Jobs, Fellowships & Internships

MDC values diversity as a core asset and source of strength. Our diverse staff reflects our beliefs, values and passions, bringing diverse experiences and perspectives and a wide range of skills and talent that well serve our clients.


Current Job Openings

MDC is seeking a Program Administrator to provide critical admin and program support for the Educational Equity programs at MDC. The role will maintain, implement, and manage team systems and tools that support the other primary program team members, our communities, and our partners to be most effective.  Specifically, the position will report to and provide direct administrative support to the MDC Senior Program Director for Educational Equity.  The Program Administrator will also support other Educational Equity team members with notetaking, scheduling, travel, correspondence, and event planning.

Primary Responsibilities and Expectations

Administration

  • Take and/or transcribe notes from meetings, primarily for the Senior Program Director and the program team as a whole
  • Provide team members with support on technology tools
  • Maintain an Educational Equity calendar and assist with scheduling for team as needed
  • Maintain project file organization

Other duties as determined by the Senior Program Director

Project Support

  • Regularly coordinate program partner meetings and support
  • Lead internal and external meeting logistics coordination (team meetings, team retreats, partner support events, etc., as well as follow-up)
  • Support knowledge management, helping to document process and content learning from projects
  • Ensure that success stories, relevant evaluation data, and communications materials are submitted regularly to relevant MDC Cross Programs staff

Event Coordination

  • Lead logistics planning and execution for virtual, hybrid, and in-person events, such as Zoom set-up and moderation, hotel registration, supplies, and room set-up
  • Communicate with event participants about details and logistics
  • Coordinate language translation and interpretation for events and meetings

External Relations

  • Edit informational documents from community partners, as needed
  • Assist in planning/coordinating meetings and events (including follow-up)
  • Conduct initial research on issues raised by the Educational Equity team and partners

Qualifications

This position can be primarily virtual but will require work from MDC’s office in Durham, N.C. about once a month to access supplies and printing.  There is occasional travel averaging once a month, typically within NC. Candidates should live in the greater Triangle, NC area.

The Program Administrator should have:

  • A bachelor’s degree and three years of relevant experience.  Six years of relevant experience may be substituted for a bachelor’s degree.
  • Experience leading event logistics
  • Experience with note-taking and a willingness to learn MDC’s style preferences
  • Experience and comfort working with diverse groups of various sizes
  • Fluency in Spanish and experience speaking and translating Spanish strongly preferred
  • Skill with customer service and responsiveness to constituent needs
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills with a variety of audiences
  • The ability to work independently and take initiative on projects
  • Basic research experience
  • Must possess the skills to create succinct, accurate, timely documents
  • Must exhibit the highest degree of personal integrity, professionalism, and dedication to excellence
  • Immediate follow-through and attention to details
  • Curiosity about and willingness to explore issues of inclusion, power, privilege, and equity
  • Comfort working independently and as part of a team
  • Basic presentation skills and comfort using Teams, Zoom, etc., for meetings
  • The ability to think creatively and collaboratively
  • High proficiency in Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office, including Word, Outlook, Canva, Excel, and PowerPoint

Salary

The hiring range for this position is $45,000 – $47,000 per year.

MDC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and as an organization committed to diversity and equity, it is our policy to provide an equal employment opportunity to all individuals without regard to age, color, race, religion, national origin, disability, military/veteran status, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, or status in any other group, protected by federal or local law or for any other reason. We encourage applications from people of color, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and members of underrepresented groups. Reasonable accommodations are available on request. For more info about MDC, go to www.mdcinc.org  and www.stateofthesouth.org. Deadline for application is 3/1/2024 and you are welcome to apply at any time during this window.

About the Team

The Educational Equity team at MDC promotes educational equity across the U.S. South, by engaging with changemakers and communities to leverage their strengths for transforming systems, policies, and practices that shape education from early childhood through post-secondary settings.  When the South is a place where all people thrive, all children will have access to high-quality learning and care environments from birth to post-secondary that foster a love for learning and prepares them to be leaders in their communities.

Our Senior Director for Educational Equity leads the team with two program directors and four program managers.   The team meets monthly via Zoom.

About MDC

Based in Durham, NC, MDC catalyzes and accelerates economic mobility across the thirteen Southern states by activating changemakers, strengthening capacity, framing key issues, and cultivating networks—centering equity through it all.  Created in 1967 by NC Governor Terry Sanford, MDC envisions a South where systemic inequities no longer exist and all people thrive.

We do this by:

  • Activating changemakers (a community’s recognized and unrecognized leaders) as individuals, organizations, and collaboratives across the thirteen states of the American South;
  • Strengthening capacity;
  • Framing key issues; and,
  • Cultivating networks.

The full MDC staff of 45 meets monthly for 90 minutes and quarterly for 3 hours in person.

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Internships

The MDC Rural Prosperity and Investment team seeks an advanced or graduate-level student to support capacity building and technical assistance services in rural communities through the Dan Broun Internship program.  

About MDC Rural Prosperity and Investment  

The MDC Rural Prosperity and Investment issue area focuses on amplifying the voice, capacity, and power of rural communities in the south by strengthening and networking their efforts towards equitable systems and policy change. Grounded in the values of PEOPLE, POWER, PROGRESS, and PARTNERSHIP, we provide an array of community-based and community-led capacity-building services including facilitation, training, coaching, relationship brokering, conflict management, and resource development. MDC is a nonprofit organization based in Durham, N.C., focused on shaping a South where all people thrive. Learn more at MDCinc.org.  

