Families for Excellent Schools seeks a dynamic and experienced leader and organizer to serve as New York Organizing Director. Joining a highly-talented, deeply passionate, and entrepreneurial team and building on a strong record of success in changing policy, the New York Organizing Director will have the opportunity to affect the reality of educational choices for families across the state. Reporting to the New York State Director, this person will have a chance to significantly grow a unique relational organizing program with strong institutional and philanthropic support and an existing membership base. At a time of enormous growth for the organization, the Director will lead Families for Excellent Schools’ longest-standing organizing team, directing the implementation of ambitious statewide campaigns, overseeing a team of passionately committed organizers and supporting their growth and development, and building strong and genuine partnerships with community-based stakeholders. In overseeing the largest and most established team, s/he has the opportunity to help develop best practices and lessons for growth as Families for Excellent Schools grows statewide and nationally.

The ideal candidate for this role will be passionate about education as a path to opportunity, especially for low income communities and communities of color. S/he will be an experienced community or political organizer with an accomplished record of leading successful campaigns, political savvy, and a demonstrated excellence in field leadership or in other senior organizing roles at a state or national level. S/he will have a deep understanding of and appreciation for relational organizing and be an exceptional coach, with a strong capabilities in staff management, support, and development of team members within a culture of accountability, metrics, and regular feedback. S/he will have success working in entrepreneurial environments and the capacity to be flexible, collaborative, and solutions-oriented. Experience working in schools, charter management organizations or advocacy organizations, as well as fluency in Spanish, are a plus.

This search is being conducted with assistance from Callie Carroll of the national search firm Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group. Please find more information and application instructions at the end of this document.

HISTORY AND MISSION

Founded in 2011 through a partnership between schools and families, Families for Excellent Schools has built power in communities by engaging parents in the transformation of their schools. Envisioning a future where every child attends an excellent school, Families for Excellent Schools works to build coalitions of families and their allies by running campaigns that aim to change education policy to reach that vision.

As a member-driven organization, parents are the heart and soul of the organization’s work. Membership has increased steadily each year because of a fundamental commitment to organizing and winning on behalf of kids. With a hybrid organizing/mobilizing model unique in the sector, Families for Excellent Schools develops neighborhood chapters that support parent-to-parent organizing, training, and campaign work so that America’s schools are, once again, the best in the world.

In order to secure significant wins that create and expand excellent schools, Families for Excellent Schools convenes parents, institutions, and funders to develop and execute its campaigns with the following core strategies:

Organizing: A parent organizing model that focuses on building relationships that lead to actions that build power.
Mobilizing: When strategic, assemble supporters for large public events to effectively demonstrate power of families and their allies.
Communications: Through earned, paid, social, and digital media, elevate stories of member families who are directly impacted by our failing education system.
Elected Engagement: The authority to enact the policy changes rests in school boards or state legislatures, and Families for Excellent Schools works to create access to those politicians for members.
Policy and Research: Thoughtful policy and research work bolsters credibility with the press and the public, as well as drives the press narrative and parental enthusiasm for the organization’s work.
Community Allies: Securing the support of community allies such as faith-based organizations and trusted community institutions lends credibility to a campaign.

Currently, Families for Excellent Schools works with 41,000 families and over 100 allies in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts and is expanding quickly.

For more information about Families for Excellent Schools, please visit www.familiesforexcellentschools.org.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FACING THE NY ORGANIZING DIRECTOR

The New York Organizing Director will collaborate closely with the New York and national teams and can expect to engage in the following core challenges and opportunities:

Manage Organizers and Lead Professional Development

The New York Organizing Director will manage a team of organizers and support their growth by modeling, observing, and providing comprehensive feedback on how to:

Build powerful public relationships with parents and community allies;
Develop leadership capacity of parents;
Lead parent meetings, workshops, and trainings;
Grow and manage neighborhood chapters, advocacy committees, and town hall meetings; and
Manage data and systems to support the organizers and campaigns.

Drive and Manage Organizing Campaigns

The New York Organizing Director will:

Lead and support campaign planning sessions with national and state-level leadership, parent leaders, allies, and organizers;
Build consensus from multiple stakeholders, including parents and community groups on campaign plans, and ensure implementation and execution of plans;
Document and support best practices for drafting and maintenance of campaign plans;
Drive strategic decision-making throughout campaign implementation by offering strong advice and counsel and reviewing performance; and
With national and state-level leadership, guide organizers through check-ins, performance assessment, and field observations.

Lead and Manage Stakeholder Relationships

The New York Organizing Director will:

In coordination with state-level leadership, develop partnerships with community-based organizations;
Identify key prospective community allies and develop a long-term plan for building powerful partnerships; and
Organize coalitions of parents, community-based organizations, schools, and various stakeholders to win campaigns.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate will enjoy working in a dynamic, results-oriented environment in which expectations are high for both the quality and speed of work. In addition, s/he should have the following qualifications, experiences, and qualities:

Three to five years of experience working in a senior organizing role, and at least one year of experience managing organizers;
A deep understanding of and appreciation for relational organizing, with a strong track record of managing organizers within similar organizing programs;
An understanding of or experience working in schools and/or charter management organizations and/or advocacy organizations is a plus;
Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills;
An exceptional coach, with a proven track record of staff management, support, and development within a culture of accountability, metrics and regular, feedback;
A track record of leadership and change management in a scaling organization; successful experience working in entrepreneurial environments, with the capacity to be flexible, collaborative, and solutions-oriented;
A demonstrated commitment to education, and low-income and communities of color;
Ability to build strong relationships with senior management, employees, and external partners and stakeholders;
Fluency in Spanish is a plus;
Bachelor’s degree or sufficient relevant work experience in lieu of education requirement; and
Ability to travel frequently and work moderately irregular hours as needed.

How to apply

Families for Excellent Schools has retained Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group to assist in this search. Callie Carroll is leading the engagement. Due to the pace of this search, candidates are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Applications including a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your resume (in Word format), salary history, and where you learned of the position should be submitted to: FES-NYOD@nonprofitprofessionals.com.

Families for Excellent Schools is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to maintaining a non-discriminatory work environment. Families for Excellent Schools does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Families for Excellent Schools is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that values teamwork, collaboration, creativity, and diversity. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group is a national executive search and consulting firm dedicated to serving the mission-driven community. We partner with global mission-driven clients to deliver highly-tailored, innovative, and strategic senior- and executive-level search services. www.nonprofitprofessionals.com.