Job Description: Development Associate
Location: Chelsea, MA
Organizational Overview:
Founded in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1988, Roca’s mission is to disrupt the cycle of
poverty and incarceration by helping young people transform their lives.
Our evidence based Intervention Model engages the highest risk, 17-24 year old young
people in a long term process of behavior change and skill building opportunities. With
two years of intensive engagement and two years of less intensive follow-up, Roca’s
Intervention Model provides a robust combination of services, including relentless street
outreach, data driven case management, stage based education and employment training.
We focus our efforts on two groups of very high risk young people: young men trapped in
cycles of crime and incarceration and young mothers with a multitude of risk factors.
Ultimately, our goals for these young people is to help them get off the streets, reduce their
involvement in crime and, stay out of jail, get jobs, and become better parents and better
community members.
Understanding that we cannot and should not do this work alone, Roca partners with an
important array of leaders and institutions from the criminal justice field, government,
social service sector and business, to create system improvements in the way our society
responds to the these young people and the crises and trauma that affects their lives.
Roca’s Intervention Model is a cognitive‐restructuring and skills development intervention
that was developed and implemented to address the high‐risk, underserved population of
17‐24 males who are either: 1) aging out of the juvenile justice or juvenile probation
systems with a strong propensity for reincarceration as an adult; 2) connected with the
adult justice system; or 3) are high‐risk members of the community being served who have
a strong propensity for incarceration as an adult. Our goals are to avert continued or future
incarceration, help young people stay out of jail, and to help young men develop the skills
they need to succeed and stay at work. Roca also works with young mothers in Chelsea,
Revere and East Boston. The programming includes the Healthy Families Home Visiting
Program and a pilot project for high risk young mothers.
Roca has recently expanded and is now providing services to young men in the following
communities: Boston, Chelsea, Cambridge, Charlestown, East Boston, Everett, Lynn,
Malden, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Winthrop, Agawam, Chicopee, East Longmeadow,
Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Springfield, West Springfield and Westfield. Roca is also
planning for its first out of state replication and a process for long term scale and impact.
At 27 years old, Roca is honored and excited to be the service provider for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ first and largest pay for success project – designed to
avert future incarceration of high risk young men who have been involved with the
criminal justice system. This project is one of the first three in the country and the largest
to date; Roca will serve 929 young men though the pay for success initiative!
Roca has a strong organizational culture where learning, personal experience, leading with
values, and having deep faith are essential to achieve bold goals with disenfranchised
young people. Roca helps young people to change their behavior and shift the trajectories
of their lives to move toward the outcomes of economic independence and living out of
harm’s way.
Position Overview:
Roca is currently implementing an exciting growth plan and understands the need to
dramatically increase our development capacity with an emphasis on individual and
corporate giving. We have also positioned ourselves for outcomes and performance based
funding, our first out of state replication, and developing and alternative corrections model
for high risk young men. The high risk young mothers programming is proposing to further
develop and implement a model that moves along the continuum to potentially become an
effective model for high risk young mothers. We have a wonderful team and need more
help.
The Development Associate requires strong systems and communications skills and must
be extremely detail oriented. The ideal person will have a range of skills and the desire to
learn and grow in the job. The starting point will include: 1) finalizing and managing
systems; 2) assist with the individual solicitation process; 3) assist with the corporate
process; and 4) assist with key fundraising activities and events including, but not
exclusive to: an Annual Breakfast, the annual appeal, and a variety of cultivation events.
Development Systems and Organizational Tasks
 Work with team to finalize then implement and monitor development systems
including coordination with programming and fiscal teams.
 Upon review, understanding and implementation of systems provide monitoring,
quality control, and coordinate updates, reviews, check lists for components of the
system, etc.
 Finalize the Development Team’s manual for activities, systems, steps, and annual
calendar.
 Upon review, understanding and implementation of systems provide monitoring,
quality control, and coordinate updates, reviews, check lists for components of the
system, etc.
 Manage the organization’s full implementation and use of Raiser’s Edge, or other donor
tracking software, including tracking relationships, wealth screening and potentially
grants management.
 Develop and/or monitor quality of letters, pitch documents, materials for Roca,
including language, branding, and effective documents.
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Assist with administration of organizational fundraising events.
Manage the website.
Assist with social media and branding activities for the organization.
Oversee development tracking tools and coordinate communications with finance team
around receipt of funds.
Provide administrative structure and support to the Development Team.
Assistance with Individual and Corporate Relationship Development and Fundraising.
 Work with CEO, Director of External Affairs and Chief Officer for Strategic Partnerships
and Major Gifts on individual fundraising, corporate fundraising and the development
of partnerships:
o Writing
o Meetings
o Follow-up, tracking, monitoring
 Assist with cultivation of donors, as appropriate.
 Assist with solicitation and tracking of in-kind support for the organization.
Other Tasks
 Learn about, understand, write about and speak about all aspects of the organization.
 Work with the CEO on other written pieces, i.e. major reports, public relations
documents, business plans, and position papers
 Assist with other functions of the Development Office, such as bulk mailings, special
events, etc.
 Perform other duties as assigned by the CEO and other senior staff on the team (Chief
Strategy Officer, Director of External Relationships, and Chief Officer for Strategic
Partnerships and Major Gifts.)
Qualifications: The successful candidate for this position will have the following
qualifications:
 MA preferred/ BA and equivalent experience considered.
 Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
 Minimum 3-5 years successful grant writing experience (federal, state, private and
corporate)
 Computer skills: MS Word and Excel a must. Preference given to candidate(s) with
Raiser’s Edge, website management, and social media experience.
 Strong organizational and time management skills, i.e. ability to
implement/monitor/maintain a range of systems.
 Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work as part of a team.
 Experience working with multicultural programming.
 High personal level of motivation, desire to learn, and willingness to accept feedback.
 Understanding and knowledge of youth and community development programming.
 Commitment to and understanding of Roca’s Mission, Vision and Core Values.
Requirements for the position:
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Travel around the State
Working with diverse cultures
Valid MA Driver’s License
In addition, the ideal candidate for this position will be a trustworthy decision-maker.
He/she will have a sense of humor, feel passionate and committed to direct work with high
risk youth, and demonstrate interest in coaching and supporting coworkers. Bilingual
(English/Spanish) is preferred but not required.
To Apply: Please email a thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience
meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, and
resume (both in Word format) to Roca at HR@rocainc.com, subject line “Development
Associate.” Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Roca is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes candidates from diverse backgrounds.