Position Title: Program Coordinator - Journalism & Storytelling
Department: Fresno Community-Based Programs
1 FTE/Classification: Full Time, Non-Exempt
Reports to: Senior Program Manager
Location: 1252 Fulton Street, Fresno, CA 93721
Effective Date: Tentative October 2025
Salary/Compensation: Up to $25.44 per hour
Youth Leadership Institute (yli) builds communities where young people and their adult allies come together to create positive community change that promotes social justice and racial equity. For over 20 years, yli has sparked the leadership of young people to solve pressing social issues and serve our communities. yli’s community-based programs are located in San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo, Long Beach, Eastern Coachella Valley, and the Central Valley. In addition to serving 7 California counties, yli provides customized training, consulting, evaluation, and technical assistance services nationally.
yli is committed to engaging and developing young people of color, low-income youth, and other non-traditional youth as researchers, advocates, storytellers, and agents of social change. With support from yli staff and through authentic partnerships with other key adult allies, young people build the skills necessary to research the issues that most affect them and their communities, develop campaigns to advocate for change, share their stories and those of their communities, and partner with local stakeholders to implement these changes in their communities.

JOB SUMMARY

The Program Coordinator (PC) works in partnership with youth (ages 14 to 24) to organize, empower, and mobilize youth and their communities, uplifting the voices of those most marginalized in Fresno County. The PC will train and support youth to equip them with journalism, storytelling, and advocacy skills; develop and deepen political consciousness; assess and understand issues impacting their health and well-being; build relationships and partnerships with youth and community supporters; and drive countywide and local community campaigns that mobilize supporters,create long-term systems and/or policy change, and build power for future victories.
The PC is responsible for managing all of the logistics and functional tasks necessary for meeting the goals and objectives of the assigned projects and/or campaigns, which include: providing direct educational curriculum delivery and ensuring that young people are experiencing high quality and culturally relevant leadership and training opportunities. The PC will work to support overall Fresno County campaigns, initiatives, and staff; prepare appropriate materials; collaborate with community partners; and develop and lead training for youth leaders and other campaign partners.
The PC will lead the Journalism & Storytelling programs, initiatives, and campaigns. This includes overseeing The kNOw Youth Media, a youth journalism program that equips young people with journalism, storytelling, and advocacy skills to tell their stories and highlight the experiences of their communities through a community health and social justice lens. As part of the program, the PC will also coordinate Betting On Our Future, a campaign which engages young people in raising awareness about the impact of underage gambling through storytelling and peer-to-peer education.
The PC will also lead Multilingual Storytelling, a storytelling and policy program for multilingual students in Fresno Unified, empowering them to share their experiences in English Learner programs. Through this program, youth will lead a campaign and present their findings and solutions to policymakers and education leaders to advance English Learner education.
Additionally, the PC will support the Sr. Program Manager with Journalists of Color, a five-year pipeline fellowship designed to cultivate and retain journalists of color in the Central Valley who possess a deep understanding of the region and its communities.
All yli staff embody our core values: inclusion, innovation, social justice, and community.

GENERAL AND OTHER

• Promote yli’s organizational mission and goals, including articulating the mission and taking opportunities to advance its goals when appropriate
• Participate as a team member in Youth Leadership Institute-wide events, staff meetings, Leadership Team meetings, and other yli activities
• Track trends and stay current on the state of health equity as it relates to community organizing and movement building
• Represent the organization at community activities to enhance the organization’s community profile
  Other duties as assigned. This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Staff may be expected to perform other related duties to meet the ongoing needs of the program and organization.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• B.A. in journalism, communications, or related field or minimum of 2-3 years relevant experience in field of youth development and/or community organizing
• Commitment to yli’s values of community, inclusion, innovation, and social justice
• Demonstrated capacity to work with youth and adults from communities of color and low-income communities
• Experience facilitating youth-drive campaigns or projects
• Experience with social media and media relations
• Experience with community-based research and/or assessment
• Strong written and verbal communications skills
• Familiarity with social media as a tool for organizing and advocacy
• Excellent follow-through skills; detail-oriented, organized, professional
• Able to work some evenings and weekends
• Able to work in a fast-paced, multifaceted environment
• Computer literate in Mac platforms and gsuite; capacity to learn new software
• Training and providing technical assistance to youth and adult leaders
• Knowledge of the Fresno neighborhoods and communities
• Multilingual not required, but a plus
• Access to personal vehicle and clean driving record is required

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• COVID-19 Safety and Vaccines: yli prioritizes the safety of our staff, youth participants, and the wider community. We currently have a mandatory vaccination policy, including an accommodations request process for those needing religious or medical exemptions
• LiveScan background check is required for all staff and interns