Role: Nonprofit Engagement Fellow 

Reports to: Director of Research

About Chicago Scholars

At Chicago Scholars we strive to prepare our Scholars for the world and the world for our Scholars. Our dual focus on Scholars and the world are both essential to our strategy. The first part of our work supports college acceptance, matriculation, persistence, and career access for our Scholars. The second part allows Scholars to go beyond surviving to thriving, from achieving to excelling, from attending and working to belonging and exceeding. The first part of our work allows entry, the second truly opens up opportunity and redistributes power. To achieve these goals we center diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and racial justice so that we can launch and lift our Scholars and enable them to lead and leverage their power wherever they are on their journeys.

Chicago Scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first generation college students from under-resourced communities. Through college counseling, mentoring, and by providing a supportive community to our Scholars through each phase of our program: College Access, College Success, and Career and Leadership Development, we ensure that they realize their full potential as students and leaders.

78% of Chicago Scholars graduate college within 6 years. Per the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, only 49% of their peers earn a degree within 6 years. Upon graduation, our Scholars move into leadership positions across Chicago, helping to drive the economic future of their communities and our thriving city.

READI Commitment 

At Chicago Scholars we strive to prepare our Scholars for the world and the world for our Scholars. Our dual focus on Scholars and the world are essential to our strategy. To achieve these goals, we center racial justice, equity, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion (READI) in all that we do. 

Chicago Scholars’ commitment to READI encompasses all of our stakeholders—from our staff to our board, from our volunteers to our partnering organizations, and most importantly our Scholars. This holistic approach is necessary for the sustained, long-term, positive impact that we seek for our Scholars, our neighborhoods, our city, and our world.

To learn more about Chicago Scholars commitment to READI, please visit chicagoscholars.org/readi.

At Chicago Scholars, we believe that education is social justice. That's why we're empowering Chicago's best and brightest first-generation college students and students from low-income communities with the mentors, resources, and opportunities to go to our nation's best colleges and universities, graduate on time, and become Chicago's next generation of leaders. Since 1996, we've impacted the lives of more than 5,000 young leaders in Chicago.

Our Values

These are a set of guiding principles that apply to all stakeholders within the Chicago Scholars ecosystem. We select and retain stakeholders based on these stated expectations for how we achieve our mission and vision. Each are supported with core competencies and narrative for the sake of clarity.

We Dream Big. We speak up, innovate, push the boundaries, and keep the creativity flowing. We don’t accept the status quo because the stakes are too high. We have an incredible belief that growth and change are possible. While we dream big, we are laser focused on our intended goals and outcomes for our Scholars, our city, and the world.

We Show Up. We show up every day; not just physically, but with a positive attitude and willingness to work, connect, challenge, engage, solve problems, and have fun. We don’t wait for someone to tell us what to do. We take action and get the job done. If we don’t know how, we figure it out through our knowledge, exploration, or our network.

We Embrace Our Differences. We represent a multicultural nation, and our collective backgrounds, experiences, styles, values, perspectives, and beliefs are an asset to the world. We recognize that together we achieve better outcomes more quickly. Justice and equity start with us using our collective voice.

We Model the Way. We exhibit the behavior that we want to see in others and in the world. Titles are granted, but our behavior is what earns us respect. In order to model the way, we must be clear about our guiding principles, celebrate our accomplishments and learn from our challenges and failures.

We Care For Each Other Along the Way. We adapt to the needs of the person in front of us. We pause, reflect, and listen. We do our best work when we are in good relationship together. We care personally and challenge directly.

We Keep Our Word. When we commit, we are all in. Whether for events, a Scholar, a peer, or ourselves. Our words are as powerful as our actions and are the building block of trust, respect, self-worth, and integrity.

Position Summary

The Chicago Scholars Nonprofit Engagement Fellow (NEF) will learn on-the-job skills in nonprofit stakeholder engagement by assisting in all aspects of the Scholar recruitment process, partnering to create new and innovative ways to increase Scholar Alumni engagement, and shadowing the office of the CEO on a strategic project that spans the organization at its highest level. The Fellowship is a one-year full-time opportunity. 

Key Responsibilities 

Application Exposure, Engagement, & Advancement (40%): 

· Contribute to increasing brand awareness and program exposure to high school students across the city of Chicago by 

  attending college fairs, resource fairs, community events, and more.

· Assist with scheduling and conducting Scholar recruitment activities, events, and visits with high schools, community partners, 

  and other external stakeholders.

· Craft and manage the distribution of prospective Scholar communications that include, but are not limited to, the application 

  launch announcement, Open House sessions, Application Support Workshops, application tips, tricks, advice, and encouraging 

  words, deadline reminders, and more.

· Monitor the recruitment dashboard to track the status, progress, trends, and or concerns for student applications prior to the 

  application deadline.

· Support and co-facilitate Open House and Application Support Workshops.

· Collaborate with the Sr. Associate of Scholar Recruitment to create and co-lead application completion initiatives such as 

  phone-a-thons, text message campaigns, targeted student group outreach and more.

· Assist with the distribution process of high school counselor communications that contain important dates, reminders, 

  updates, and application status reports for their students throughout the application process.

