Siobhan Whalen
North Berwick
Summary
Results-driven social justice leader and management professional with a proven track record of leading successful programs and initiatives while cultivating high-performance teams. Known for fostering cross-cultural collaborations that delivers impactful outcomes for newcomer communities. Dynamic and adaptable, with expertise in strategic planning, systems building, and resource management. Committed to continuous improvement to enhance organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and equity.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
Work History
Refugee Resettlement & Newcomer Services Program Director
Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine
01.2022 - Current
- Director level staff member within the refugee resettlement agency in Maine affiliated with HIAS International, overseeing all refugee resettlement and refugee support services, and related staff.
- Responsibilities included:
- Managing a staff of 10;
- Developing job descriptions, completing the screening and hiring process;
- Developing and facilitating comprehensive onboarding programs for new hires, improving retention rates and overall satisfaction;
- Creating systems of coaching and mentorship to build the leadership skills of team members and guide inherent leaders to management positions;
- Developing internal controls, policies, and procedures for staff and programming;
- Monitoring adherence to federal guidelines;
- Managing employee relations issues with care and confidentiality, mediating conflicts to maintain a positive workplace culture;
- Growing a deep rooted network of community based agencies, traditional system allies, and members of the community, with a respected name and reputation;
- Creating and managing annual budgets and expenditures;
- During tenure, welcoming and serving over 570 refugee and immigrant clients.
Grants and Contracts Administrator
Office of Maine Refugee Services
04.2019 - 12.2021
- Supervisory staff member within the replacement designee office, overseeing all refugee resettlement and refugee support services within the state of Maine.
- Responsibilities included:
- Contracting with funded partner organizations;
- Creating and managing annual budgets and expenditures;
- Evaluating program effectiveness;
- Monitoring adherence to federal guidelines.
- Developing and maintaining contracting documents with over 20 subgrantees.
- Based on federal regulations and mandates, creating extremely detailed policies and procedures to be followed by partner organizations and their staff;
- Establish detailed program objectives and performance measures with subgrantees to ensure a high standard for refugee services;
- Completing and overseeing monthly, quarterly, and annual monitoring of subgrantees’ programming to ensure adherence to federal guidelines and implementation of best practices for high quality service delivery.
- Developing corrective action plans with detailed activities and timelines to bring programming and data collection back into compliance with regulations.
- Developing job descriptions, support the hiring process, and facilitate training and on-boarding processes for new hires.
- Creating and overseeing The OMRS Compliance Team, which includes annual visioning and goal setting, establishing project timelines, and managing monitoring and reporting project deadlines.
- Providing day-to-day oversight and management of Compliance Specialist staff, including administrative processes such as approving timecards, annual evaluations, and coaching and mentorship.
Youth Program Manager
Coalition for Refugees from Burma
09.2012 - 11.2018
- Senior staff member in a community-based organization, who built systems for volunteer engagement, program development and improvement, and staff management.
- Responsibilities included:
- Developing and maintaining an internal filing system to record resource development efforts and client level data.
- Authored monthly, quarterly and annual reports for Board of Directors and local, federal and private foundation stakeholders.
- Processing monthly, quarterly and annual programming invoices.
- Extensive experience with professional writing, including researching and writing grant proposals resulting in over $1,000,000 in program funding.
- Regularly emailing communication and coordinating with partner organizations, including but not limited to community-based organizations, statewide and national organizations, private and government funders.
- Participating in and leading agendas for local and regional meetings to share best practices, provide information and gather current community needs.
- Coordinated outreach efforts, increasing program awareness among targeted youth populations.
- Mentored staff in best practices for youth program delivery and participant support.
- Evaluated program effectiveness through feedback collection and analysis, driving continuous improvement initiatives.
- Streamlined administrative processes such as registration procedures or reporting structures to improve operational efficiency within the organization's framework.
Family Research Assistant
Carsey Institute of Public Policy
01.2008 - 06.2010
- Assisted family demographers at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute in compiling research and processing sociological statistics in SPSS.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Sociology, Anthropology
University of New Hampshire
01.2010
Community Engagement Certificate - undefined
People’s Academy of Community Engagement
01.2016
Skills
- Effective relationship management
- Policy and procedural development, implementation, and improvement
- Conflict resolution and mediation
- Development of workplace safety standards and risk management protocols
- Operational management
- Budgeting and expense management
- Regulatory compliance oversight
Timeline
Refugee Resettlement & Newcomer Services Program Director
Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine
01.2022 - Current
Grants and Contracts Administrator
Office of Maine Refugee Services
04.2019 - 12.2021
Youth Program Manager
Coalition for Refugees from Burma
09.2012 - 11.2018
Family Research Assistant
Carsey Institute of Public Policy
01.2008 - 06.2010
Community Engagement Certificate - undefined
People’s Academy of Community Engagement
Bachelor of Arts - Sociology, Anthropology
University of New Hampshire