What does a community advocate do?
The task of a community advocate is to provide advocacy and lobby for change or development within neighborhoods. Community advocates collaborate with a certain population like battered women or the deaf affected by environmental contamination. The advocates guide and assist on the hotline to make sure that every individual gets necessary guidance, safety plans, and resources. They provide crisis intervention or management with shelter residents. Also, they ensure confidentiality and legal compliance integrity based on corporate policy.
Community advocate responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real community advocate resumes:
- Manage social media communication including Facebook, Pinterest, and blog.
- Provide ongoing case management and resource coordinator for individuals with special needs or developmental delays receiving DDA funding.
- Provide services to WIC clients to promote establish goals and to reinforce positive results.
- Assist the families with applying for Medicaid, food assistance, FIP, WIC, low income housing etc.
- Authorize and monitor CCAD services to ensure that the consumer receives the services as authorized and their needs are being meet.
Community advocate skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Community Advocates are proficient in Community Resources, Community Outreach, and Crisis Intervention. They’re also known for soft skills such as Compassion, Time-management skills, and Communication skills.
We break down the percentage of Community Advocates that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Community Resources, 12%
Educate vulnerable members of community in lifestyle choices, medication, benefit navigation, available community resources and agencies.
- Community Outreach, 9%
Participated in eel grass ecosystem recovery studies, salmon population studies and conducted community outreach education.
- Crisis Intervention, 9%
Provided day-to-day short-term crisis intervention and customer service to a variety of customers from a wide socioeconomic spectrum.
- Safety Planning, 7%
Offered support while explaining prerequisites for assistance, consoling individuals in distress, offering safety planning and reconciling difficult circumstances.
- Social Work, 6%
Worked in conjunction with our Social Worker to facilitate social services i.e., Medicaid, SCRIE, Immigration.
- Data Entry, 6%
Cross-trained with Development department to learn Razor's Edge software and assisted in data entry and report generation.
Common skills that a community advocate uses to do their job include "community resources," "community outreach," and "crisis intervention." You can find details on the most important community advocate responsibilities below.
Compassion. The most essential soft skill for a community advocate to carry out their responsibilities is compassion. This skill is important for the role because "social and human service assistants often work with people who are in stressful and difficult situations." Additionally, a community advocate resume shows how their duties depend on compassion: "serve as a compassionate and trusted advocate to domestic violence and/or sexual assault victims. "
Time-management skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling community advocate duties is time-management skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "social and human service assistants often work with many clients." According to a community advocate resume, here's how community advocates can utilize time-management skills in their job responsibilities: "conducted performance reviews for all customer service representatives to reduce resolution time and improve customer satisfaction rates. "
Communication skills. This is an important skill for community advocates to perform their duties. For an example of how community advocate responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "social and human service assistants talk with clients about the challenges in their lives and assist them in getting help." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a community advocate: "work on communication strategies to educate and inform the public and other stakeholders about community programs and new initiatives. ".
Organizational skills. A big part of what community advocates do relies on "organizational skills." You can see how essential it is to community advocate responsibilities because "social and human service assistants must often complete lots of paperwork and work with many different clients." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical community advocate tasks: "provided marketing support services and was liaison to corporate, organizational, and individual sponsors. "
Interpersonal skills. A commonly-found skill in community advocate job descriptions, "interpersonal skills" is essential to what community advocates do. Community advocate responsibilities rely on this skill because "social and human service assistants must make their clients feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues." You can also see how community advocate duties rely on interpersonal skills in this resume example: "launched and managed an interpersonal relationships support group to provide additional spaces to supplement the wesleyan mental health advocacy community. "
Problem-solving skills. While "problem-solving skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to community advocate responsibilities. Much of what a community advocate does relies on this skill, seeing as "social and human service assistants help clients find solutions to their problems." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of community advocates: "learned crisis intervention and conflict resolution skills first hand. "
The three companies that hire the most community advocates are:
- Centene19 community advocates jobs
- Nationwide Children's Hospital4 community advocates jobs
- Community Action Organization3 community advocates jobs
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Compare different community advocates
Community advocate vs. Outreach worker
An outreach worker is responsible for supporting community events and relief efforts to assist citizens with their needs, providing them resources, and facilitating lifestyle programs. Outreach workers coordinate with participants, suppliers, and sponsors for funding and promotions. They also manage the budgeting and allocation of resources for the programs, ensuring that the activities adhere to the state regulations and community benefits. An outreach worker must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in writing progress reports and transactions.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, community advocate responsibilities require skills like "safety planning," "data entry," "social services," and "community engagement." Meanwhile a typical outreach worker has skills in areas such as "autism," "patients," "referral services," and "child care." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Outreach workers earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $53,625. On the other hand, community advocates are paid more in the professional industry with an average salary of $35,358.outreach workers tend to reach similar levels of education than community advocates. In fact, outreach workers are 2.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.6% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Community advocate vs. Outreach specialist
An outreach specialist is primarily responsible for organizing and managing social service programs that promote health and wellness within a community. They typically conduct research and assessments to determine the community's needs, thoroughly plan events and programs, participate in hiring staff and volunteers, and liaise with sponsors and suppliers. Often reporting to a manager or supervisor, an outreach specialist must also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports, preparing necessary documentation, managing schedules, arranging appointments, and even responding to inquiries and concerns.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, community advocate responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "safety planning," "community engagement," "financial assistance," and "haitian creole." Meanwhile, an outreach specialist has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer service," "patients," "veterans," and "scheduling appointments." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Outreach specialists earn a higher average salary than community advocates. But outreach specialists earn the highest pay in the government industry, with an average salary of $47,346. Additionally, community advocates earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $35,358 annually.outreach specialists earn similar levels of education than community advocates in general. They're 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for community advocates in the next 3-5 years?
Lesley Casarez Ph.D.
Director, Quality Enhancement Plan Program Coordinator, M.S. Professional School Counseling Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Angelo State University
Community advocate vs. Outreach coordinator
An outreach coordinator is responsible for assisting community and fundraising programs, ensuring the smooth flow of events and participants' engagement. Outreach coordinators often work with humanitarian organizations or other nonprofit institutions to promote and develop citizens' welfare. They handle press releases, create marketing materials, negotiate with third-party vendors, book venues, finalize event schedules, and recruit volunteers as needed. An outreach coordinator also plans activities, monitors expenses, and requests financial support from sponsorships and donation programs.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from community advocate resumes include skills like "safety planning," "data entry," "social services," and "community engagement," whereas an outreach coordinator is more likely to list skills in "patients," "customer service," "public speaking," and "veterans. "
Outreach coordinators earn the highest salary when working in the government industry, where they receive an average salary of $51,407. Comparatively, community advocates have the highest earning potential in the professional industry, with an average salary of $35,358.Most outreach coordinators achieve a similar degree level compared to community advocates. For example, they're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Community advocate vs. Crisis counselor
A crisis counselor is responsible for providing assistance and emotional support to clients under crises or mental health emergencies caused by stress, trauma, grief, and other factors. Most crisis counselors work at clinics or counseling centers, and there are instances where they can be at schools and organizations. Aside from diagnosing and providing specific treatments, a crisis counselor must also build rapport with clients, helping them feel comfortable every step of the way, and serving as a positive influence in their journey to recovery.
Types of community advocate
Updated January 8, 2025
