Director of Community Based Programs

About LYRIC

Since 1988, the Lavender Youth Recreation & Information Center (LYRIC) has championed equity, leadership, and liberation with and for LGBTQQ+ youth. Each year, we support over 2,000 young people through life-affirming services including education enhancement, career training, wellness support, and leadership development.

We center youth-led transformation and trauma-informed care—especially for Black, Brown, disabled, undocumented, system-impacted, and transgender and nonbinary youth. With a $4 million annual budget and a 20+ person team, LYRIC builds a world where all LGBTQQ+ youth are free to thrive.

The Opportunity: Lead LYRIC’s Community-Based Programs

LYRIC is hiring a Director of Community-Based Programs to provide visionary leadership and strategic oversight for three core youth service areas funded by various City agencies, including the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families (DCYF), the Department of Public Health (DPH), and the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD).

You will directly supervise three Program Managers and lead innovative programs that center healing, opportunity, and youth power:

• Career Development: Job readiness training, employment support, and mentorship for LGBTQQ+ youth, especially Transitional-Age Youth (TAY) ages 18–24.


• Youth Advocacy: Short-term Case Management program to support the short-term needs of youth through referrals, resources sharing, and connection to health and mental health services.


• Drop-In Programming: Community-centered programs that offer affirming spaces, wellness resources, and safe youth centered space.


• Schools: Community building groups for middle school and high school students

This is an exciting leadership opportunity for a strategic, equity-driven professional who believes in youth-led change and is ready to build community-based systems of care rooted in justice, joy, and belonging.

What You’ll Do

🔧 Program Leadership & Strategy

• Lead strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation across all City-funded community-based programs.


• Ensure programs align with LYRIC’s mission and values, as well as City agency contract goals.


• Guide programs to be trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and rooted in youth development.


• Use data, youth feedback, and frontline insights to improve program quality and impact.
  


• Represent the organization at funder meetings and by providing required report to funders

👥 Staff Supervision & Team Culture

• Directly supervise three Program Managers and support their growth as effective, equity-minded leaders.


• Foster a team culture rooted in care, trust, accountability, and racial and gender justice.


• Provide coaching, performance management, and professional development.


• Ensure compliance with LYRIC’s personnel policies and union agreements.

🏛 Cross-Sector Collaboration & Representation

• Serve as a lead LYRIC representative to DCYF, DPH, MOHCD, and other key partners.


• Build and maintain strong, values-aligned partnerships with SFUSD, community-based organizations, and City departments.


• Represent LYRIC in policy spaces, coalitions, and public forums—centering youth voice and experience.


• Strengthen interagency collaborations to improve systems impacting LGBTQQ+ youth.

💸 Fiscal Oversight & Compliance

• Co-lead budgeting and financial oversight for all community-based programs.


• Monitor compliance with program budgets, funding allocations, and expense tracking.


• Ensure accurate and timely completion of financial documents, timesheets, and reports.


• Support a culture of fiscal responsibility, transparency, and shared learning.

📈 Fund Development & Storytelling

• Support LYRIC’s development team in producing grant proposals, reports, and donor communications.


• Engage youth and staff in fundraising events and campaigns.


• Contribute to funder cultivation and stewardship aligned with LYRIC’s strategic goals.

Who You Are

You are a bold, thoughtful leader with a deep commitment to LGBTQQ+ youth, racial and gender justice, and transformative community care. You know how to move between big-picture vision and day-to-day operations, and you build teams where people feel seen, valued, and inspired.

You Bring:

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in youth services, nonprofit management, or community-based leadership.


• Experience supervising program managers or frontline teams, with strong coaching and accountability practices.


• Deep knowledge of issues impacting LGBTQQ+ youth—especially transgender and nonbinary youth, BIPOC youth, and youth impacted by systems of harm.


• Proven success in managing multi-program budgets, public funding contracts, and outcome tracking systems.


• Familiarity with San Francisco’s youth services landscape, including City funding streams and school partnerships.


• Strong communication skills—written, verbal, and facilitative.


• Proficiency with Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, and program data systems.

Preferred lived experience or background working with:

• Transgender and nonbinary youth


• Youth of color


• Youth with disabilities


• Youth living with HIV


• System-impacted youth


• Youth engaged in survival economies or sex work


• Immigrant and/or undocumented communities

Compensation & Benefits

Annual Salary: $113,183.58 (non-negotiable under LYRIC’s equity-based pay model)

Benefits Include:

• $800/year Health & Wellness Cash Supplement


• $1,000/year for professional development


• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision, and acupuncture/chiropractic coverage


• 403(b) retirement plan with up to 4% employer match


• Optional health FSA and commuter benefits

Time Off:

• 19 paid holidays (including your birthday + winter closure)


• 19 vacation days


• 18 sick days


• 1 personal day


• Bereavement, jury duty, and critical incident leave

Why LYRIC?

• Lead the transformation of youth services through an equity and justice lens.


• Build a powerful model for youth leadership, belonging, and opportunity.


• Work alongside a dedicated, multiracial, multigenerational, and multi-gendered team.


• Be part of a values-aligned organization where community, care, and accountability are core to the culture.

How to Apply

Submit your resume and a brief cover letter through our online application portal.
No phone calls or email inquiries, please.

Equal Opportunity Statement

LYRIC is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, immigrants, LGBTQQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, and people from historically excluded communities. In accordance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.