Currently, the Rural Prosperity and Investment issue area consists of six programs: Dan Broun Internship, Rural Forward, Nonprofit Capacity Community, NC Inclusive Disaster Recovery Network, Local Partnerships for Public Funding, and Equitable Rural Philanthropy. More on the other five programs below.  

Rural Forward 

A program that strengthens and supports leaders and community-based organizations in rural areas. MDC staff build relationships with organizations and work with them to expand capacity, connect them to resources, identify opportunities for collaboration, facilitate strategic planning processes, and develop organizational leadership. 

Nonprofit Capacity Community 

An initiative that provides grassroots organizations with the capacity-building tools, resources, technical assistance, and support they need to thrive and sustain long term. Programs in this initiative enhance the ability of the organizations they serve to advocate and make their voices heard in policy decisions at many levels.   

NC Inclusive Disaster Recovery Network (NCIDR) 

A statewide collaborative of public, non-profit, and faith-based organizations seeking avenues for community voice and equitable access to resources in North Carolina’s disaster recovery system. NCIDR specializes in information sharing, program and policy development, advocacy, and capacity building. 

Local Partnerships for Public Funding 

This program is a collaboration of statewide and community-based partners who work together to ensure federal funds do the maximum good in their communities. It connects community leaders to resources, provides advocacy tools, and builds relationships for regional work. 

Equitable Rural Philanthropy 

This initiative focuses on engaging and supporting the capacity, connections and focus of philanthropic entities in deepening understanding, commitment and resources to rural communities.  This work informs philanthropic organizations and advocates for the prioritization of rural equity in their work and grantmaking. 

 

Dan Broun Internship  

The Dan Broun Internship and Award honors our late MDC staff member, Dan Broun who championed place-based strategies to improve outcomes for low-income people in rural communities in the South. Throughout his career, Dan also worked hard to provide college students with learning opportunities that would help them become leaders and professionals focused on equity and inclusion in workforce development, with an emphasis on the rural South. 

About the Dan Broun Award 

Based on an internal nomination process a select Dan Broun intern (“program associate”) will receive an additional award/stipend beyond the normal pay rate at the end of the internship period. This award will be based on the intern’s final presentation and other decided upon criteria. 

About the Program Associate  

The goal of the Program Associate is to strengthen their understanding of rural community-driven capacity-building services and develop additional skills by supporting MDC Rural Prosperity and Investment staff, community partners, and other constituents. Under the supervision of a Partnership Manager, the Program Associate will support a specific location or issue area to be determined in consultation with the chosen candidate. The Program Associate will also support other projects through planning, facilitation, drafting meeting summaries, community outreach and communications, policy research, and/or other administrative tasks (no more than 10%). There is a strong preference for candidates in or connected to eastern or western North Carolina who are available for collaboration and local meeting attendance, and who have a keen interest or passion for work within a specific Rural Prosperity and Investment program. This is a hybrid (virtual and in-person) internship and candidates should be available to travel into a community once a month.  

Specific tasks may include:  

  • Assisting with planning, coordinating, facilitating, and notetaking for meetings.  
  • Drafting logic models, asset maps, project management tools, and other documents.  
  • Supporting policy change efforts by researching and summarizing public policy.  
  • Identifying and developing projects that further the goals of a given program.  
  • Attending meetings convened by partner organizations.  

 

Key Qualities and Skills  

  • Experience in community outreach, research, and/or program evaluation.  
  • Excellent oral and written skills to communicate with a variety of audiences.   
  • A sincere curiosity about rural communities; willingness to explore issues of inclusion, power, privilege, and diversity; and exceptional commitment to personal integrity, professionalism, and excellence.  
  • Ability to think creatively and collaboratively, while also taking initiative on projects.  
  • Skilled in detail-oriented customer service and responsive to community and staff needs.   
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office, virtual meeting applications, and internet research.   

 

Commitment  

This is a year-long internship experience to begin in May and conclude in Spring of the following year. For the Summer, our expectation is up to 40 hours per week for three months. Some flexibility is possible. For the Fall and Spring semesters, our expectation is up to 20 hours per week.

Rate: $18.00/hour + limited benefits (i.e., travel reimbursement, conference attendance).

 

Office Culture  

  • Our commitment to our mission and values means sometimes we have long days to be responsive to our community partners and other constituents. We also support our staff in maintaining a strong work/life balance. We take initiative for our own projects, while also working collaboratively.  
  • The MDC Rural Prosperity and Investment team consists of a Senior Program Director, 2 Program Directors, 5 Partnership Managers, 1 Program Administrator, and up to 8 Program Associates. We coordinate our work and support each other through team meetings every other week.  
  • Our work is primarily in person with some remote work via Zoom. Travel for in-person meetings in rural North Carolina is required as public health guidance and organizational policy about the COVID-19 pandemic allows.   
  • (Optional) Program Associates are invited to attend monthly virtual and quarterly in-person MDC staff meetings.  

 

To Apply  

Once posted, please submit a cover letter addressed to MDC describing your interest In this position, a pdf version of your resume, and three references on your website via JazzHR: https://mdc.applytojob.com/apply/W7LTcjSWhv/Dan-Broun-Program-Associate

Questions about the application process can be emailed to [email protected].  

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis through March 22nd, 2024, and interview appointments will be conducted through mid-April 2024,via Zoom and last roughly 75 minutes.  

MDC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and as an organization committed to diversity and equity, it is our policy to provide an equal employment opportunity to all individuals without regard to age, color, race, religion, national origin, disability, military/veteran status, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, or status in any other group, protected by federal or local law or for any other reason. We encourage applications from people of color, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and members of underrepresented groups to effectively achieve our mission. Reasonable accommodations are available on request. For more info about MDC, go to www.mdcinc.org.   

 

Apply Now