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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Community Educator

💰 $ - $

EducationCommunity OutreachNonprofitHealth Education

🎯 Role Definition

A Community Educator designs, delivers, and evaluates learning and outreach programs that increase community knowledge, change behaviors, and strengthen local capacity. The Community Educator builds trusted relationships with residents and partners, develops culturally competent curricula and materials, facilitates workshops and trainings (in-person and virtual), collects and analyzes program data to inform continuous improvement, and manages logistics, outreach, and reporting to funders and stakeholders. This role emphasizes community engagement, adult learning principles, program evaluation, partnership development, and measurable impact on public health, education, or social outcomes.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Community Health Worker or Peer Educator transitioning into structured program delivery.
  • Outreach Coordinator or Volunteer Coordinator with experience running community events and recruitment.
  • Teaching Assistant, After-School Program Leader, or Youth Worker with hands-on group facilitation experience.

Advancement To:

  • Program Manager or Senior Community Educator leading multiple initiatives and staff.
  • Education Manager or Manager of Community Outreach responsible for strategic planning and budgets.
  • Director of Community Programs or Director of Outreach overseeing cross-program coordination and partnerships.

Lateral Moves:

  • Health Educator focused on clinical or public health program delivery.
  • Community Outreach Specialist concentrating on engagement and marketing.
  • Case Manager or Client Services Supervisor working more directly on referrals and individual client outcomes.

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Design and develop evidence-informed curricula, lesson plans, workshop guides, and facilitator scripts that align with the program’s learning objectives, target audience needs, and cultural context.
  • Plan, coordinate, and deliver interactive workshops, trainings, and educational sessions for diverse audiences (youth, parents, seniors, immigrants), using adult learning principles and differentiated instructional strategies.
  • Conduct community needs assessments through surveys, focus groups, and stakeholder interviews to prioritize topics, tailor content, and identify barriers to participation.
  • Recruit and retain program participants via targeted outreach campaigns, community events, school partnerships, social media, and neighborhood canvassing to meet enrollment and engagement targets.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with community partners, schools, faith-based organizations, local government, and health providers to create referral pathways and collaborative programming.
  • Provide one-on-one education, coaching, or case support as needed to reinforce group lessons, address barriers to behavior change, and connect participants to community resources and services.
  • Monitor program attendance, participant progress, and behavior change indicators using standardized data collection tools; enter and maintain accurate participant records in databases and client management systems.
  • Analyze program data and participant feedback to generate insights, produce regular evaluation reports, and recommend curriculum or delivery modifications to improve outcomes and equity.
  • Develop and implement outreach materials (flyers, newsletters, social posts, translations) and outreach strategies that increase visibility, cultural relevance, and participation across target communities.
  • Facilitate culturally responsive communication and interpretation to ensure materials and sessions are accessible to non-English speakers and multi-lingual households.
  • Train, mentor, and supervise volunteers, peer educators, community ambassadors, and interns; prepare facilitation guides and conduct lesson rehearsals to ensure fidelity to program design.
  • Ensure compliance with organizational policies, confidentiality (HIPAA where applicable), child protection and safeguarding protocols, consent procedures, and ethical standards during all program activities.
  • Manage event logistics including venue booking, materials procurement, AV setup, transportation coordination, and safety planning to deliver high-quality learning experiences.
  • Support grant-funded program implementation by tracking deliverables, maintaining documentation for funder audits, and preparing narrative and quantitative sections of grant and progress reports.
  • Collaborate with communications and marketing teams to develop SEO-friendly content, success stories, case studies, and media materials that highlight impact and support fundraising.
  • Facilitate behavior change strategies such as goal-setting, motivational interviewing, and action planning to help participants adopt and sustain healthy practices or educational goals.
  • Coordinate multi-session cohorts and learning pathways, creating progression criteria, assessment rubrics, and certificates of completion to demonstrate competency and impact.
  • Respond to participant questions, crises, or referrals by using community resources and referral networks; escalate urgent concerns to supervisors or clinical partners as required.
  • Lead pilot projects and innovation initiatives by testing new delivery modalities (virtual workshops, mobile outreach, hybrid models), documenting lessons learned, and scaling successful approaches.
  • Track and report key performance indicators (KPIs) such as reach, retention, satisfaction, knowledge gain, and behavior change metrics to senior leadership and stakeholders.
  • Maintain and update digital learning platforms, learning management systems (LMS), and resource libraries; upload content, monitor user activity, and troubleshoot participant access issues.
  • Advocate for community needs and participant voices in internal planning, strategic meetings, and policy discussions to ensure programs remain responsive and equitable.
  • Develop and manage modest program budgets or in-kind resource allocations, process expense reports, and coordinate procurement with finance teams when required.
  • Facilitate cross-cultural competency training and ensure educational materials incorporate inclusive, trauma-informed, and anti-bias practices.

