COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

Communities In Schools (CIS) of Chicago is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and community organizations to help students stay in school and be successful. During the 2019-2020 school year, CIS of Chicago will partner with 175 Chicago public schools to connect more than 1,800 services and programs to more than 70,000 CPS students and their families by leveraging community partner programs and services. In addition, CIS of Chicago places full-time Student Supports Managers (SSMs) in 31 Chicago public schools – our Intensive School partners. Our staff in these schools provide intervention services to a caseload of 50 students (per school) who are at risk of dropping out, as well as connect support services to the whole school.

CIS of Chicago was founded in 1988, and is an affiliate of Communities In Schools, Inc., a national nonprofit organization with offices in more than 150 different cities.

The mission of Communities In Schools of Chicago is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. The vision of CIS of Chicago is to ensure that every public school student in Chicago graduates from high school prepared to succeed. The organization’s core values are Impact, Integrity, Relationships, and Social Justice.

CIS of Chicago provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

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The Communications Specialist’s responsibilities focus on developing and implementing traditional and digital communications efforts to strengthen the overall profile and reputation of CIS of Chicago among partners, donors, local government and community leaders, and the general public. The Communications Specialist will function as a field reporter and story-gatherer, a brand manager, a communications coach, and a social media conversation-starter.

Key duties will include:

• Identifying, shaping, and writing stories for internal and external use
• Managing the organization’s website
• Managing social-media content and platforms
• Handling or managing the design and/or print production of collateral materials
• Engaging the program staff in supporting a variety of communications strategies
• Collaborating with the National office of CIS as appropriate
• Leading professional development trainings of the entire CIS of Chicago staff on communications-related topics
• Overall, serving as an effective ambassador for the CIS of Chicago brand
• Other duties as assigned

To accomplish these duties, the Communications Specialist will work under the direction of the Chief Innovation and Communication Officer, and alongside the organization’s development and program teams and its External Relations Manager.

In carrying out the tactics of the organization’s annual Marketing/Communication plan, the key responsibilities of the Communications Specialist are to:

• Identify and develop stories (text, audio, and video) for internal and external use that demonstrate CIS of Chicago’s impact
• Create an image/video-inventorying system that powerfully showcases the organization’s mission, vision, values and impact
• Create and post digital content across multiple platforms, specifically the CIS of Chicago website and its Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram accounts
• Help to create, design, write and/or edit collateral materials for the organization, including but not limited to the annual report, special-event invitations, promotional videos, and fact sheets
• Support internal communications, specifically sharing relevant education news articles with colleagues
• Support earned media pitches for the organization
• Support staff communications training about organizational messages and writing style
• Support the development and program teams’ event planning as needed and available
• Ensure staff alignment around brand standards

Desired Skills and Attributes:

• Demonstrated experience reporting and writing persuasive, emotionally resonant stories that convey a strong understanding of the mission and impact of CIS of Chicago (this experience will have been acquired through both formal education and substantive professional writing experiences)
• Excellent writing and editing skills, and a willingness to be edited and coached
• Ease and facility with various public speaking roles – both in internal and external settings
• Experience developing multi-media stories, including use of movie-editing software like iMovie
• Experience creating flyers, invitations and other external-facing materials using common graphic design programs or apps like Canva or In Design
• Experience managing social media platforms for organizations or employers, and an understanding of how to use and measure these communications tools
• The ability to be and remain organized while handling multiple projects, relationships and deadlines
• The ability to work both collaboratively and independently
• Passion for CIS of Chicago’s mission, vision and core values
• Overall, a go-getter who is curious about the world of education and thinks strategically and creatively