The Accelerate Fellowship's Program Directors are responsible for supporting, coaching, and cultivating 30-35 undergraduate Accelerate Fellows over the course of the seven week fellowship experience during the summer of 2019. Accelerate Program Directors will guide, coach, and cultivate Fellows at the individual, team, and whole group-level. They’ll also be responsible for maintaining relationships with Fellowship partner organizations in each region as well as facilitating programming for Fellows. Accelerate Program Directors must be available to travel regularly and work evenings and weekends from June 16 through August 4, as the fellowship will take place in Chicago and the Rio Grande Valley. Accelerate Program Directors must also be able to participate in virtual and independent training and prep work during the spring and early summer.
Teach for America’s Accelerate Fellowship is a unique seven-week (June 16 - August 4, 2019) paid fellowship experience for rising seniors (current juniors) interested in jump-starting a career in social impact. Fellows join in the fight against educational inequity alongside TFA corps members and alumni by tackling community work that intersects with education. Accelerate exposes Fellows to two TFA partner communities, where they will have the opportunity to build relationships with other college change makers, grow professionally, and contribute to work needed immediately alongside leaders in the social and private sectors.
- Coach and cultivate Fellows during 1:1 conversations related to their skills, leadership assets and areas of growth, and understanding of Teach for America’s theory of change in action. (50%)
- Embrace a recruitment mentality to support and steward Fellows as they consider their chance to the 2020 corps.
- Support teams of Fellows as they work with Teach for America alumni-led partner organizations on projects related to education equity.
- Organize, execute, and facilitate guided reflections to ensure Fellows uphold a positive culture rooted in Teach for America’s core values and deepens their understanding of systems-change. (10%)
- Communicate through multiple methods with Fellows to deliver a compelling, engaging message tailored to their motivations and interests. (20%)
- Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and Teach for America corps members, alumni, staff, partner organizations to maximize the impact that Fellows have during the summer. (20%)
- Consistent national travel throughout the course of the seven-week fellowship is required
- Teach For America corps member experience is highly preferred.
- Experience on Teach For America recruitment staff is highly preferred.
- Experience with social entrepreneurship, startups, and/or design thinking preferred.
- Prior experience interviewing candidates in Teach For America’s admissions process preferred.
Work Demands
- Ability to travel nationally over the course of the seven week fellowship during the months of June - August 2019.
- Ability to participate in virtual and independent training and prep work during April and May 2019.
- Regular evening and weekend work may be required during June - August 2019.
Skills
- Embodies a deep conviction around our mission to find, develop, and support a diverse network of leaders who expand opportunity for children from classrooms, schools, and every sector and field that shapes the broader systems in which schools operate.
- Deeply believes in the necessity of building a diverse coalition of people working toward educational equity and successfully builds relationships across multiple lines of difference.
- Communicates clearly and compellingly (both verbally and written) across lines of difference and in multiple contexts - 1:1, small groups, large audiences.
- Coaches and develops leaders based on the assets that they bring to the table, working to understand the perspective of others to maximize their learning and development.
- Strong ability to juggle multiple projects, meet deadlines, and keep a close eye on myriad, important details.
- Experience in design thinking, business model canvas, or some type of start-up ideation/innovation process is preferred.