Director of Family Empowerment and Whole Community Services

Allentown City School District•Allentown, PA

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Family Empowerment and Whole Community Services is responsible for all operations, programming, and services of the Family and Community Resource Center. The Director must run a high-traffic public facility with excellence while building programming families actually want. The role requires entrepreneurial leadership, comfort with ambiguity, and the discipline to build systems that outlast any one person. The Director must bring a genuine, visible commitment to families as partners in their children's education and the cultural competence to serve a community that speaks many languages.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, or an equivalent combination of education and directly related professional experience, required
Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible leadership experience in family services, community programming, school-community operations, public-facing service delivery, or a closely related field, including at least three years supervising staff.
Demonstrated success launching or significantly scaling a program, center, or public-facing operation.
Demonstrated experience serving multilingual, economically diverse urban communities.
Strong budget management, operational, and organizational skills, including the ability to run a high-traffic public facility with consistency, safety, and warmth.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including public speaking before community audiences.
Fluency with data, including the ability to set targets, read performance information, and adjust course.
Sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to handle confidential family information appropriately.
Ability to work regular evening and weekend hours in support of Center programming and community events.
Current clearances as required by Pennsylvania law, including Act 34, Act 151, and Act 114 (FBI) clearances.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in education, social work, public administration, nonprofit management, or a related field preferred
Bilingual fluency in Spanish and English preferred.
Experience in a public school district, family resource center, community school, or similar family-facing institution preferred.
Experience managing co-located or partner-delivered services and community partnerships preferred.
Deep familiarity with the Allentown community or comparable urban communities in the region preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead the design and launch of the Family and Community Resource Center, including its service model, family experience standards, physical layout, hours of operation, and opening timeline.
Develop and execute the Center's annual operating plan, goals, and budget; monitor expenditures; and ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and District requirements, including procurement and financial procedures, grant conditions attached to Center funding, and language access obligations.
Serve as a member of the Division's leadership team, contributing to division-wide strategy and planning as additional Division leadership roles are established.
Establish the Center as a trusted community institution and serve as its public face with families, neighborhood leaders, elected officials, funders, and faith communities, representing the Division at community events, school functions, and public meetings, including regular evening and weekend engagements.
Plan for the Center's growth, including expanded programming, extended hours, satellite services, and future staffing phases.
Oversee all daily operations of the Center, including front-of-house services, scheduling, facilities coordination, safety and security protocols, and technology systems.
Establish and uphold family experience standards that guarantee every visitor a welcoming, respectful, and linguistically accessible experience, in coordination with the Division's language access function.
Ensure enrollment, registration, and school choice support services at the Center are accurate, timely, and coordinated with the District's central enrollment functions.
Build volunteer capacity into Center operations, ensuring volunteers are recruited, trained, and deployed to extend the Center's reach.
Oversee the District's family navigation function, ensuring families receive one-on-one guidance across enrollment, transfers, attendance, special education processes, and connections to community resources.
Establish caseload standards, service protocols, and quality expectations for the Family Navigator team, prioritizing proactive outreach to newcomer families, families of chronically absent students, and families experiencing housing instability.
Build referral pathways with housing, health, food security, legal, and social service partners so navigation ends in resolution, not redirection.
Oversee the Center's programming portfolio, including Parent University; adult education offerings such as ESL, GED preparation, digital literacy, and workforce-linked courses; and year-round community programming, using family voice, participation data, and community input to shape the catalog each cycle.
Align programming with District academic priorities so family learning translates into student outcomes, including early literacy, attendance, and postsecondary readiness, and coordinate program promotion with the District's Office of Communications.
Identify, negotiate, and manage co-location agreements with community organizations, city agencies, higher education institutions, and service providers operating within the Center.
Recruit, onboard, and develop a Center team that reflects the languages, cultures, and lived experince of Allentown's families and ensure all staff are trained in family-centered sercice, language access protocols, confidentiality and mandated reporting.
Track the Center's utilization, services, and program outcomes; report performance quarterly, including families served, navigation outcomes, program participation and completion, and family satisfaction; and use data and family feedback to adjust services, hours, staffing, and programming.
Perform other duties as assigned by the Chief of Family and Community Engagement consistent with the scope of the role.