Program Associate, Voyager Scholarship

At The Obama Foundation, our mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world.  We seek to build an active democratic culture where people are equipped and motivated to make change in the communities where they live, work, and play. Right here on the South Side of Chicago, we’re building a home for this vision, a global center for change with a range of opportunities - coordinated programming, community outreach events, educational moments, and more - that invite visitors from down the block or across the globe to turn hope into action.

Achieving our ambitious goals starts with an exceptional team built on our Hope to Action Values - Courage, Empathy, Integrity, Accountability, Community, Inclusivity, Pragmatism, Resilience, Imagination, and Hope. A Framework that anyone, anywhere, can use to build trust, activate participation, and expand opportunity in their community.

Purpose of the Role

The Program Associate, Voyager Scholarship plays an integral role in designing and facilitating virtual and in-person programming for college student program participants that integrates values-based leadership, bridge building, career visioning, storytelling, and career readiness leadership development content. They have a passion for supporting student-changemakers, are a strong relationship builder and communicator, and are a skilled project manager. They will collaborate with a fellow Associate and Senior Associate and report to the Deputy Director, to implement the Voyager Scholarship Program, in service of the Obama Foundation’s mission to inspire, empower, and connect the next generation of leaders.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Virtual Program Implementation: Lead the implementation of monthly virtual programming for Voyagers with the support and guidance of the Deputy Director. Manage content components of all program sessions and events, including session design, scheduling, technology set-up, securing external speakers and facilitators, communication with program participants, and other tasks. Serve as the lead point of contact for a cohort of 100 Voyagers and develop systems to track and support their engagement. Contribute to the overall program design and curriculum informed by DMEL (design, monitoring, evaluation, and learning) data. Keep updated on current trends and conversations impacting higher education and closely collaborate with other team members to align programmatic content. 
• Program Participant Support: Provide individualized support and guidance and track program participant progress in achieving key programmatic milestones throughout the program term. Know each student by name and story and foster trusting relationships. Liaise with the Deputy Director to manage unique participant challenges or circumstances. Create a weekly newsletter to keep the cohort updated on programmatic events and share resources to support their development. 
• Partnership Management: Support the entire process of securing vendors by determining desired criteria and conducting interviews. Work across Foundation teams to execute contracts, complete invoicing, and conduct budget reconciliation. Help ensure that contracts are effective, well executed, and accurate. Assist with onboarding and management of program partners. Steward the partnership throughout the contract term by conducting regular meetings, preparing agendas, taking notes, and maintaining accurate communication throughout the contract term. Support the identification of and engagement with new and existing program partners.
• Participant Recruitment and Selection: Assist with the entire Voyagers application process, including recruitment, application preparation and launch, selection committee training and tracking, application review, recipient announcement, Voyager registration, public announcement, and other duties. Support outreach priorities, including forming partnerships to develop long-term talent pipelines.
• Cross-Team Operations and Project Management: Provide exceptional organizational and project management skills to streamline processes and workflows across virtual and in-person activities such as event logistics, forms management, and contracts workflows. Serve as a key contributor to a highly collaborative and cross functional team, including through daily collaboration activities, meetings and/or cross-department communications in a fast-paced working environment. Serve as a member of the Strategic Operations sub-team, working collaboratively across program verticals to learn from each other and identify operational efficiencies.
• Event Support: Work with various colleagues and stakeholders to proactively contribute to event/program design and on-site program facilitation, as well as operations and logistics. Manage program operations in collaboration with colleagues, related to travel, communications, scheduling, technology, and coordination with external speakers and facilitators and post-event logistics. Supporting program participants and foster community and relationship building within the cohort.

• Impact Evaluation and Storytelling Support: Contribute to the design and implementation of evaluation materials in alignment with Voyager Scholarship Program measurement frameworks. Analyze programmatic impact data and create readouts for and data visualizations for stakeholders. Support the development and iteration of systems to capture storytelling content that communicate data and stories of impact.
• Other Duties: Perform as assigned. 

Key Deliverables/Outcomes

• Monthly Virtual Session Execution: Seamlessly manage and deliver monthly virtual leadership development programming, maintaining high student engagement and attendance across a cohort of 100 Voyagers.

• Student Development: Conduct regular 1-on-1 check-ins to build individual student relationships, monitor progress against leadership goals, and proactively address participant needs.
• Cohort Communication: Produce and distribute a weekly student newsletter featuring program updates, upcoming deadlines, and development resources.
• Data Readouts & Visualization: Support the collection of participant data via DMEL frameworks, translating feedback and metrics into clear visual reports and impact stories for internal leadership and external stakeholders.
• Vendor & Contract Lifecycle: Support vendor selection, draft/track contracts, manage invoicing, and complete accurate budget reconciliation across all vendor touchpoints.
• Application Review: Contribute to the overall recruitment, evaluation and selection process each year. 

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Program Design & Implementation: 2-3 years of demonstrated experience designing curriculum and facilitating virtual and in-person leadership development or scholarship programs for young changemakers. Also experience providing individualized student support and career guidance and ability to facilitate spaces for students to build community and trusting relationships amongst each other. 
• Applicant Selection/Recruitment: Demonstrated experience reviewing and scoring applications in alignment with an equitable evaluation criteria and process.
• Data & Impact Storytelling: Demonstrated experience in collecting, analyzing, and visualizing program metrics using DMEL (Design, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning) frameworks to track outcomes and communicate programmatic impact.
• Operational Management: Demonstrated project management and organizing skills and experience working with multiple partners and collaborators, managing multi-step operational workflows, vendor procurement, contracts, event planning, and basic budget reconciliation.
• Strong Communication Skills: Strong communications skills: verbal, written, team collaboration, and use of digital media tools. 
• Schedule Flexibility: Ability and willingness to work flexible hours, including monthly evening sessions to accommodate college student schedules.

The salary range for this role is between $59,755  and $74,670. 

For an overview of our benefits package, including insurance, paid time off, retirement & more, please visit https://www.obama.org/careers/.

Don’t check off every box in the requirements listed above? Please apply anyway! If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to still consider submitting an application. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings!

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws. We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply. If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at [email protected] if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.