We are seeking a community-oriented non-profit professional with demonstrated success in fundraising to pursue and extend our vision of excellence in the Greater Philadelphia region. The Executive Director will maximize Teach For America’s impact both inside the organization and outside in this community. You, as the Executive Director, will inspire and motivate your team while creating a culture of innovation, sustainability, and alignment with Teach For America’s Foundations (core values, core tenets and diversity, equity and inclusiveness statement) – balancing our short-term work and long-term efforts.
To realize the vision of growing and deepening our impact in Greater Philadelphia, you will lead development efforts to diversify a donor portfolio of $4M and set the vision and direction for a corps of about 120, an alumni base of over 1,400, and a staff of 20. Greater Philadelphia is Teach For America’s tenth largest alumni region with incredible potential to deepen and expand corps member and alumni impact.
Teach For America’s Executive Directors are part of the national senior leadership team at Teach For America and are at the forefront of improving the state of education in this country, impacting the future of thousands of children. You will report directly to the Senior Vice President, Regional Field Executive and will partner with a dedicated local board to work within Teach For America’s evolving operating model.
As the Executive Director of Teach For America-Greater Philadelphia, you will:
- Chart the course for the region by leveraging your commitment to building a collective movement and shared sense of regional identity.
- Create and invest stakeholders in an innovative, clear, compelling, community-based vision that is grounded in the landscape’s opportunities, needs and problems.
- Influence a broad base of stakeholders to pursue and achieve bold outcomes in service of this vision.
- Lead fundraising efforts and cultivate stakeholders to ensure that Teach For America-Greater Philadelphia is a meaningful part of the educational fabric of the community, focusing on significantly growing and diversifying a sustainable funding base that will include gifts and revenue from individuals, corporations, foundations, and districts, ultimately raising a budget of $4M.
- In partnership with staff, corps members, alumni, and others, build and maintain a culture that is grounded in our core values and fosters our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.
- Provide executive management to Teach For America-Greater Philadelphia by attracting, hiring, and developing a team of diverse and talented staff members to reach ambitious goals and executing the fundamentals of not-for-profit management (board management, fundraising, and fiscal management, etc.).
- Make decisions and demonstrate judgment by exercising strong judgment when facing new challenges and viewing situations through multiple lenses, leading with integrity in ambiguous and/or paradoxical situations, and constructing decision-making processes to engage multiple perspectives in a timely course of action.
- Cultivate new relationships while retaining and continuing to deepen existing relationships with public officials and organizations throughout our region and working with all sides to maximize our scale and impact.
- Partner with the regional advisory board who will help maximize Teach For America-Greater Philadelphia’s impact, narrative, and sustainability in the region.
- Nonprofit leadership experience (minimum of 10 years) or relevant skills to develop a sophisticated and effective fundraising strategy and manage a high-performing team toward ambitious outcomes in a mission-driven organization
- Demonstrated achievement in partnership development and external affairs, including an ability to mobilize people and create champions to support an organizational mission
- Evidence of developing and executing against a strategy with strong results
- A track record of working with a Board of Directors, in addition to possessing a strong understanding of the roles of the Executive Director and the board
- Outstanding interpersonal skills and an ability and desire to develop and maintain deep relationships with a variety of diverse constituents
- Understanding of the complexity of the local political climate that impacts Teach For America-Greater Philadelphia
- Experience navigating the political process as it pertains to elected officials, legislators, school district officials, and school board members.
- Excellent strategic thinking skills to understand and lead in a complex environment
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
Personal Characteristics
- Strong personal alignment with and commitment to the mission and Foundations (core values, core tenets, and diversity, equity, and inclusiveness commitment) of Teach For America
- Operate with a sense of urgency and thoughtfulness around accomplishing goals and objectives
- Clarity of vision and the ability to invest others within the organization and in the broader Greater Philadelphia community in that vision
- Extraordinary cultural leadership and credibility
- Strong sense of self-awareness and understanding of one’s strengths and areas for development
- Commitment to exploring issues of race, class, and privilege
- Ability to deal with ambiguity and conflict
- Excellent judgment and sound decision-making skills
- Willingness and ability to learn about the Greater Philadelphia education landscape and establish oneself as a key partner in the local movement to fight educational inequity
- Ability to work some evenings and weekends
- Ability to travel within the region daily and ability to travel to in-person meetings in various U.S. cities quarterly