Employment And BOARD of Directors Opportunities

Employment: Community Outreach Coordinator (scroll down for BOD)

Position: Community Outreach Coordinator

Reports to: Executive Director

Status: Full-time

Schedule: Flexible Monday – Friday. Occasional evening for  meetings/rare occasional weekend.

Pay: $39-42,00 annual salary based on experience. Compensation includes a generous PTO package, holidays, and 7 separate mental health days. This position is funded as a pilot program, with the potential to extend pending funding.

Location: Gainesville, FL. In-office hours are expected, remote hours may be approved as deemed necessary.

About Released: Released is a small, grassroots non-profit organization focused on providing reentry support pre/post-incarceration founded in 2023 by others who have been justice-impacted. We work inside Alachua County jail and in the community providing navigation and humanity to those returning from carceral systems.

Job Purpose:

Released is seeking a Community Outreach Coordinator to join our team. The coordinator is responsible for the day-to-day community engagement of Released and participant system navigation. This includes local partnerships, participant outreach, completing referrals/intakes, recruiting and managing an appropriate and limited number of court-mandated volunteers, and the oversight of community collaboration to empower our participants and reduce stigma for those who have been incarcerated.

This staff member builds, maintains, and strengthens appropriate relationships with community collaborators, and recruits program participants in the community. This role will work with the executive director, and in the community to ensure community relationships are secure and sustainable, and that the organization’s commitment to equity and humanity is embedded in our relationships locally. This role will be split between administrative work with a focus on community outreach and direct participant service.

• The ideal candidate is organized, optimistic, and diplomatic.
• Values empathy, with strong interpersonal skills and is a strong communicator (written and orally).
• They have a well-rounded background in the community, experience working within a nonprofit, and a background in community collaboration.
• They have an understanding of carceral systems and are committed to changing the narrative locally and at a state level.
• It is important that the successful candidate can both communicate and explain programmatic logistics to the community, and is willing to provide direct service work to participants.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Community Coordinating

• Manage day-to-day community related, programmatic tasks including, but not limited to; engaging with participants, managing volunteers, building relationships in the community with a focus on employers and property owners, and community tabling.
• Assure all programmatic and participant paperwork and data is compiled and filed to keep Released in good, nonprofit standing with the state and federal government is up to date and completed on time.
• Secure and negotiate new community partners, with an emphasis on employers and property managers, and document new partnerships so all staff can utilize the resource. 
• Other assigned and related duties by the executive director.

Resource Building

• Assist the executive director with any community outreach opportunities that arise as needed.
• Assist with all staff on behalf of participant needs, ensuring that communication is timely with community partners and participants alike.
• Participate in the quality assurance programs that ensure metrics are being met and trauma-informed practices are at the forefront of programming.
• Other assigned and related admin/operational duties by the Executive Director.

Leadership and Life of the Organization

• Fully participate in organizational activities including staff meetings and training.
• Commitment to advancing Released mission and vision for our served communities.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Understanding of carceral systems and their impact on the community.
• A strong, consistent attention to detail, an organized work style, and the ability to follow through on work assignments independently.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including an ability to navigate and resolve conflict in a manner that values and respects relationships and diversity.
• Able to exercise sound judgment in maintaining confidentiality of all agency information
• Boundaries; must be willing to maintain professional boundaries with participants. 
• Experience with community engagement and development.
• Experience with direct human services.
• Masterful organizational, communication, and leadership skills, demonstrated by previous professional success.
• Exceptional communication skills that translate as direct, respectful, and transparent; both in writing and orally.

Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services/ Non-profit Administration, or comparable  professional experience
• 2+ years’ experience in nonprofit services
• 2+ years in community engagement.
• Applicants must have a vehicle and valid drivers license 

These duties, wages, dates, and descriptions are subject to change

Released is an equal opportunity employer and dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination and equal opportunity for all employees and qualified applicants. People with lived-carceral experience, disabilities, people of color, indigenous people, and LGBTQ+ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Board of Directors ( voluntary) :

BOD Description

Released Reentry is seeking new members for its Board of Directors!

This 501(c)(3) organization was founded in 2023 by a mental health therapist and substance use counselor who briefly experienced the carceral system in 1997. Since that time her personal, academic, and professional endeavors brought her to Florida where she met others in the region that recognized the significant reentry gap in the community. Since its inception, Released has utilized trauma-informed best practices to address the harms associated with the justice system, and focuses on using empowerment and compassion to shift the trajectory.

Our Board of Directors is in a place of transformation and growth as we establish roots in the community. We strive to recruit a handful of professionally diverse board members to guide us as we expand. Annual duties consist of the following:

• Quarterly meetings
• Mission oversight
• Financial health
• Support the Executive Director
• Sustainability
• Co-hosting semi-annual fundraisers 

No prior board experience is required, however we are searching for those who are curious and open to learning more about carceral systems and have professional connections to bring awareness to the challenges and stigma associated with incarceration. Released is a member of the Community Foundation, which provides Board of Directors training and support as needed.