AmeriCorps HomeWorks Trenton Program Assistant
ABOUT HOMEWORKS TRENTON
HomeWorks Trenton, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that combines the public school education with a boarding school experience to equip high school girls in marginalized communities to achieve economic freedom and become community leaders. By providing a space to explore and define their experiences, cultures, and identities, HomeWorks offers our scholars a chance to see that their ideas, visions, and presence are valid and relevant in this world.
The HomeWorks team has been recognized by The State of New Jersey, Princeton University, McKinsey & Company, Echoing Green, Comcast, Hollister, TRESemmé, Camelback Ventures, Barclays, Vital Voices, The Rachael Ray Show and more.
THE ROLE
The AmeriCorps Program Development & Operations Assistant will work closely with the Senior Program Manager, and occasionally with the Director of Enrollment and Engagement, as well as the Chief Operating. As an entry-level role, this is an incredible opportunity to gain exposure to, and hands-on experience with, introductory skills in a wide range of domains, including but not limited to: program operations and administrative functions, curriculum development, anti-oppressive education (AOE), youth pedagogy, sociohistorical research, event planning, marketing, and general organizational administration and cross-team functionality. The Program Development & Operations Assistant will primarily support administrative and operational functions, while also contributing to programmatic, development, and marketing initiatives that strengthen HomeWorks Trenton’s impact.
Depending on the spread of strengths and interests across our summer team cohort, primary projects that you will be responsible for and collaborate closest on, as the AmeriCorps Program Development & Operations Assistant, will fall within any combination of the following domains:
Program Research & Development
- Assist with research on project-dependent subject areas: ranging from sociological frameworks born from historical events, to safety policies and procedures in residential boarding settings, to potential facility maintenance vendors, and more.
- Assist with maintaining accurate Program Records and Documentation within internal systems to support Program Operations, Licensing requirements, faithful archiving practices, and cross-team accessibility, collaboration, and program implementation.
- Brainstorm field trip ideas for the upcoming program year, research projected prices, and create legible, neat, itemized budgets to assess feasibility.
- Assist in pitching lesson ideas, creating lesson plans, and researching the landscape of existing Political Education curricula.
Organizational & Program Operations
- Assist in maintaining accurate records and data in systems such as Salesforce, Google Drive, and Asana to support cross-team transparency and efficiency.
- Provide administrative support for internal planning, including charting transportation routes; considering headcount for all programmatic aspects (i.e., meals, passenger lists); constructing the outline for our full-year Program Schedule
- Follow established protocols and contribute to a safe, consistent, and well-run program environment.
- As needed, serving as a Summer Camp bus aide during some afternoons and/or mornings.
Licensing & Compliance Support
- Support facility operations, internal communications, and coordinate administrative tasks related to the new campus dormitory, to support operational readiness and ongoing facility needs.
- Helping compile all documentation necessary to attain, maintain, and demonstrate legal organizational compliance, according to applicable Youth Camp Safety law(s)
- Helping think critically through all aspects of Program Operation and Dorm Maintenance, to proactively account for all necessary considerations per licensing requirements
- Assist in executing HomeWorks marketing strategy.
- Assist in developing marketing material on Canva or other design platforms for social media platforms, Mailchimp, mailings, press releases, etc., to reach various target audiences, such as scholars, families, volunteers, community partners, donors, and more.
Event Planning, Marketing, and Execution
- Helping plan, prepare, and execute our annual End-of-Year Community Potluck (Sunday, June 7, 2026)
- Helping plan, prepare, and execute our inaugural HomeWorks Senior Graduation (Sunday, June 7, 2026)
- Helping plan, prepare, and execute our Dorm Move-Out Day(s) (end of June)
- Provide general operational support during special program events and initiatives.
- Assisting the Senior Program Manager in developing and refining systems around Volunteer recruitment and management
- Help draft thank-you letters and acknowledgement communications to donors and partners.
Cross-Team Functionality & Efficient Systems Management
- Assisting the Senior Program Manager in developing and refining systems around cross-team communication, project collaboration, scholar-progress tracking, and programming outcomes & metrics measurement
- Always applying standard organizational protocol when working inside our documentation and data ecosystems (Google Workspace, Asana, Salesforce, etc.)
