Youth Engagement & Participation Officer – Community Creations – Dublin

About the role
The Engagement and Participation Officer works directly with volunteers aged 16-25 and supports them in sharing their ideas and viewpoints, as well as enhancing their personal development, leadership, and advocacy skills. This individual should be an exemplary leader, speaker, trainer, organiser, and community builder with a heart set on facilitating a vibrant community of young, engaged leaders.
The Engagement and Participation Officer will work closely with the Head of Engagement and Participation, and the rest of the team, to further develop spunout as a volunteer-led service. Their goal is full participation of approximately 150 volunteers into the Action Panel consultation model. They will plan and facilitate quarterly in-person and remote consultations, training, and meetings with spunout Regional Action Panels according to a hybrid participation plan. They will build relationships with volunteers and foster a sense of community and participation satisfaction amongst regional and national panels.
The ideal candidate will have at least three years of youth work experience, a commitment to youth participation and social justice both personally and professionally, and possess interpersonal communication and facilitation skills, both in person and virtual settings. They will ideally have experience with training, coaching, and/or facilitation, event planning, and working directly with young people in youth work or voluntary settings. Additionally, a commitment to social equity and inclusion, experience working with vulnerable communities and under-represented groups will be highly desirable.

About Community Creations
Community Creations is the not-for-profit company behind spunout, Ireland’s award-winning youth information website, and 50808, a new free 24/7 text service, providing everything from a calming chat to immediate support.
spunout is Ireland’s youth information website, by young people for young people. spunout’s vision is to help create an Ireland where young people aged between 16 and 25 are Seán MacBride House, 48 Fleet Street, Dublin 2, D02 T883, Ireland hello@communitycreations.ie +353 (1) 675 3554 empowered with the information they need to live active, happy, and healthy lives. spunout supported 2 million readers with information resources in 2021.
50808 is a first of its kind for Ireland: a free 24/7 text service, providing everything from a calming chat to immediate support for people going through a mental health or emotional crisis – big or small. From breakups or bullying, to anxiety, depression and suicidal feelings, our Crisis Volunteers are available 24/7 for anonymous text conversations. Our aim is to provide immediate support in the short term and connect people to resources that will help them into the future.

About spunout
spunout is ‘by young people, for young people’ and none of our work would be possible without an integral part of our volunteer participation model: the spunout Action Panels. The Action Panels provide direction, insight and solutions to the organisation to ensure spunout is meeting the real needs of young people. The importance of the Action Panel is shown in its incorporation into our constitutional structures: Action Panel members are asked to nominate two members of the Board of Directors. The Action Panel has grown significantly since 2018, when it went from a single group of young people to four, and later five Regional Action Panels. In 2020, dedicated national Action Panels were founded for the Traveller and BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) communities.
Members of the Action Panel are responsible for offering their opinions and insights, steering campaign topics and helping to identify information needs and acting as ambassadors for spunout. They offer a primary source of youth guidance and consultation that informs spunout campaigns and content work plans.
The Action Panel is made up of five Regional Action Panels, one Traveller Action Panel and one BAME Action Panel. Each of these panels meets three times a year, and elects members of the National Panel, which itself meets four times a year. We also have a yearly Town Hall event which brings together Action Panel members from all across the country for a day of connection, volunteer appreciation and strategic discussions. Ensuring the full and quality participation of all Action Panel members is an indispensable part of delivering the spunout mission. Seán MacBride House, 48 Fleet Street, Dublin 2, D02 T883, Ireland hello@communitycreations.ie +353 (1) 675 3554
The Engagement and Participation Officer is our organisation’s active recruiter of the young voices we seek to amplify and engage.

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