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Financial Empowerment Associate (Direct Service)

START/END DATE: 8/31/2020 - 8/27/2021

United Way of King County’s Financial Stability Team is seeking three dynamic professionals to serve as Financial Empowerment AmeriCorps Members on one of the largest anti-poverty programs in Washington State – the Free Tax Preparation Campaign.

Note on COVID-19: Please note that United Way of King County has moved to remote operations and will reopen pending public health guidance. As such, be prepared to partake remotely in interviews, training, and other service responsibilities should we move forward with your candidacy. If technology presents a barrier to applying, interviewing, or accepting the position, please reach out to unitedwayamericorps@uwkc.org for accommodations.

Should we move forward with your candidacy, members will start their AmeriCorps service primarily working remotely. Per United Way and public health guidance, all AmeriCorps members must be able to transition from working remotely to commuting to their site daily at any time during their service year.

Prior to United Way’s reopening, this position may require occasional in-person service. United Way is following all guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and the Washington State Department of Health regarding social distancing and safety measures. We are eager to support you in having a safe and impactful service term.

Program Overview
The Free Tax Preparation Campaign is a community-driven effort to provide free tax help to low- and moderate-income households in King County, WA. We know there are powerful anti-poverty tax credits – like the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and Education Credits – written into the tax code that provide critical economic stability, reduce racial wealth disparities, and increase public health outcomes, particularly for communities of color. However, each year many millions of dollars go left unclaimed by eligible taxpayers due to the complex nature of our tax code. Also worth mentioning is the extreme high cost of tax preparation in Washington State. Many individuals and families in our community are paying upwards of $300 to $400 to have their taxes prepared. Additionally, with the onset of COVID-19, economic instability has been further exacerbated for many in our region.

The Free Tax Preparation Campaign seeks to address these problems and more, by providing free, high-quality tax preparation services, at absolutely no cost to the community. Each year, across over 30 tax sites, this campaign helped over 20,000 households, brought over $30 million back to the community in tax credits and refunds and over 3,500 direct referrals to an additional asset-building service, such as utility assistance, Basic Food assistance, low cost transit, and free financial coaching.

AmeriCorps Role
The Financial Empowerment Associate will work both programmatically, behind the scenes and directly with the community to ensure the success of the Free Tax Preparation Campaign. The Financial Empowerment AmeriCorps Member will serve internally at United Way of King County and will also support efforts on community and technical college campuses in partnership with United Way’s Benefits Hub program. This is a unique opportunity where you will gain a mix of tax and personal finance expertise, direct service experience, and non-profit programmatic professional skills.

This position is broken down into three phases over the course of 1-year term of service:
Phase 1: Executing on grassroots and high-level volunteer recruitment strategies to recruit and train over 900 volunteers. During this phase, members will also receive detailed training on tax law, financial coaching, and financial aid navigation.
Phase 2: Performing community outreach for free tax preparation services and directly providing client services by managing one tax site on a community or technical college campus. During tax season, members will also assist in facilitating alternative models of tax service to increase access of hard-to-reach populations. During this phase, members will gain valuable experience in troubleshooting complex financial questions, managing service delivery and site flow, and volunteer management.
Phase 3: Facilitating financial empowerment workshops on community and technical college campuses and maintaining post-season tax preparation services. Members will also be deeply involved in the evaluation and planning for the 2022 Free Tax Preparation Campaign.
As a member of our tight-knit team, the Financial Empowerment AmeriCorps Member will play a key role in reaching our goal of preparing 20,000 tax returns and drawing down over $30 million in tax credits and refunds back to our community.

Skills & Qualifications
  • Fearless critical thinker
  • Passionate believer in social justice, economic justice, and community building
  • Seeks autonomy and leadership
  • Can work independently as well as on a team
  • Ability to be adaptable and work with a variety of moving pieces
  • Eager to learn technical skills and empower others with this knowledge
  • People-oriented, with exceptional communication and relationship-building skills
  • Ability to speak a second language is helpful, but not required
  • Access to a car (highly suggested, but not required)
  • No tax preparation experience or financial background is required – we will train you
Eligibility
  • Must be at least 18 years of age
  • Must be a U.S. citizen, national, or legal permanent resident of the United States
  • Must be available 40 hours a week for 5 days a week
  • Able to serve a full year and reach a total of 1700 service hours.
  • Must go through a Washington State Patrol background check, FBI background check and National Sex Offender Registry Check, plus state of residence background check if not living in WA currently
  • F1 VISAS are not sufficient
Benefits
  • $2000 monthly living stipend (pre-tax)
  • Loan deferment on qualified student loans during your service
  • Payment of interest on qualified student loans that are accrued during service term
  • An Education Award of $6,195 upon successful completion of service
  • Health benefits that meet minimum standards of ACA compliance
  • 10 days of sick leave, 10 days of personal leave
  • Childcare assistance
  • Unlimited Public transportation pass (ORCA)
  • Opportunity to be a part of an innovative, high-impact program
  • Working across teams of various community organizations
  • Gain valuable personal and professional development experience
  • Becoming a member of a large network of current AmeriCorps members and alums

To Apply: Create an application on My AmeriCorps Portal or click here: https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?fromSearch=true&id=90126