ABOUT US:

Illinois Action for Children (“IAFC”), a local, state, and national leader in the early childhood care and education sector for over 50 years.  IAFC programs, services, and advocacy improve learning and life outcomes for children and families, including reducing the effects of poverty.  IAFC works to ensure that every child in Illinois – particularly those in need – have access to the necessary resources to succeed in school and in life.

Along with our mission, IAFC is committed to building and maintaining a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist culture. We are dedicated to this pledge through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and servicing our staff and clients.  IAFC staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities.  We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our essential work.

SUMMARY:

Illinois Action for Children (IAFC) has developed a high-quality teaching and learning system in partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education and the Early Childhood Transformation Team. The goal is to enhance the capacity of early care and education professionals and their cross-sector partners to build strong regional and community systems that ensure more children prenatal to kindergarten, especially those from priority populations, have access to affordable early care education and care programs and services.

Under the direction of the Director of Community Systems Statewide Supports (CS3), the Community Systems Trainer develops content and delivers resources, training, and technical assistance to regional staff in community systems practices. In addition to developing and delivering supports (in-person and virtual) to regional staff, this position is responsible for building strong relationships and serving as a primary communication channel between regional staff and IAFC to inform opportunities for systems improvement.

The ideal candidate will create quality professional development opportunities and effectively promote them amongst regional stakeholders across the state. The candidate will also take the lead in supporting peer learning communities and will contribute articles to the community systems development website and learning management systems. The candidate will work with the Director of CS3 to ensure diverse participants are able to access training opportunities, particularly those in underserved areas of the state, and/or targeted high need communities. All work to be completed with minimum supervision and in accordance with Company standards.

This person will be highly self-motivated, curious, professional, capable of managing their workload and prioritizing tasks in a fast-paced nonprofit environment. Candidates should possess a positive attitude and strive to see the best in children and families, especially those from priority populations. This position will be expected to promote and adhere to the workplace core capabilities of accountability, customer focus, continuous quality improvement (CQI), communication, competent people, and clear priorities. All work to be completed with minimum supervision and in accordance with organizational standards.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include but are not limited to the following. The organization reserves the right to add to, delete, change, or modify the essential duties and responsibilities at any time.

1. In close collaboration with IAFC’s community systems team, identify, develop, and deliver training and technical assistance supports to regional staff to deepen their skills and knowledge of community systems and planning.
2. Create systems to improve quality of and access to training and TA opportunities by integrating user feedback, data from evaluations and reflective action learning using continuous quality improvement methods.
3. Support regional staff to embed action learning and develop systems change strategies that align with their vision and expected outcomes.
4. Provide technical assistance supports online, web-based, in-person, or over the phone, while recognizing and respecting the unique abilities and contributions of individuals.
5. Assist regional staff in gathering, organizing, and interpreting data to inform their planning, including demographic and service data available through the Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map and local sources of quantitative and qualitative data.
6. Work closely with the Program Manager to support logistics and planning of the organization’s annual events, conferences, and trainings for community systems.
7. Actively promote online and in-person trainings in coordination with Program Manager and Marketing Department, using diverse outreach methods, including but not limited to social media, blog articles, website, email marketing, and print.
8. Collaborate with team in developing powerful online engagement strategies to build the capacity of regional staff in community systems development. Facilitate and participate in peer learning opportunities to develop cross-system sharing of resources and knowledge statewide.
9. Develop and manage organizational relationships with regional leaders, community members, early childhood programs, and other stakeholders.
10. Support the organization’s evaluation and assessment activities, including the development and dissemination of training surveys and feedback forms. The position must be able to analyze and collect qualitative and quantitative data to inform training design and delivery. Work with Community Impact Data & Knowledge Manager to use Salesforce, Google Analytics, and other software tools to measure and report impact of training and TA.
11. Develop and maintain an inventory of trainings, toolkits, and resources for regional staff – including managing web-based online learning resources – using Salesforce (IAFC’s Customer Relation Management system), learning management systems, and other appropriate online/software solutions.
12. Develop and maintain expertise on system-building and collective impact strategies by staying on top of current research and resources and issues across the early childhood development system. Attend conferences and Early Learning Council meetings to inform practice and build relationships with statewide partners.
13. Other Functions: The organization may assign other functions to the job at its discretion.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college required. Master's degree (M. A.) or equivalent preferred; or two to five years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience in early childhood, public health, community organizing and/or public education preferred.

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Experience in adult training and learning
• Proven ability to facilitate and coach leaders individually and in large groups, in-person, and distance learning, and maintaining collaborative partnerships
• Knowledge of the early care and education landscape in Illinois
• Excellent writing, telephone, and communications skills
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills; intermediate skills in software including GotoWebinar, Zoom, WordPress, Salesforce and Smartsheet (or similar software)
• Strong organizational, project management and problem-solving skills with strong multi-tasking abilities
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, especially with diverse personalities
• Friendly and professional demeanor
• Willingness to work and communicate within team environment

Location: Lawrence                      

Illinois Action for Children is EEO/M/F/V/D employer

As established by the Illinois Action for Children Board of Directors, all employees are required to receive a vaccination against COVID-19, unless a medical or religious reasonable accommodation is approved. If offered a job, the candidate must be able to prove that they have been vaccinated with one of the CDC-authorized vaccines, including either Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson / Janssen or request and be granted an accommodation before their start date or December 10, 2021, whichever is later.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college required. Master's degree (M. A.) or equivalent preferred; or two to five years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience in early childhood, public health, community organizing and/or public education preferred.

OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Experience in adult training and learning
• Proven ability to facilitate and coach leaders individually and in large groups, in-person, and distance learning, and maintaining collaborative partnerships
• Knowledge of the early care and education landscape in Illinois
• Excellent writing, telephone, and communications skills
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills; intermediate skills in software including GotoWebinar, Zoom, WordPress, Salesforce and Smartsheet (or similar software)
• Strong organizational, project management and problem-solving skills with strong multi-tasking abilities
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, especially with diverse personalities
• Friendly and professional demeanor
• Willingness to work and communicate within team environment

As established by the Illinois Action for Children Board of Directors, all employees are required to receive a vaccination against COVID-19, unless a medical or religious reasonable accommodation is approved. If offered a job, the candidate must be able to prove that they have been vaccinated with one of the CDC-authorized vaccines, including either Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson / Janssen or request and be granted an accommodation before their start date or December 10, 2021, whichever is later.