· Host, coordinate, and facilitate Open House information sessions for students and parents to reiterate the value, commitment, 

  and expectations of the program in addition to outlining the application process.

· Serve as the primary resource for student applicants to address and answer any questions or concerns they may have about 

  the Chicago Scholars application process through email, phone, in-person connections, and any other forms of communication.

· Assist in the collaborative effort of identifying student applicants who will advance to the required interview phase of the 

  Chicago Scholars application process.

· Support the distribution of student applicant communications to share decisions and logistics for the required interview round 

  and final decision process.

· Assist with tracking, updating and rescheduling students as needed throughout the required interview process.

· Motivate, encourage, guide and coach student applicants as needed through the Chicago Scholars application process.

Scholar Alumni Engagement (30%):

· Provide insight and leadership as a Scholar Alum into engagement strategies to build a more active pool of Alumni to support 

  the mission of the organization, serve as mentors and volunteers, and give back financially over time.

· Support the Manager of Donor & Alumni Relations with design and implementation of a comprehensive annual Alumni 

  communications strategy that may include writing for newsletters and emails, creating social media and web content, and 

  others, to improve Alumni engagement.

· Support the Manager of Donor & Alumni Relations as a secondary liaison to the Alumni Leadership Association (ALA) Board.

Executive Shadowing (15%):

· Participate in external and internal meetings, planning sessions, etc. with the CEO when applicable to the annual strategic 

  project.

· Shadow the CEO in donor meetings, events, community activities throughout the year.

· Attend governing board meetings to network and engage with the organization’s leadership 

Data Management (15%):

· Manage entering and updating Scholar and Scholar Alum information in the internal data system (Salesforce).

· Record and track Scholar recruitment touchpoints such as college fairs, community fairs/events, recruitment visits, application 

  support workshops, alumni events, and volunteer opportunities.

· Oversee the process of ensuring receipt of required materials for all submitted student applications.

· Assist in the process of updating high school counselor records throughout the year.

· Assist with the downloading and distribution process of application status reports to high school counselors throughout all 

  stages of the Chicago Scholars application process.

· Collaborate with the data team to check for and identify application errors throughout the application process.

· Run reports on Scholar Alumni to engage in Alumni Leadership Association events throughout the year.

Additional Responsibilities

· This position will require occasional work on nights and weekends for all staff and Development Team specific events 

· Attend and support mandatory all staff events  

Qualifications: 

· Education: Undergraduate degree required

· Experience: Must be a Chicago Scholars Alum that has graduated from undergraduate institution within the last three   

  academic years (2022, 2023, 2024)

· Access to transportation (public or rideshare)

· Must live in the Chicagoland area

Core Competencies: 

· Teamwork and Collaboration:  Listens to ideas from others even when different from own. Is careful to ensure all sides are 

   heard reaching a conclusion. Shares time, energy and knowledge with others to ensure they can succeed.

· Problem Solving/Critical Thinking: Ability to plan and organize tasks to make informed decisions and solve problems.  Able 

  to perceive and resolve a gap and overcome obstacles between a present situation and a desired goal. Ability to leverage the   

  strengths (superpowers) of others to tackle a problem.

· Accountability/Project Management:  Effectively manages own work, and work of teams when relevant, ensuring delivery 

  of high-quality work.  

· Communication:  Ability to read and interpret information effectively, clearly articulate a plan of action, and influence others 

   by way of written and verbal mechanisms.

Preferred Skills: 

· Ability to communicate effectively in writing, in person, and virtually in a manner which consistently demonstrates respect, 

  concern, and responsiveness.

· Ability to speak in public and engage all stakeholders (students, parents, mentors, volunteers, college representatives).

· Demonstrated ability to cultivate and sustain relationships with diverse audiences (educational level, socio-economic 

  circumstance).

· Demonstrated ability to work at a rigorous pace to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines.

· Ability to contribute and share personal thoughts, ideas, desires, and/or concerns about the work.

· Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment.

· Ability to remain flexible and adapt to changing needs and priorities.

· Proficiencies with technology, data management, and standard office applications; willingness to adapt to new technologies.

· Ability to collect, enter and track accurate data to inform decision making.

· Ability to propose new approaches, methods, or technologies to improve practices, processes and outcomes.

· Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.

Fellowship Starting Salary Range: $40,000-$45,000 

Best Offer First Policy: The data nationally show for every $1 paid to white men, women earn 83 cents, black men earn 88 cents, and black women earn 80 cents. Women and black and brown people are also less likely to negotiate than their white male peers. Chicago Scholars has decided to offer our best offer first rather than wait for a potential negotiation. This allows us to set salaries based on market data and internal equity and ensure fair and equal pay for every role.  

If you have questions regarding any of Chicago Scholars employment policies, please reach out to the Human Resources team at humanresources@chicagoscholars.org with the subject line: Policy Question. 

To Apply 

· Please visit the Careers page on the Chicago Scholars website and click 'Apply' to submit your application, which should include 

  a resume and cover letter. 

· In your cover letter, please describe how your experience and/or career interest set you up for success in this fellowship. We’d 

  also like to know what sounds most interesting or exciting about this fellowship.