Director of Youth Leadership and Engagement

About the Organization

EmpowerMT is a statewide social justice nonprofit focused on confronting systemic inequities through youth leadership development, education, healing-centered organizing, and community-led change. Working across classrooms, community settings, statewide coalitions, and national networks, the organization partners with young people and communities to strengthen belonging, deepen leadership, and build fairer, more inclusive systems.

The organization’s philosophy is rooted in the idea that belonging is a basic human need and that young people are already leaders, not just future leaders. Through Youth Leadership Pathways, statewide collaborations, and national engagement, EmpowerMT supports young people in growing leadership, improving wellbeing, and shaping the decisions that affect their communities and futures.

EmpowerMT is entering a strong phase of growth and influence, and it is looking for a relationship-driven leader who is committed to youth leadership, belonging, and social change.

Role Overview

The Director of Youth Leadership & Engagement is a senior-level position responsible for leading EmpowerMT’s statewide youth leadership strategy, school partnership work, youth-led organizing, and national engagement efforts.

This role guides programs that build belonging, meaning, wellbeing, purpose, leadership, and civic participation among youth across Montana. Using healing-centered and youth-led approaches, the Director keeps youth voice and lived experience at the center of program design, partnerships, and systems-change work.

The position also functions as a key organizational leadership role, supervising youth program staff, practicum students, and youth leaders while representing EmpowerMT in local, statewide, and national partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

• Set strategic direction and drive continuous improvement for the Youth Leadership Pathways program, ensuring strong alignment, quality, equity, and measurable impact across school programs, community initiatives, statewide partnerships, and youth leadership opportunities.
• Plan and lead youth engagement events, training sessions, and leadership development activities.
• Create and deliver healing-centered, culturally responsive learning experiences for youth, educators, schools, and community partners.
• Provide strategic coordination and leadership for the organization’s involvement in statewide and national initiatives, including the Montana Opportunity Youth Collaborative and the Montana Youth Advisory Council.
• Develop and maintain strong partnerships with schools, tribal communities, community organizations, funders, and other cross-sector collaborators.
• Advance youth-informed advocacy, civic participation, and systems change by creating channels for young people to shape policy, practice, and community decisions.
• Work with organizational leadership to ensure programs align with strategic priorities, grant goals, evaluation approaches, and community needs.
• Support program evaluation, data collection, impact measurement, and reporting to strengthen learning, accountability, and organizational effectiveness.
• Provide strengths-based supervision, mentorship, and professional growth support to youth program staff, practicum students, and youth facilitators.
• Guide the Youth Advisory Council as a leadership-development and shared-governance body.
• Help build a team culture centered on belonging, equity, accountability, transparency, wellbeing, and shared leadership.
• Strengthen staff and youth facilitation skills and serve as a lead facilitator when needed.
• Recruit, train, and support volunteers, youth leaders, and community partners involved in youth programming.
• Ensure youth safety policies, mandatory reporting obligations, and organizational risk-management practices are followed.
• Act as a public-facing ambassador and spokesperson for EmpowerMT with partners, schools, funders, policymakers, media, and other audiences.
• Represent the organization in local, state, and national coalitions, collaboratives, advisory bodies, and leadership networks.
• Build genuine relationships with youth, families, educators, community members, and partners.
• Work with communications and development teams to amplify youth voice, share impact, and support organizational goals.
• Contribute to organizational leadership, strategic planning, and cross-functional work, including fundraising, donor engagement, and grant development that help sustain and expand the mission.

Additional Information

The source does not specify salary, benefits, application deadline, number of openings, or start date.