Community Outreach Specialist

The Get My Payment Coalition is led by New America Chicago and Economic Awareness Council. The coalition was started in 2020 when it became clear that the people who needed pandemic stimulus checks most were least likely to receive them. Our team helps ensure that low-income individuals and families have access to free tools and information to claim federal and state tax credits with confidence. New America Chicago is a nonpartisan policy innovation lab and local hub of New America. Based at The Chicago Community Trust, we tackle challenges facing Illinois communities and partner with New America’s DC teams to shape federal and regional policy recommendations grounded in lived experience. We are seeking an experienced contractor with a background in project management and user research to support an outreach project for one year, with the opportunity to provide support on other design-related projects as funding becomes available. In response to the development of a new form of tax-advantaged savings vehicles for children, commonly known as 530As or Trump Accounts, the coalition has been asked to help low-income families in Chicago take advantage of the one-time investment contributions from the federal government. Our team will create messaging and materials for distribution in the community, conduct social media and traditional media outreach, and provide outreach support to help ensure low-income parents are able to access 530A accounts (also known as Trump Accounts) for their children. The team will also collaborate with the New Practice Lab and other external partners to ensure messaging is tested with target audiences to increase action-taking and uptake of 530A accounts in the Chicago region. Families in low-income communities already face structural barriers to wealth building, including lower pay, assets, and cash reserves, limited access to trustworthy financial guidance, and skepticism toward the new programs. If the policy is not translated into accessible, culturally competent materials and delivered through trusted community intermediaries, it may exacerbate rather than reduce disparities in intergenerational wealth. This project addresses the urgent need for clear, accurate, community-based education about these new child investment accounts, ensuring that eligible families in high-need communities can make informed decisions and, where appropriate, access and utilize this tool as part of broader financial planning. PRIMARY FUNCTION: The Get My Payment Illinois Coalition seeks a focused, self-starting contractor to support our 530A and tax credit education efforts. This person will be responsible for implementing core activities for this project and coordinating work with partner organizations, including our main coalition partner, EAC. The contractor will help keep track of changes to the 530A program and IRS tax credit rules and regulations and develop online and social media messaging to ensure more low-income communities are able to access these assets for their families. The contractor will ensure materials and outreach activities are executed well in partnership with the work of our main coalition partner, Economic Awareness Council. The contractor must live in the Chicago area. This contractor will play a vital role in keeping information up-to-date, and materials and media outreach are geared towards the needs of low-income parents in the area. This may include interacting with the public. The work schedule is flexible This does not include benefits. RESPONSIBILITIES: Keeping track of changes to IRS regulations concerning 530A elections, taxes, and tax credits that may impact low- and moderate-income communities, in collaboration with contractors from EAC. Creating and tracking project timeline. Working with staff from both organizations to coordinate completion of deliverables. Working with the team and financial experts to translate complicated program guidelines into clear, simple marketing materials to test with low-income parents, and other low-income populations. Collaborating with other New America teams and coalition members to ensure message testing is properly implemented into project outreach materials. Coordinating with media consultant to make sure media outreach language is correct and up-to-date. Outreach to government agencies to share marketing materials, engage them in outreach, and get answers to questions. Coordinating development of informational video with studio team and partner organization. Anticipating questions people in different situations may have and creating brief, clear, plain language explanations. Finding and testing free resources for community members, as needed. Setting up simple, creative methods to collect output and outcome data from all partners. Tracking outputs/outcomes and sharing with development team for fundraising reports. Tracking receipts, completing, and filing expense reports. Organizing and filing electronic and paper documents. OTHER DUTIES: May be asked to perform additional duties and take on other responsibilities as dictated by events and circumstances. QUALIFICATION: Ideally, a Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s Degree User research or design research training and 3+ years relevant experience Experience quickly getting up to speed on complicated financial or tax related topics and translating in a compelling way for a general audience Organized and efficient work style Skilled at managing timelines for diverse teams with differing schedules Ability to listen deeply and connect with diverse, low-income community members Comfortable working closely with and coordinating work among diverse team members from different organizations Compensation and Benefits This position is a contractor role, and hours may vary over the course of the project. The contractor will be expected to work for an average of 15 hours per week for the first month, going down to 7-8 hours per month over the remaining months, with no benefits. There will be the option for additional hours should other already submitted funding proposals be approved. While a retainer arrangement is preferred, the hourly rate will be between $75.00 - $110.00, depending on experience. Location: Hybrid mode in New America’s Chicago office PHYSICAL REQUIREMENT: This positionis hybrid, working from home and in an office environment, and sits at a desk for extended periods of time and requires dexterity to operate general office equipment; The person in this position will frequently communicate with peers, management, company partners/vendors, government officials, and the general public, and must be able to exchange accurate and timely information verbally and in writing. This position may require walking, bending, kneeling, and standing, and will require sitting for extended periods of time. WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment is in an indoor office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, and filing cabinets Originality and Transparency: At New America, we value authentic voices and intellectual property rights. All application materials, including cover letters, writing samples, and any other submissions, must be solely your own original work. The use of AI text generation tools like ChatGPT, language models, or other artificial intelligence writing assistants is strictly prohibited for any part of your job application. Submissions found to contain AI-generated content will be immediately disqualified from consideration. Applicants have a responsibility to be fully transparent about authorship and any tools or resources utilized. We celebrate human ingenuity and want to hear your genuine thoughts and experiences New America is an equal-opportunity employer committed to hiring a diverse workforce at all levels of the organization thereby creating a culture that allows us to better serve our clientele, our employees, and our communities. We value and encourage the contributions of our employees and strive to create an environment where everyone can reach their full potential and drive outstanding results. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal law. This policy applies with regard to all aspects of one’s employment, including hiring, transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for benefits, and termination. #J-18808-Ljbffr