Canadian Mental Health Association Edmonton Region Looking for South Asian Mental Health Network Coordinator at Remote Full Time

Identifying Information

Job Title: South Asian Mental Health Network Coordinator

Program Area: Executive Office

Job Level: Team Lead

Reports to: Strategic Project Manager

Organization Summary

CMHA-Edmonton is a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that all people experience good mental health and well-being. We increase awareness and understanding of mental health, mental illness, recovery, and suicide prevention through education. We support the resilience and recovery of people in distress including those affected by mental illness or suicide by providing crisis intervention; safe, long-term and affordable housing; peer support; suicide grief and family support; information and referral support; and providing opportunities to improve your wellness.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Strategic Project Manager, the Network Coordinator will be accountable for supporting coordination, engagement, and reporting activities for the SAMH Network, led by Covenant Health in partnership with Multicultural Health Brokers Co-operative, Savera Medical Centre, and CMHA Edmonton. Through this partnership, the SAMH Network will establish and evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally appropriate and respectful community addiction and mental health network to better meet the needs of South Asian communities in Edmonton. This will be achieved by designing and implementing a sustainable model that improves addiction and mental health access and outcomes by formalizing partnerships with community stakeholders, increasing access as needed by community members, and developing and delivering services and resources in and with relevant communities. The Network Coordinator brings a well-developed understanding of mental health and addiction, suicide prevention, family violence, community engagement, cultural competency, and cross-sector collaboration to this work. The Network Coordinator plays a key role in supporting the success of the initiative on behalf of CMHA Edmonton’s Executive Director, ensuring the project is proceeding effectively and collaboratively.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Works closely with the interdisciplinary team to ensure smooth operation of the Network and its service delivery, including support to and coordination of committees and working groups.
• Identifies and engages community organizations and service providers to promote awareness of, referrals to, and collaboration with the Network.
• Contributes to coordination of Network activities, including planning, implementation, evaluation and problem-solving.
• Provides updates and insights from Network activities to project leadership and relevant stakeholders to support responsiveness to changing community needs.
• Leverages CMHA’s programs, strategic leadership, and relationships to enable opportunities to further the reach and impact of the Network.
• Works with other Network members and CMHA partners to explore and pursue funding opportunities for sustainability and growth of the Network.
• Represents and/or supports the Executive Director and CMHA-ER at community and Network meetings and in planning efforts, as required.
• Prepares regular activity reports, data collection and analysis, and communications for a variety of partners, stakeholders, committees, and working groups.
• Takes steps to identify, mitigate, and address any potential risks to partners, community members, stakeholder relationships, and confidence of funders and supporters.
• Informs the development and execution of public engagement and communication initiatives related to the SAMH Network.
• Acts as a liaison to connect CMHA-ER programs to enhance SAMH Network activities.
• Works with partners to promote knowledge transfer, information sharing, and the integration of quality improvement practices into daily work.
• Enables connection of related initiatives/stakeholders and participates in the promotion of initiatives that improve accessibility to mental health, addiction, family violence, and related services.
• Manages complex inter-organizational relationships to enable collaborative, community-engaged problem-solving.
• Contributes to ongoing and periodic evaluation of SAMH Network activities, including monitoring the effectiveness of project initiatives and informing necessary adjustments to maximize effectiveness and completion of project deliverables within expected timelines.
• Completes all required monitoring and reporting required by Covenant Health and funders, including quarterly progress reports on activities against expected timelines and deliverables.
• Performs other duties assigned by the Executive Director relevant to supporting collective action and strategic coordination of the SAMH Network and its partners.

Qualifications/Experience

CMHA-Edmonton recognizes that candidates all have different skills and experiences to offer. While we are highlighting desired qualifications in the following sections, it is not a checklist. We encourage everyone interested to apply and indicate how you would successfully take on the role even if you have unconventional experiences or qualifications.

• Post-secondary degree in a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience working in the field of mental health, addiction, family violence, or a related area.
• Strong understanding of and experience working with South Asian communities on sensitive health and social issues.
• Experience coordinating, supporting, and reporting to cross-sectoral committees involving institutional and community stakeholders.
• Experience coordinating community-based programs and initiatives with application of project management principles, tools, and methodologies.
• Knowledge and understanding of community development principles and the social determinants of health.
• Knowledge of addiction, mental health, family violence, and related services, providers and supports, and how to access them, especially for those with linguistic or cultural barriers.
• Awareness and understanding of the community-based service providers in Edmonton.

Skills/Abilities

• Proficiency in MS Office suite and other common collaborative business platforms.
• Relevant South Asian cultural and linguistic competency is preferred as an enabler of community stakeholder engagement and communication.
• Demonstrated strength in verbal and written communications, quantitative and qualitative data analysis and synthesis, and the ability to relay or explain complex issues or sensitive topics using accessible language and formats (e.g. graphs and graphics).
• Proven ability to foster relationships and partnerships with complex and varied internal and external individuals and groups, particularly marginalized community members and people with lived experience.
• Reflexivity and experience to apply intersectional and equity lenses on project work and engagement.
• Ability to develop and facilitate presentations to convey information or transfer knowledge.
• Excellent analytical, problem solving and critical thinking skills.
• Excellent negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
• Proven ability to foster relationships and partnerships with highly complex internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to communicate effectively with leadership, program leads, front-line staff, general public, and end users (i.e. people with lived experience).
• Adaptability and flexibility to changing priorities and project perimeters.
• Demonstrated leadership to proactively and creatively pursue and complete project objectives
• Knowledge and experience with clinical and community contexts for addressing suicide and mental health.
• Knowledge of evaluation, systemic design, and group facilitation methods is an asset.

Conditions of Employment

• Police Information Check with Vulnerable Persons Check
• Valid Class 5 Drivers’ License
• Completion of mandatory on-boarding and staff training within expected timeline after hiring

Required Training for the Position

Within the first 3 months of employment:

• Indigenous Cultural Awareness Training

• Discrimination and Harassment Training
• Diversity and Cross-Cultural Training

Within the first 12 months of employment:

• Orientation to board governance