner of digital tools (Trello, Slack, Google Drive, Regfox, Mailchimp, Buffer, Wordpress, Adobe)
- Social media savvy
- Reliable, accountable, and professional
- Constructive and collaborative, eager to be a major part of a small team
- Bilingual, Spanish and English
Hours and Pay:
- Pay is hourly, $20–$25 per hour depending on experience
- Approximately 18 hours a week to begin, with likelihood of increasing
- Monday 10:00–4:00 @ 178 Bennett Avenue, NY, NY 10033
- Wednesday 10:00–4:00 @ 178 Bennett Avenue, NY, NY 10033
- & six additional hours to be done remotely
To apply, click the following link:
https://forms.gle/pLwYuuooGBoXbHKj8