Program Assistant, Richmond Hill High School

Job Description

Job Description

Program Assistant, Richmond Hill High School (25-29 hours per week)

South Asian Youth Action (SAYA)

South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) is committed to providing its employees opportunities for growth in a supportive community environment. With a flexible schedule and generous benefits package, SAYA provides its employees a healthy work-life balance in a youth development nonprofit.

SAYA: Belong. Grow. Thrive.

Organization Description

South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) is an inclusive, South Asian-focused 501(c)3 youth development organization. Through our innovative, holistic approach, we work toward educational equity by providing opportunities and resources to less privileged New York City youth, ensuring they are empowered academically, emotionally, and socially to become engaged community members.

Established in 1996, SAYA provides valuable life skills and holistic, impactful programming to underserved New York City youth. As one of the first South Asian organizations created in the United States, SAYA is the only organization of its kind in the NYC metropolitan area providing inclusive and secular comprehensive youth development services while centering our community’s experiences. Today, SAYA provides programming at eleven elementary, middle, and high schools in Queens and Brooklyn, along with our Elmhurst-based community center - serving a growing number of youths across all sites each year.

A key tenet of our work is cultivating vital social and emotional learning (SEL) skills such as belonging, confidence, and self-efficacy through intentionally designed, research-based curricula. Across our organization, services tailored for different age groups include leadership and identity development, academic support that bridges learning gaps, comprehensive college preparation, and activities that nurture creativity and build positive peer connections.

NYC Community Schools Initiative

The NYC Community Schools Initiative is aimed at bridging students, families, and communities with comprehensive social, emotional, and academic support to achieve successful student outcomes. At Richmond Hill High School (RHHS), these desired outcomes include: increased attendance and student engagement; greater connectedness to adults and peers; development of social and emotional skills; greater access to mental health resources; improved academic performance; improved school culture and climate; increased family engagement; and greater collaboration among community partners and school administration.

Position Summary

The Program Assistant will provide general support to SAYA’s community school programming at Richmond Hill High School (RHHS). They will be responsible for supporting various administrative duties, including but not limited to: data entry and collection; purchase orders and deliveries; office organization; outreach support; and other items as needed.

Supervisor: Community School Director

Responsibilities:

Events and Activity Support

• Support team members in coordination of club-based and larger school-wide events before, during, and after events, including but not limited to tasks such as:

  • Outreach to food, rental, and supply vendors;

  • Communication of events to students, families, school staff, partners, & vendors;

  • Liaison with school staff regarding space, supplies, and other needs;

  • Navigation of internal workflow of event logistics and timeline structure;

  • On-site event support such as attendance-taking, event setup, managing stations and flow, volunteer coordination, and event breakdown

• Comfort with workshop facilitation, as well as supporting lead workshop facilitators during school-day and afterschool activities

Data Entry and Collection

• Collect and enter various programmatic information into databases, including but not limited to: attendance, incentives, expenses, trip forms, and other items as needed

• Maintain organization of program documentation and outreach materials

• Administer collection and tracking of program registration, surveys, and other documentation

Purchase Orders and Deliveries

• Manage purchase orders, receipt collection, and expense documentation

• Liaise with vendors regarding progress of purchase orders, invoices and receipts

• Comfort with pick-up, delivery, and distribution of food and supplies during in-school and afterschool clubs/events, including transfer of items to alternative locations

Office Organization

• Ensure daily upkeep of team offices, including but not limited to: file and cabinet organization, supply maintenance and restock, general office organization

• Track and organize tech and incentive items in office and on digital spreadsheet

Additional Outreach Support

• Chaperone trips which may be held during school day, after school, evenings, weekends

• Support with organization, outreach, and distribution of student eyeglasses and other resources

• Provide support with flyer creation, distribution and outreach for events and other initiatives

• Assist team with photo and video documentation and developing content for social media

• Attend weekly meetings with supervisor and team members

• Other duties as needed and assigned by the supervisor.

The above is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by this position. Other functions may be assigned, and management retains the right to add or change

the duties at any time.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor degree in relevant fields (Education, Social Work, Youth Development) preferred

• At least 1-2 years experience in and familiarity of nonprofits and NYC public schools highly preferred

• Bilingual highly preferred (Spanish, Punjabi, Arabic)

• Outstanding outreach, verbal, written communication and public speaking skills

• Highly flexible, detail-oriented, and openness to feedback, with ability to organize and manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced setting

• Excels with contingency planning and flexibility in addressing changing program needs

• Excellent proficiency in Canva and Google Suite, including Google Spreadsheet, Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Drive, Google Forms, MS-Excel

• Commitment to frameworks of social justice, social-emotional learning (SEL), positive youth development, and culturally-responsive education (CRE)

• Understanding of issues facing immigrant youth, youth of color, working class, and undocumented youth in the US

• Willingness to support larger SAYA and SAYA RHHS team with various tasks as is needed, must be open to and contribute to supportive team culture across programs

Additional Information

• This position is in-person

• While we value work/life balance, due to the nature of this position, this role will sometimes require work on evenings and weekends. Must be able to work occasional early mornings, evenings, and weekends between September 2025- June 2026.

• Must be available from the hours of 8am-4pm at least 4 days a week during the school year; schedule is subject to change depending on program needs during summer

• Must be available and comfortable traveling with students and/or families from school location to other schools/organizations as needed

• Must be comfortable with periodic commute and occasional transfer of items between school and SAYA central office, and other designated locations as assigned or as is needed

Compensation:

$22-25/hour

SAYA is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Employer.