Deputy Executive Director of Place-Based Initiatives

Company Description

A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact.

As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What we offer

• Impact - The work you do here matters to millions. 
• Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it? 
• Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.
• Benefits - We care about your well-being.

Agency Description

The Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO) provides leadership on issues of economic justice by advancing racial equity and inclusive growth to ensure that all Philadelphians share in the city’s prosperous future and by alleviating the immediate impact of poverty on individuals, families and communities.  CEO is Philadelphia’s Community Action Agency (CAA); CAAs are private or public agencies created by the 1964 Economic Opportunity Act and federally designated to receive Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding.

Guiding Principles (We believe…)

• The people of Philadelphia deserve the opportunity to live happy, healthy, full lives. 
• City Government should both recognize its culpability in creating and sustaining inequity and aspire to its responsibility to provide opportunities, represent the best interests, and promote the well-being of all residents. 
• People can offer meaningful insights into both personal experiences and how systems around them function. 
• Poverty is a deliberately created systemic issue and city government can lead in calling for justice and dismantling the barriers that often prevent opportunities. 

Values (How we work)

• Dignity: We actively respect our individual colleagues and people in the community.
• Inclusivity: Our work is more beneficial, valuable, and valid when our full range of experiences, knowledge, and skills can contribute.
• Persistence: We recognize the challenges inherent in this work, and when we get discouraged, we find ways to be resilient, lift each other up, and push forward.
• Accountability: We are transparent and honest about our plans, our actions, and our results.
• Honesty: We create a space to have healthy, honest dialogues about systems, people, and misconceptions and then communicate truthfully.

Job Description

The Deputy Executive Director of Place-Based Initiatives is responsible for leadership of CEO’s overarching engagement practices, including responsibility for all roles connecting with residents and coordinating and implementing strategy with CEO leadership team. CEO’s Community Engagement model requires an expansive approach, strategic implementation and systems-level theory of change in order to significantly move communities from poverty to mobility. CEO utilizes advocacy, metrics, convenings, and programs as tools to advance our overarching strategies. The Deputy ED will lead CEO’s work in developing how these tools are utilized, including across systems, consulting, and training. 

CEO’s Place-Based Initiatives work encompasses three areas of work, all of which fall under the leadership of the deputy.  

Community Engagement Team: engages in broad-based community listening through canvass level and neighborhood organizing work; implements quantitative and qualitative data gathering that informs community supports, program, and policy initiatives to improve economic conditions and social determinants of health in communities. 

Community Resources Team: provides focused one-to-one support related to individual needs identified through community engagement process or participation in CEO-funded programs; connects individuals to benefits and resources that seek to improve individual health and/or social determinants of health. 

Neighborhood Initiatives Team: builds on the findings from the 10-year Promise Zone convening work bringing together residents and community organizations to address and positively impact issues surrounding affordable housing, economic opportunities, quali