About Discovering Justice:
The mission of Discovering Justice is to prepare young people to value the justice system, realize the power of their own voices, and embrace civic responsibility by connecting courtrooms and classrooms. By providing students with an enriching, experiential civics education that emphasizes critical thinking, compassion, and self-discernment—values that underpin our democracy—we can prepare young people for the opportunity of democratic citizenship, cultivate empathy across social and cultural barriers, and empower voices that might otherwise go unheard. By working with students from a young age—programs begin in kindergarten—we ensure by the time students reach adolescence, they view democratic citizenship as an important part of their identity.
The landscape of civics education in Massachusetts is changing rapidly, and we are looking for a passionate, highly experienced non-profit leader to help position Discovering Justice for programmatic and geographic expansion in the coming years. The Executive Director will provide vision, program oversight, board stewardship, and fundraising expertise to the organization.
The Executive Director’s responsibilities will include:
Leadership and Management
- Lead the development and execution of a Strategic Plan, which will guide the organization’s work over the next 3-5 years, and monitor progress to goals.
- Serve as a respected public voice for civics education and law-related education for younger students and help develop and strengthen Discovering Justice’s distinctive approach.
- Ensure ongoing local programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and systems; recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals.
- Develop, maintain, and support a strong Board of Trustees; serve as ex-officio of each committee; seek and build board involvement with strategic direction for both ongoing local operations as well as for broader expansion.
- Ensure effective systems to track scaling progress, and regularly evaluate program components, so as to measure successes that can be effectively communicated to the board, funders, and other constituents.
- Build partnerships with school districts, peer organizations, and other external stakeholders, positioning Discovering Justice as a leader in the civics education field.
- In collaboration with the Chief Operating Officer and the Board Finance Committee, oversee the organization’s finances to ensure sustainability.
- Supervise Chief Operating Officer and Development Director, and possibly other staff.
- Foster collaboration and engagement across all staff.
Fundraising & Communications
- Expand revenue generating and fundraising activities to support existing program operations and expansion.
- Use external presence and relationships to garner new opportunities.
- Work with the Development Director to refine all aspects of communications (from web presence to external relations) with the goal of creating a stronger brand.
Candidate Profile:
- Track record of effectively leading and scaling a performance- and outcomes-based organization and staff; ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth.
- Unwavering commitment to quality programs and data-driven program evaluation
- Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high-performance teams, set and achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget.
- Strong marketing, public relations, and fundraising experience with the ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders and cultures.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills.
- Passion, idealism, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed.
- Experience in civics, education, or youth development. Bachelor’s Degree required, with an advanced degree in business, nonprofit management, public policy, public administration, or another relevant field preferred.
Salary Range: $125,000+, commensurate with experience. Generous benefits package included.
To Apply: Please send a resume and cover letter to [email protected] by April 10, 2018. No phone calls, please.