Hiring Manager: Simone Ward
Location: Los Angeles, CA (currently remote due to Covid-19)
Application Deadline: collected on a rolling basis
About Us
Our nation’s education system is leaving millions of students—including an overwhelming number of students of color and low-income students—unprepared for college, career, and life. While research shows that classroom teachers are the single most important in-school factor in improving student achievement, their diverse voices are consistently left out of education policy decisions. For far too long, teachers have been treated as subjects of change rather than as agents of change.
Founded by public school teachers, Educators for Excellence is a growing movement of 34,000 educators, united around a common set of values and principles for improving student learning and elevating the teaching profession. We work together to identify issues that impact our schools, create solutions to these challenges, and advocate for policies and programs that give all students access to a quality education.
What We Do
Our Theory of Change is grounded in two long-term goals that are inextricably linked: better outcomes for our students and the elevation of the quality and prestige of the teaching profession. We achieve this by:
- Building a movement of forward-thinking teachers through grassroots organizing in communities across the country
- Identifying and training teacher leaders within that broader movement to take on key positions of influence in their schools, districts, states, and perhaps most importantly, within their teachers unions
- Creating teacher-led policy recommendations in order to bridge the divide between policymakers and the classroom
- Advocating for implementation of teacher-generated policy ideas
- Scaling this model to reach critical mass in the communities we serve and across the country
Educators for Excellence envisions an equitable and excellent education system that provides all students the opportunity to succeed and elevates the teaching profession.
The Opportunity
Educators for Excellence-Los Angeles has realized a number of critical achievements over the past decade and has become a critical player in the local landscape. E4E-Los Angeles teachers have driven major policy victories on a diverse set of issues from teacher career ladders to school discipline to school reopening. E4E members have increased their representation in the union (UTLA) House of Representatives, won school board elections, and campaigned for union leadership positions.
E4E is seeking a dynamic leader to serve as the next Executive Director to lead our Los Angeles Chapter. This exciting role will set the strategy and vision for the chapter, own and implement the fundraising strategy for its next phase of growth, while also leading a high performing team. In addition to setting and leading E4E’s strategy, the Executive Director will be the external representative of E4E’s work in Los Angeles.
Reporting to one of the Co-CEOs and serving as a member of E4E’s Senior Leadership Team. The Los Angeles Executive Director will lead the Los Angeles team to deliver on E4E’s Theory of Change to improve outcomes for students, particularly those impacted by the opportunity gap, and to elevate the prestige and quality of the teaching profession. .
Scope: In this role you will…
Design and Execute Local Programs and Strategy
- Design and execute a local vision and plan for E4E-Los Angeles that works in concert with E4E’s theory of change, national strategic plan, and org-wide goals
- Evaluate opportunities within the local landscape for educators to influence critical decisions at the state and local levels
- Design strategies to cultivate teacher members to grow their participation and pursue leadership roles within their districts, states, and importantly, within their unions
- Lead the team to achieve chapter goals related to organizing, advocacy, and teacher leadership campaigns
- Create and implement metric based goals aligned with national goals and priorities
- Manage data systems for evaluating progress toward strategic goals, ensuring that local objectives are met while also aligning efforts with the national organization
- Oversee advocacy campaigns that impact policies to align with our local educator created policy recommendations rooted in the E4E Declaration of Teachers’ Principles and Beliefs and strengthened implementation of those policies at the state and local level.
Raise and Manage Funds
- Work in collaboration with the Los Angeles Development Manager (who reports into the national team) and National Development Team to fundraise the annual chapter budget of approximately $1.78 million
- Innovate and expand local fundraising activities, with a strong focus on diversifying our current funding base, particularly by cultivating new individual and grassroots donors, exploring earned revenue opportunities, and stewarding relationships with existing partners
- Administer the local budget, ensuring fiscal responsibility and stability
- Manage a Local Advisory Board (LAB) to support the growth and stability of the Los Angeles chapter
Build and Manage a High Performing Team
- Serve as a model of our core values and promote a strong team culture
- Recruit, select, coach and retain talented team members
- Manage towards ambitious programmatic and operational goals
- Coach and manage a team of nine, including two direct reports, focused on the following priorities:
- The vision setting and execution of the chapter’s local policy, advocacy, and organizing efforts.