- Assisting Senior Program Manager in improving and cleaning up systems around Programming documentation and data standardization
The AmeriCorps Program Development & Operations Assistant’s goal is to support HomeWorks Trenton’s mission by helping ensure smooth program operations, impactful (extra)curricular materials and activities, strong organizational systems, and effective communications between all stakeholders – from staff, to scholars, to families, to all those in our Trenton community. We hope the person in this role will have a passion for education, social justice, and community building, and be excited to gain a behind-the-scenes look at nonprofit and residential operations.
THE TANGIBLE GOODS
- Location: Lawrence/Trenton, NJ
- Start date: June 1 2026 - August 31, 2026
- Typical Working Hours for 300-HR or 450-HR Role:
- 300 HOURS
- Service Hours: Approximately 20-25 hours/week
- Schedule: 3x times a week 9AM - 5PM
-
450 HOURS
- Service Hours: Approximately 30-35 hours/week
- Schedule: Monday - Friday: 10AM - 5PM
- 300 HOURS
- Living Allowance Stipend:
- 300 HOUR: $3,600
- 450 HOUR: $5,400
- Education Award:
- 300 HOUR: $1,565.08, eligible upon successful completion of service term hours
- 450 HOUR: $1,956.35, eligible upon successful completion of service term hours
- Benefits:
- Professional development and leadership growth opportunities
- Introduction to a rewarding career filled with mutual learning and growth between yourself and our amazing scholars
- Application Deadline: Rolling
- Qualifications:
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate clearly with scholars, families, staff, and community partners.
- Trustworthy, professional, and reliable, with strong follow-through on commitments.
- Strong attention to detail, with excellent organizational and time-management skills.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
- Proactive, takes initiative, and demonstrates ownership and accountability for assigned tasks.
- Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively as part of a team.
- Comfort with learning and using technology for program, operations, and communications purposes (e.g., Salesforce, Google Drive, Asana).
- [Helpful but not required] Proficiency in Spanish or other languages spoken by the community.
- [Helpful but not required] Experience with data entry and management, preferably using Salesforce or similar platforms.
- [Helpful but not required] Experience with basic marketing, communications, or content creation tools (e.g., Canva, Mailchimp, social media platforms).
- Physical Demands: Walking up and down stairs, moving furniture and boxes during Move Out Day (June/July).
THE CULTURE
Every organization has its particular brand of crazy. We just try to be up-front about ours.
INTENTIONALITY: We are passionate, determined and Type A folks.
- We know what each scholar will be doing exactly 3 years from now at 4:30pm on Tuesday. That is because we have spent thousands of hours talking to industry experts and community members to intentionally create our program for our scholars. Every decision is intentional.
- We work efficiently, are ruthless in getting things done. We roll up our sleeves and get down to sweep the floors.
- We are obsessive about documenting everything so that we can replicate and scale what we are doing to expand our impact. Everything– from lesson plans to field trip procedures– will be added to manuals, put in the shared drive, documented on Salesforce, Asana and more.
EMPATHY: We believe that everyone on our team is a leader.
- This means that we take ownership for our own projects. We are deeply committed to a growth-mindset culture and take accountability when we make mistakes.
- We believe that our biggest strength comes from having a team with a rainbow of personalities, working styles, backgrounds, experiences, and cultures — and the ability to challenge one another while ensuring everyone feels heard and valued.
- Our Co-Founders are our scholars, parents, teachers and community leaders. We work closely with our community to understand how best to grow and build HomeWorks and to invest in our community.
COMMUNITY: We believe deeply in our mission, and are intentional in living our values of intentionality, empathy and community in all we do.
- This work - from picking up scholars from school, to construction management for our new campus, to building house culture and planning our development strategy - is more than just work. It is our fight for justice. We are creating a space where our scholars can reclaim power over their cultures, identities and experiences.
- We center our scholars and the community, and show up fully in the work. Every day.
- We believe in the power and magic of our community in Trenton. By staying within the community, we are fostering a sense of Trenton pride within our scholars.