Life Story Club Facilitator

Part-Time (with full-time potential)

$35 – $45/hour,  pay commensurate with experience

Start date: Immediate 

Life Story Club | 41 Flatbush Ave, Suite 3B, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Life Story Club (LSC) combats loneliness and social isolation among older adults by creating small social clubs for older adults to share life stories and easily build friendships. Today, nearly 1 in 4 older adults experience prolonged loneliness and social isolation (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2020), the health risks of which are as damaging as smoking 15 cigarettes a day (Holt-Lunstad 2015)​​.

To address this growing public health crisis, LSC brings together groups of 8-12 older adults who meet weekly— via Zoom or in person— to spark connections and share their life stories. As part of the club experience, participants are given the opportunity to record one or more of their life stories which they then can share as part of a showcase event, or include in a group publication — cherished keepsakes for the storytellers, and their loved ones.

We partner with public libraries, community centers as well as health and social service providers to deliver programming to older adults in NYC and beyond. We serve older adults generally but prioritize those that are traditionally underserved from low-income communities, as well as older adults who need in-home support.   

The Role 

We are looking to hire an NYC-based Life Story Club Facilitator to join our growing Program team. As a Facilitator, you are joining a team that is the heartbeat of our program.

In this role, you are the face of Life Story Club, and set the tone for the club.  You help to make sure people feel comfortable—facilitating story sharing, sparking connections between members and nurturing the club community. You will also be in charge of shepherding a story recording/production process for some of your clubs—working with the storytellers to craft and record a story, and then helping to preserve/present these stories in a variety of formats.

While this is initially a part-time position, there has been a growing demand for Life Story Club programs and there is room for growth within the organization.

Duties and Responsibilities 

  • Run four-five clubs (most likely remotely) that each meet for an hour on a weekly basis. This includes planning, implementing, and building on the Life Story Club curriculum.
  • Spend a few hours before and after club meetings prepping for the session, conducting welcome/reminder calls, helping to dial-in individuals who have accessibility needs into conference meetings, tracking attendance, and inputting notes.
  • Facilitate recording sessions with the storytellers, collect photos, bios, and other related assets, and help craft very lightly edited stories for inclusion in LSC printed storybooks, online publication, and as part of showcase events. 
  • Support club recruitment efforts through the creation and distribution of flyers, social media posts, and hosting pop-up information sessions at partner sites and other locations
  • Attend weekly or bi-weekly team meetings in person, and check-ins with your supervisor.

Requirements for the Role

  • Mission-oriented, interested in improving the health and wellbeing of individuals and whole communities
  • Experience working with older adults and/or facilitating groups 
  • Experience with storytelling, production, interview or documentary work 
  • Flexible, team-oriented, and willing to wear many hats
  • Enthusiastic, eager to learn, and a self-starter who will jump in and support other team members
  • An engaged listener and respectful, upholding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices that ensure a safe environment for all
  •  Professional, organized, and diligent with excellent verbal and written communication skills   
  • Prepared to work in  person and to travel within New York City as needed

 Nice to Have, But Not Required:

  • Social work background /training
  • Proficiency with Excel and/or Salesforce
  • Fluency in Spanish (additional languages besides English is also a plus!)  

Please submit a resume and cover letter to Lily Zhou at team [at] lifestoryclub.org. Please also include in your application the name and contact information for two professional references.