Secondary Functions

  • Provide administrative support including scheduling, registration management, and creation of attendance rosters and consent forms.
  • Support ad-hoc data requests and generate participant lists, summary statistics, and visualizations for internal and external stakeholders.
  • Contribute to continuous quality improvement by participating in program evaluation cycles and stakeholder feedback sessions.
  • Assist development staff with grant applications by supplying program descriptions, participant anecdotes, and budgets as needed.
  • Represent the organization at community coalitions, working groups, and public meetings to maintain visibility and strengthen referral networks.
  • Coordinate logistics for offsite learning, field trips, or community fairs including vendor coordination, transportation, and risk assessments.
  • Maintain up-to-date resource directories and referral lists for social services, health care, legal aid, and mental health supports.
  • Participate in staff training, professional development, and supervision sessions to stay current on best practices, curriculum updates, and compliance requirements.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Curriculum design and lesson planning tailored to community audiences, including competency-based and outcomes-focused design.
  • Workshop and group facilitation skills for in-person and virtual delivery (Zoom, Teams), including use of breakout rooms and interactive tools.
  • Program evaluation: pre/post knowledge assessments, focus group facilitation, survey design (Qualtrics/SurveyMonkey), and basic impact measurement.
  • Data collection and reporting: experience with CRM or participant management systems (Salesforce, ETO, Apricot, Google Sheets) and basic data hygiene.
  • Familiarity with learning management systems (Moodle, Canvas, Google Classroom) and uploading/maintaining course content.
  • Strong written communication for developing curricula, educational materials, and SEO-friendly outreach content.
  • Basic grant support and reporting skills, including compiling deliverables, performance metrics, and narrative summaries for funders.
  • Digital outreach and social media skills for promoting programs (Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor) and creating community-facing content.
  • Bilingual or multilingual proficiency (Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, etc.) where relevant to target communities; demonstrated ability to translate/adapt materials.
  • Competence with Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and cloud collaboration tools (Google Workspace).

Soft Skills

  • Community engagement and relationship-building: exceptional interpersonal skills for building trust with residents, partners, and stakeholders.
  • Cultural humility and sensitivity with demonstrated ability to adapt content to diverse cultural and linguistic audiences.
  • Strong public speaking and presentation skills, comfortable facilitating groups of varying sizes and demographics.
  • Empathy and trauma-informed practice when working with vulnerable populations and sensitive topics.
  • Problem-solving and initiative: creative thinker who adapts programming to real-world constraints and participant needs.
  • Organizational skills and attention to detail for managing logistics, records, and compliance.
  • Collaborative teamwork and the ability to coordinate across departments, partners, and community organizations.
  • Time management and prioritization to balance multiple cohorts, reporting deadlines, and outreach responsibilities.
  • Conflict resolution and de-escalation skills when addressing participant conflicts or challenging situations.
  • Coaching and motivational interviewing techniques to support individual behavior change and goal attainment.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Education, Public Health, Social Work, Community Development, Human Services, Health Education, or a related field; or equivalent professional experience with strong community engagement background.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH), Education (M.Ed.), Social Work (MSW), Community Development, or a related discipline is preferred for senior roles or programs with clinical components.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Education
  • Public Health / Health Education
  • Social Work
  • Community Development
  • Human Services
  • Behavioral Sciences / Psychology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 1–5 years of direct community education, outreach, facilitation, or program delivery experience; may vary by organization and seniority.

Preferred: 3+ years of progressively responsible experience in community-based program design and delivery, demonstrated success with curriculum development, program evaluation, partnership cultivation, and working with the target population (e.g., youth, older adults, immigrant communities, people with chronic disease).

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