Job Description

Pay: $25–$28/hour
Location: Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Format: In-person

A Good Fit for This Role
You may be a good fit if you can look back on your own challenges and say, “I know what it feels like to struggle, and I want to use what I’ve learned to help someone else feel hopeful.” We are looking for Youth Peer Advocates / Lived Experience Mentors who can connect with young people in a way that feels real. This role is for someone who has lived through hardship as a young person and is ready to use parts of that experience to support others. You may have navigated mental health challenges, emotional or behavioral struggles, special education, foster care, juvenile justice, addiction recovery, housing instability, disability services, family challenges, or another difficult life experience that shaped who you are today. The goal is not to have a perfect story. The goal is to help young people feel less alone.

What You’ll Do

• Mentor youth through supportive, nonjudgmental conversations.
• Share relevant parts of your lived experience in a thoughtful and appropriate way.
• Help young people feel seen, heard, and less isolated.
• Encourage confidence, self-advocacy, and engagement in services.
• Support youth in identifying strengths, goals, and next steps.
• Help youth feel more comfortable accessing therapy or other supports.
• Provide services primarily in person in Crown Heights, with telehealth available when needed.
• Participate in supervision, training, documentation, and team check-ins.
• Maintain confidentiality, healthy boundaries, and professional standards.

Who We’re Looking For
We are looking for someone who:

• Has personal lived experience overcoming hardship as a young person.
• Has experience with, or personal understanding of, youth-serving systems such as mental health, special education, foster care, disability services, etc.
• Is willing to share relevant lived experience in a safe, purposeful, and respectful way.
• Can build trust with children, teens, young adults, and families.
• Is warm, reliable, patient, and emotionally grounded.
• Believes in youth voice, choice, dignity, and empowerment.
• Can work in person in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
• Is open to training, supervision, and certification.

Certification & Onboarding
Youth Peer Advocate certification is preferred, but not required to apply. Selected candidates will complete an onboarding and application process before beginning services. Certification or provisional credentialing can take up to a month, and we will support candidates through the process. We want to be upfront about the timeline while also encouraging the right candidates to apply. If you have the lived experience, maturity, and commitment to support young people, we are interested in hearing from you.

Compensation
This role pays $25–$28 per hour, based on experience, qualifications, certification status, and program needs.