THE AFF NETWORK

Executive Director

DC School Reform Now | Posted on October 6, 2008

DC School Reform Now seeks outstanding applicants for the position of Executive Director. The Executive Director is responsible for executing all day to day operations of the organization to build a coalition of support for enacting school reform in DC’s public schools. The Executive Director is a full time position that reports to the Board of Directors.

About DC School Reform Now

Launched in March 2008, DC School Reform Now is a volunteer organization of concerned residents who are committed to enacting school reform in DC. With a goal of building a diverse and informed network of DC residents who will exercise their leadership to support high quality schools for all children, DC School Reform Now’s first action was to compose a petition that would show Mayor Fenty, Chancellor Rhee and the City Council that DC residents are demanding for school reform.

In addition to the petition, DC School Reform Now intends to accomplish its goal by:

• Providing parents and residents with information on community meetings and events so they can become engaged in the school reform effort.

• Being a voice for DC residents who support school reform.

• Providing accurate information on the state of DC Schools and on the Chancellor’s reform agenda to all DC residents.

Job Description

The Executive Director is specifically responsible for the following:

• Building the DC School Reform Now Network by;
o Developing strategic alliances that increase visibility and leadership, offer compelling evidence, boost political will, and bring new resources and methods to school reform in DC.
o Developing internal staff and external network capacity around a common set of skills to effectively organize, recruit and develop potential leaders and community members to become members, champions, and change agents for school reform;
o Researching effective school reform networks nationwide to identify best practices and build relationships with similar organizations;
o Evaluating, recommending, and implementing strategies to build the DC network;
o Facilitating and organizing community seminars, grassroots and media trainings and planning sessions for the DC School Reform Now Network

• Managing the DC School Reform Now Network by:
o Continuously representing the organization at appropriate meetings and seminars;
o Providing regular updates to members, champions, and change agents so they can continue to advocacy for educational change;
o Mobilizing members, champions, and change agents in the network to support school reform;
o Overseeing the maintenance and accuracy of the database;
o Managing the Network Coordinator so they achieve their goals;

• Executing the DC School Reform Now grassroots advocacy plan by;
o Developing the year-round and election-based campaigns to organize voters, community members and coalition partners to lead and advocate for positive school reform
o Understanding and translating federal and district policy and politics into strategic action, community education and organizing.
o Building a base of members, champions, and change agents who will effectively advocate for school reform in their communities;
o Designing and leading grassroots training seminars for change agents, working with change agents and consultants on curriculum design and implementation;
o Collaborating with DC School Reform Now Network to maximize each groups competitive advantage to enact school reform in DC;
o Managing political outreach to City Council to influence them to support the school reform agenda. (this is a c4 activity)

• Managing the DC School Reform Now Public Relations and Communications department by;
o Identifying public relations opportunities and developing strategies to earn positive media attention for the organization;
o Representing DC School Reform Now at City Council hearings, congressional hearings, briefings, conferences, community forums and other meetings and update the team on the outcomes of such meetings.
o Fielding press inquiries, pitching stories and building relationships with local media;
o Facilitating the distribution of targeted research on educational issues to elected officials, policymakers, members of the media and parents;

• Building DC School Reform Now into an effective, results oriented nonprofit organization by:
o Fundraising between $300,000 - $500,000 annually to support activities;
o Developing clear and ambitious goals and measures of success;
o Developing organizational strategy to achieve stated goals;
o Regularly tracking progress toward goals and revising strategies to achieve goals;
o Managing the relationship with High-5 Consulting to achieve stated goals;
o Managing and building relationships with board of directors;
o Overseeing and generating annual budget;
o Developing the organizational systems and practices needed for long-term success;

Qualifications

• Strong commitment to education reform in DC;
• Direct experience leading a grassroots advocacy organization;
• Bachelors and/or Masters degree;
• Excellent verbal/written skills;
• Effective human relations, communications and interpersonal skills;
• Demonstrated record of success in community building;
• Extensive knowledge of education reform;
• Proven ability to work with people of various ethnic, economic and educational backgrounds;
• Ability to lead sophisticated, politically sensitive decision making processes among a variety of interests including local advocates, elected officials, business people and government entities
• Ability to take initiative, work independently and function in a team
• Bilingual Spanish/English a plus
• Flexibility; ability to work evenings and weekends as needed.

Compensation

Salary is $75,000 plus benefits.

DC School Reform Now is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis or race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parenthood or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

Contact

Please send a cover letter, resume and 2 references to admin@dcschoolreform.org