Employment Opportunity

Lavender Seniors of the East Bay
A Project of the Tides Center

Management Job Description
Title: Outreach Specialist Job Status: Exempt
Reports to: Project Director Salary Range: $20 per hour
Dept.: n/a Work Schedule: 20 hours per week

POSITION SUMMARY
Lavender Seniors of the East Bay is seeking an Outreach Specialist who will work as part of our staff and volunteer team. The role of the Outreach Specialist is to enhance Lavender Seniors’ cultural competency in working with the East Bay’s diverse LGBT senior population and increasing access to effective and culturally competent senior services and facilities for Oakland’s LGBT seniors, especially those in communities of color.

Major Responsibilities
The Outreach Specialist will act as the Lavender Seniors point person for outreach to the East Bay LGBT community. (S)he establishes relationships with LGBT seniors in the East Bay’s priority populations of the African-American, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American communities and reports on gaps and barriers to needed services. The Outreach Specialist manages the Lavender Seniors Speaker’s Panel and Cultural Competency Training Program that educates mainstream service providers and urges them to change policies and practices to make services more accessible to LGBT seniors. The Outreach Specialist also manages the Lunch Bunch developing programs for seniors residing in Oakland to reduce isolation and provide a means of creating natural support networks among peers. (S)he will assist with Lavender Juniors an group of younger LGBT’s who support Lavender Seniors activities.

Specific Responsibilities
Specific tasks are as follows:
• Works independently, as a member of the Lavender Seniors staff and volunteer team under supervision from the Project Director.
• With Project Director, organizes and plans to ensure compliance with the goals and administrative requirements of grants that provide funding for the Outreach Specialist position.
• Makes and documents contact with key individuals and organizations LGBT populations, as well as their allies.
• Establishes sustainable connections between Lavender Seniors and at least one agency or group of organizations in the priority populations.
• Collects, documents and communicates information about gaps and barriers to needed health and human services and to participation in Lavender Seniors’ programs.
• Manages the Lunch Bunch for the agency, coordinating the monthly lunches funded by the City of Oakland. (S)he designs each month’s program activities to meet the interests and culture of the group.
• Manages the Speakers Bureau and Cultural Competency Training Program which educates mainstream service providers and urges them to change policies and practices to make services more accessible to LGBT seniors.
• Manages other outreach projects as developed, such as the Lavender Scrolls Project.
• Prepares written reports and makes oral reports to Lavender Seniors staff and volunteers, City of Oakland officials and others.

Organizational Relationships
The Outreach Specialist will make contact and develop working relationships with organizations and key individuals who will assist in accomplishing the tasks described above.

Qualifications
• Experience
- Prior experience in community organizing.
- Prior experience working with any or all of the identified populations.
- Prior experience working independently and as part of a team.
- Prior experience setting up new projects.

• Education
- Minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent, Bachelor’s degree preferable.

• Knowledge
- Knowledge of the LGBT community
- Knowledge of any or all of the priority populations.

• Skills and Abilities
- Good written and oral communication skills.
- Excellent people skills – ability to quickly establish working relationships with diverse people.
- Ability to travel to various locations in the East Bay.
- Computer competence to document the work and prepare reports.
- Commitment, reliability, good judgment, flexibility, enthusiasm, and humor.
- Self-starter.

• Physical Requirements of the Job
- Requires sitting, talking, and listening for five or more hours per day; standing or walking for up to three hours per day; reaching with hands and arms and keying for up to three hours per day; and lifting up to 15 pounds.

The Outreach Specialist position is funded by foundation grants. Funding renewal beyond one year is not guaranteed but might be sought based on successful completion of the one-year project.

The mission of Lavender Seniors of the East Bay is to improve the quality of life of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) seniors in Alameda and western Contra Costa counties through community outreach, advocacy, and education.

Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, a project of the Tides Center, is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage and seek applications from women, people of color, including bilingual and bicultural individuals, as well as members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender communities.

Please submit cover letters and resumes by May 2, 2007, to Christina Cappelletti, Outreach Specialist, Lavender Seniors of the East Bay, 1395 Bancroft Ave., San Leandro, CA 94577.