Activities director vs program lead

The differences between activities directors and program leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an activities director and a program lead. Additionally, a program lead has an average salary of $100,727, which is higher than the $44,982 average annual salary of an activities director.

The top three skills for an activities director include patients, rehabilitation and resident care. The most important skills for a program lead are project management, HR, and work ethic.

Activities director vs program lead overview

	Activities Director	Program Lead
Yearly salary	$44,982	$100,727
Hourly rate	$21.63	$48.43
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	6,845	61,632
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	4	4

What does an activities director do?

An activities director is responsible for planning engaging events for the participants, considering individual interests and the safety of procedures and resources. Activities directors guide the activity staff on assisting the participants, ensuring that they are comfortable with joining the activities. Since most activities directors work at a healthcare facility or elderly institution, they must also monitor the health of the participants by conducting therapeutic activities and evaluate the participants' progress for every program. The activities director must be a critical-thinker, as well as have excellent communication skills to coordinate with facilities personnel for successful activity completion.

What does a program lead do?

A program lead is responsible for managing a business program's operation from its conceptualization to implementation. Program leads must have excellent communication and researching skills to monitor current industry trends, adjusting program techniques and strategies to meet society's demands. They have a clear understanding of the organization's long-term goals and outline plans to define those objectives, bringing new programs to light following clients' specifications that would help the business grow revenues, maintain customer satisfaction, and keep its good reputation, and achieve profitability goals.

Activities director vs program lead salary

Activities directors and program leads have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Activities Director	Program Lead
Average salary	$44,982	$100,727
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $74,000	Between $59,000 And $171,000
Highest paying City	Huntington, NY	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Mississippi	New York
Best paying company	Microsoft	Netflix
Best paying industry	Health Care	-

Differences between activities director and program lead education

There are a few differences between an activities director and a program lead in terms of educational background:

	Activities Director	Program Lead
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Northwestern University

Activities director vs program lead demographics

Here are the differences between activities directors' and program leads' demographics:

	Activities Director	Program Lead
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%	Male, 40.9% Female, 59.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 62.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between activities director and program lead duties and responsibilities

Activities director example responsibilities.

Manage updated JCC social media, including Facebook.
Manage pet therapy/pat visitation protocol.
Attend interdisciplinary care plan meetings and document in MDS and resident medical records as appropriate.
Plan, organize, and run the afterschool
Create reports, handouts, and PowerPoint presentations.
Assist teachers with reading and mathematics lessons and activities.

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Program lead example responsibilities.

Assess instructor effectiveness in achieving client ISP objectives.
Manage security and access policies base upon operational need-to-know and DOD regulations and requirements
Conduct daily clinical documentation audits, manage consumer financial accounts, provide oversight and approval for all treatment and discharge planning.
Up to date on CPR, trauma medical aid and restraints holds.
Know basics of first aid and CPR, have not receive certification yet.
Evaluate quarterly expenditure reports and project budgets, and release money to local NGOs.

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Activities director vs program lead skills

Common activities director skills

Patients, 15%
Rehabilitation, 10%
Resident Care, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
Home Health, 7%
MDS, 6%

Common program lead skills

Project Management, 13%
HR, 11%
Work Ethic, 10%
CPR, 8%
Customer Satisfaction, 7%
Customer Service, 5%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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