- The implementation of E4E’s grassroots organizing model; teacher leadership programs and event series; and supporting with direct management of a team of Outreach Directors, who are our grassroots organizers.
- The fundraising of a local budget from a portfolio of individual donors and foundations.
- The effective implementation of all programs and operational systems.
Represent E4E in the community
- Give speeches, author op-eds, attend education events and conferences, work with media, and engage with teachers and the general public to uplift the perspectives and ideas of E4E members
- Secure opportunities for teachers to share their voice directly in local media
- Build and maintain relationships with local policymakers, union leaders, key stakeholders, interest groups, and elected officials
- Establish E4E-Los Angeles as a source for the opinions and perspectives of progressive educators on issues that impact California’s classrooms
Serve on E4E’s Senior Leadership Team
- Participate in Senior Leadership Team (SLT) calls, retreats, and Executive Director (ED) Cohort meetings, requiring quarterly travel
- Share input on key decisions that impact the entire organization and proactively develop potential solutions to the concerns identified for the betterment of our work, our culture, our staff and our whole organization
- Act as a two-way communicator between the local team and the Senior Leadership Team and vice versa, elevating issues and communicating important information
- Engage in org-wide community-building and work teams (e.g. Diversity Council, identity-based learning communities, serve on hiring committees, etc.)
Minimum Requirements
- Experience: At least ten years experience in leading others within the education, education policy, campaign organizing, and/or advocacy space, including at least two years of experience in one of the following fields:
- Pre-K – 12 education, classroom teaching experience preferred ? Community organizing, campaign organizing and/or union organizing
- Experience managing high-performing teams by setting clear, well-defined goals and managing to desired outcomes through layers
- Political savvy and demonstrated track record of effectively navigating complex power dynamics and building coalitions,
- Demonstrated experience building partnerships; fundraising/development experience preferred,
- Experience managing or working on electoral campaigns and within or in partnership with labor unions
- Experience serving as a face of an organization to external partners, and
- A track record of successfully overcoming obstacles in challenging environments
- Transportation: Often works out of the office, with 20% travel (currently virtual due to Covid-19)
Core Values: What beliefs do you embody? How do you approach your work?
- Respect and Professionalism: We act with personal responsibility, respect, and commitment to high quality work, to our organization and to each other
- Solutions Orientation: We consistently approach even the most complex challenges with positivity, proactive solutions, and the assumption of best intentions
- Growth Mindset: We intentionally create opportunities to develop ourselves and others in order to learn and continuously improve ? Dynamic Leadership: We courageously take ownership, empower others, set bold visions, think strategically, and adapt to change
- Diversity and Inclusiveness: Educational inequity is linked to race, power, and privilege, and so we take action to shift this paradigm by reflecting on our own identities, creating an inclusive and diverse community, and leveraging our differences as strengths
Positional Skills – What can you do well?
- Setting Vision and Direction – Establishes a clear vision that is mission aligned, sets measurable goals and develops teams and activities to maintain alignment with this vision
- Leading Change/Change Management – Identifies necessary shifts in a timely manner, involves key stakeholders in the planning process, promotes buy-in & follow-through, and adjusts course as needed
- Ensuring Diverse and Equitable Environments: Offer appropriate levels of transparency into decisions, advocate and make cases for promotion when applicable, and promote healthy conflict without fear of retaliation
- Enterprise Leadership – Makes decisions in the best interest of the broader organization; constantly leveraging opportunities to advance or promote organizational goals and expand impact; addresses short term needs with the longevity of the organization in mind
Functional Knowledge – What do you know a lot about?
- LA education, political, and donor landscape
- Education systems and classroom practice knowledge
- Functional knowledge needed to lead an Anti-racist organization
- Building effective teams
- Effective advocacy and organizing tactics/strategy
- Internal management of a small organization (i.e. budgeting, operations, development)
Benefits & Applying
Educators for Excellence believes in providing employees with benefits to support self-care, wellness, and financial stability. We value the whole person and provide benefits such as; paid time off, health insurance plans, competitive salaries that include pre-tax benefits, and cell phone reimbursements. See more information about our benefits here.
Educators for Excellence is an equal opportunity employer. We predominantly partner with low-income communities of color. Therefore, though race and other identity markers are never used to make final hiring decisions, we place a particular focus on recruiting staff members who share the backgrounds of the communities we serve.