Join Our Team

Friends of the Children is a nonprofit that is impacting generational change by empowering youth through relationships with professional mentors. We do this by providing children facing the most obstacles with a long-term, paid, professional mentor, who we call a “Friend,” from kindergarten through high school graduation, 12+ years – no matter what. We are currently seeking an extraordinary professional to embark on a new career journey as a Friend at our new West LA/SFV, SPA 2/5 location.

At Friends of the Children, we put children first and use our values to change the way the world treats and views youth facing great barriers. As a Friend you will nurture long-term relationships from a foundation of love, acceptance, and practices. Do you want to help urban, rural, and Indigenous youth discover their limitless potential, by fostering their internal resiliency? Are you ready to help build relationships within the communities of our youth and families to strengthen social networks and provide bridges to new opportunities? If so, the impactful role of a Friend might be for you.

The Program Manager will collaborate closely with the Program Director (PD) to ensure the delivery of high-quality mentoring, guided by our implementation, assessment, and evaluation of the two-generation (2Gen) support model. This role is primarily responsible for supporting Friends in their professional development and driving the growth of the program.

The ideal candidate is an innovative project manager with a strong connection to the communities we serve and a commitment to positively impacting the lives of children and families in Metro South L.A. Priority will be given to candidates who reside in the area and/or have extensive experience working within the community.

Reporting to the Program Director, the Program Assistant will help the Program team execute program efficiency for the Metro South Los Angeles location. The ideal candidate will have previous office and nonprofit experience, strong attention to detail, and a positive, can-do approach.

The Program Assistant will work Monday-Friday at 672 S. La Fayette Park Place, #33, Los Angeles CA 90057, with some occasional weekend work. The work is performed in both an office setting and occasionally out in the field.

The HR & Operations Assistant role is vital for providing operational, administrative, and outreach support, along with logistical help for expansion efforts, at the Friends LA headquarters. This position calls for an organized, creative early-career professional with strong administrative skills, detail orientation, and experience in operational systems like Teams, SharePoint, Excel, and Microsoft Office. The candidate should excel in fast-paced environments, possess excellent communication skills, critical thinking abilities, and the capacity to make sound decisions. This role presents an opportunity to contribute to sustainability, security, and equity initiatives within the organization.

Under the direction of the Family Engagement Director, this position manages a wide range of projects and activities designed to implement an integrated multi-faceted family engagement service delivery system that is a model of excellence for Friends LA’s 2Gen Model. The Family Engagement Assistant demonstrates the ability to communicate and work with all families.

Ultimately, the FEA serves as a liaison who:

• Advises and trains caregivers in the Strengthening Families Approach & Protective Factors
• Educates Friends and program staff on how to communicate and work effectively with parents/families as equal partners/ promotes sharing of power with caregivers as decision-makers.
• Develops community collaborations and provides referrals to community-based services for families.
• Helps caregivers/families better understand the systems they interact with so they can become better advocates for their child's wellbeing.

The Antelope Valley site of Friends of the Children – Los Angeles (Friends L.A.) is looking for passionate, committed, professional mentors, who we call Friends, to support our mission to impact generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with trained full-time professional mentors—12+ years—no matter what.

A Friend works intensively with eight (8) children as a positive adult role model to develop a caring, trusting and sustained relationship with each child. For each child, a Friend will set positive expectations; nurture and promote their strengths, talents and abilities; help assure physical and emotional well-being; teach life and academic skills; provide enrichment activities; and model responsible behavior. A Friend will fully document activities and participate in an ongoing evaluation process. Friends will work primarily one-on-one with their children while empowering their parents to advocate for their children through an ongoing, respectful, and strengths-based partnership. A Friend must also know, understand, honor and support the organization’s mission, vision, values, principles and policies, and be able to clearly articulate the organization’s function.

The ideal candidate is an innovative project manager with a strong connection to the communities we serve and a commitment to positively impacting the lives of children and families in East L.A. Priority will be given to candidates who reside in the area and/or have extensive experience working within the East LA community.

Friends of the Children – Los Angeles (Friends LA) is looking for a passionate, committed, professional mentor, who we call Friends, to support our mission to impact generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with trained full-time professional mentors—12+ years—no matter what. Our model is proven to break the cycle of generational poverty for children who face the most barriers by providing paid professional mentors to thousands of youth across the country.

A Friend works intensively with eight (8) children and their families as a positive adult role model to develop a caring, trusting and sustained relationship with the whole family. A Friend will set positive expectations; nurture and promote their strengths, talents and abilities; help assure physical and emotional well-being; teach life and academic skills; provide enrichment activities; and model responsible behavior. A Friend will fully document activities and participate in an ongoing evaluation process. Friends will work primarily one-on-one with their children, and link and support their families to resources as appropriate. A Friend must also know, understand, honor and support the organization’s mission, vision, values, principles and policies, and be able to clearly articulate the organization’s function.

The ideal candidate is an innovative project manager with a strong connection to the communities we serve and a commitment to positively impacting the lives of children and families in Los Angeles. Priority will be given to candidates who reside in the area and/or have extensive experience working within the Los Angeles community.