Most Important Skills for a Program Manager at Minds Matter Southern California
For a Program Manager at Minds Matter Southern California, a deep commitment to advocating for "underrepresented students" and an "equity-minded" approach are paramount, alongside adaptability and strong communication skills to navigate a volunteer-based environment and diverse stakeholders, including students, families, and school staff. The role requires flexibility, troubleshooting skills, and understanding of best practices for working effectively with young people while respecting their voices and autonomy.
Advocacy, Flexibility, Communication, Youth Development, Organizational Skills
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Alex Moses
Program Manager
Minds Matter Southern California
Reed College, 2018
n/a
English
Education, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Education
Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, LGBTQ
Video Highlights
1. Demonstrates care for students, especially underrepresented students, and possesses an equity-minded approach.
2. Maintains adaptability, flexibility, and organizational skills to navigate the demands of a volunteer-based nonprofit setting.
3. Employs effective communication strategies to interact with diverse stakeholders including students, families, counselors, teachers, volunteers, and donors.
Transcript
What skills are the most important for a job like yours?
First and foremost, caring about students and wanting to be an advocate for them is key. This is especially true for underrepresented students who might face barriers in the college application process or their educational journey. Being equity-minded in this way is really important.
Being organized, adaptable, and flexible is also crucial. Working remotely in a nonprofit environment with a small, volunteer-based team requires flexibility. You might not always work typical hours because volunteers have full-time jobs outside of their volunteer roles.
Being adaptable and understanding in that way, and ready to troubleshoot when things don't go as planned, is important. Working with youth in particular takes a certain skillset. Understanding best practices for working with young people is different than working with adults.
Respecting student and youth voices and autonomy, listening, and including them in decision-making are really important aspects of working with youth and in this kind of environment.
Other valuable skills include being communicative and responsive. Being a clear communicator to all parties is essential, as you're communicating with students, families, counselors, teachers, and our volunteer base. Donors are also a constituency for a nonprofit, even if you don't interact with them as much in your role.
There are lots of different people you have to communicate with. Therefore, being a strong communicator, both orally and in writing, is really valuable.