Managing Director, Alumni Affairs, Teach for America

Posted by on April 11, 2011

Managing Director, Alumni Affairs (Greater Philadelphia-Camden)

Posted on: March 30, 2011

Position Summary

Teach For America seeks a Managing Director of Alumni Affairs in the Greater Philadelphia -Camden region to maximize the reach and impact of the movement by connecting alumni to each other, to great opportunities, and to the work of Teach For America. This position provides an opportunity for individuals to play a critical role in rallying our alumni who are building the movement from various sectors across the country. The Managing Director of Alumni Affairs will manage a team to support our alumni leadership initiative areas in Greater Philadelphia – Camden. In addition, they will work to build an alumni base that is informed and active in the broader movement for educational equity. There are nearly 800 alumni in the Greater Philadelphia -Camden area who are working to close the achievement gap from all sectors.

About Teach For America

Teach For America is the national corps of top recent college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity. Our mission is to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting the nation’s most promising future leaders in the effort.

In the 2010-2011 school year, more than 8,200 first- and second-year Teach For America corps members will be teaching in 39 regions across the United States. Since 1990, Teach For America corps members have reached more than 3 million students. More than 20,000 Teach For America alumni are working in education and many other fields, where they continue to advocate for students and families in low-income communities. While only one in six corps members say they were interested in the teaching profession before joining Teach For America, nearly two-thirds of our alumni remain in the field of education.

We are a high-growth, outcomes-oriented organization, with a $220 million budget and over 1,500 staff. In 2011, we were named a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For. We operate in an entrepreneurial environment, maintain focus on quantitative measures, and are committed to continuous improvement.

Team Overview

Founded in 2003, Teach For America – Greater Philadelphia – Camden has more than 350 corps members reaching more than 22,000 students in Greater Philadelphia public schools. Additionally, over 800 alumni are working from all sectors to close the achievement gap in the area. The region is supported by a funding base of over $7 million, and approximately 30 regional staff members work to train and support corps members, continually strengthen relationships with local schools and districts, foster the leadership of local alumni, and continue to grow the regional funding base to ensure that Teach For America can have an even greater impact. In the 2010 – 2011 school year, we will support a corps of over 380 teachers, allowing the region to affect the educational outcomes of nearly 25,000 students every year.

Through the two-year corps member experience, Teach For America corps members gain the insight and conviction to be lifelong leaders in the pursuit of education equity for all children. Today alumni are providing leadership within the education, policy, and political fields and they are supporting reform from positions within business, law, medicine, and other sectors.

With alumni demonstrating success from within education and becoming thought leaders in every sector, we are helping to change the prevailing ideology. The role of the alumni team is to harness and galvanize the scale of our alumni base to facilitate the change we need to eliminate educational inequity. We are creating a leadership force of teachers and leaders from every sector committed to ensuring educational opportunity for all.

Scope of the Role

The Managing Director of Alumni Affairs sets the vision for the alumni strategy for the region and works to accelerate the path of our alumni to critical positions of impact and leadership. In addition, this person will manage a regional Alumni Affairs team, serve on the regional leadership team and be responsible for maintaining coordination and collaboration with other regional leaders. This person will participate in corps member selection and attend regional program and development events. The Managing Director works to galvanize alumni leaders to maximize the impact of Teach For America in the region and reports to Executive Director.

Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

– Collaborating with regional and national teams
– Designing a regional strategy to drive change in the Greater Philadelphia region and contribute to our national 2015 national alumni leadership and engagement goals
– Executing and managing team on regional strategy to achieve ambitious goals and drive toward critical alumni and student outcomes.
– Supporting the cultivation and hiring of alumni for full time positions with Teach For America.
– Participating in regular alumni affairs team calls and at 2 in person conferences per year.
– Partnering with regional staff to design and execute a calendar of career and civic leadership events and engagement opportunities.
– Partnering with regional executive director to meet with current second-year corps members to provide career support, transition services, and an engagement campaign to ensure strong alumni stewardship of the movement.

Alumni cultivation, outreach, and support
– Meeting individually with a minimum of 15-30 alumni per month to share resources and tools to assist with short and long-term career goals, coach along career paths, provide opportunities to connect with fellow alumni and volunteer opportunities, share updates on Teach For America, re/connect alumni with the Teach For America movement, and motivate alums to take action.
– Researching and developing relevant content for monthly bulletins to attract alumni to opportunities, illustrate the impact of alumni in career fields, and promote the culture of involvement with Teach For America within the region.
– Matching alumni to education, political and policy leadership opportunities as well as Teach For America staff positions.

External relationship building
– Building strong external relationships with partners, including local graduate schools, school districts, nonprofit organizations, political training programs, and charter management organizations.
– Networking with local organizations and community leaders

Research and analysis
– Analyzing the local landscape to identify opportunities to grow alumni impact
– Utilizing data management systems to accurately report and track alumni progress toward career goals, monitor levels of involvement with Teach For America, and make data-based decisions regarding strategic priorities

Team management
– Manage a team of 2 staff members to execute against alumni affairs goals

Qualifications

Candidate Profile and Experience Prerequisites
– Education and experience
– Bachelor’s degree required
– 7-10 years of professional experience preferred
– Prior recruitment, marketing, and career counseling experience are a plus
– Teach For America alumni required
– Experience managing projects to reach and exceed ambitious goals required

Skills
– Superb interpersonal and talent identification skills
– Exceptional oral and written communication skills
– Proven ability to develop and leverage relationships toward achievement of concrete goals
– Strong visionary and strategic thinking skills Strong critical thinking skills; must be able to analyze a problem or opportunity and identify appropriate strategies
– Ability to manage a team effectively toward ambitious goals
– Excellent organizational and management skills

Approach to Work
– Adaptable to an entrepreneurial, fast-paced, diverse, results-oriented culture
– A self-starter able to operate independently

Technical Skills
– Familiarity with suite of Microsoft tools including Power Point, Excel and Word

Benefits and Salary
Salary for this position is competitive and depends on prior experience. In addition, a comprehensive benefits package is included.

Anti-Discrimination Policy and Commitment to Diversity
Teach For America seeks individuals of all ethnic and racial backgrounds to apply for this position. We are committed to maximizing the diversity of our organization, as we want to engage all those who can contribute to this effort.

Application Requirements and Process
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Please submit your resume and one-page cover letter with your application.

To link directly to this job listing, please use the following address http://teachforamerica.taleo.net/careersection/01/jobdetail.ftl?&job=11126