Financial Coach – UNPAID

About us:
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. At work in over 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities to restore safety, dignity, and hope, the IRC leads the way from harm to home.

About the job:
Volunteer financial coaches will meet with coaching clients on Zoom or via in-person classes at LA county public libraries. Over the course of eight 1-hour 1:1 sessions, volunteer financial coaches assist clients with knowledge and skills-building around personal finance topics such as banking, credit, budgeting, asset building, goal-setting, retirement, and taxes. Volunteer financial coaches may also assist with group financial literacy workshops for IRC Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) loan clients (IRC CEO is the consumer lending subsidiary of the International Rescue Committee.)

Responsibilities:
Meet with financial coaching clients for one hour per week on Zoom or in person to discuss their priorities, challenges and goals with money and establish action steps for the week ahead.
Assist recent refugee, asylee, asylum seeker, and undocumented arrivals with building knowledge of the financial system of the U.S.; assist all coaching clients with building good money stewardship habits and establishing clear future goals.
Balance a financial coaching approach (open-ended questions; client drives the conversation) with a counseling approach (financial coach gives advice and demystifies unfamiliar systems/topics)
Create session notes within three days of each coaching session.
Prepare for upcoming coaching sessions by reviewing session notes, session one “goals and intentions” document, and personal finance resource library on Box. Total time commitment for one client = ~2 hours/week

Volunteer Benefits:
Volunteers will gain nonprofit industry experience and a deeper understanding of US financial systems affecting newcomer Americans.
Volunteers will use IRC’s financial toolkit and their strong personal finance background to assist a wide variety of clients with diverse needs.
Volunteers will gain cultural competency by working with clients of multiple diverse personal backgrounds.

Requirements:
Strong background in personal finance (especially credit, banking, budgeting, retirement, taxes, car purchase, home purchase, education and personal finance issues affecting renters)
Ability to build trust over the course of several weeks in a 1:1 setting
Culturally sensitive, curious, and clear communicator
Spanish or Russian speakers

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability.

Standard of Professional Conduct:
The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion:
The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.

QUESTIONS?
Please reach out to Stephanie Chan, Volunteer Specialist, [email protected] if you have any questions.

Job: UNPAID Volunteer Position