Philadelphia Executive Director, Spark Program

Posted by on June 11, 2012

Philadelphia Executive Director, Spark Program

Posted on: May 21, 2012

Spark seeks an entrepreneurial leader with education, management, and fundraising acumen in Philadelphia to launch and lead our regional office and programs. Interviews begin in May 2012 with an expected start date between August 15th – October 15th. Spark is launching in Philadelphia in partnership with the Wharton Program for Social Impact at the University of Pennsylvania.

Position Overview:

The Executive Director (ED) is the overall leader for Spark Philadelphia, responsible for creating a vibrant and effective apprenticeship program that works to address the high-school dropout crisis, in which 38% of all Philadelphia students drop out of school. The ED is responsible for building a team, maintaining and growing a sustainable fundraising base in Philadelphia, ensuring the high-quality implementation of Spark’s programs, and charting a vision for the long-term growth of Spark Philadelphia. The ED reports to the Chief Operating Officer in Spark’s national office, and works closely with Spark’s national leadership team and with the Wharton Program for Social Impact to determine strategic choices to maximize Spark’s impact and sustainability. This role is based in Philadelphia, with an estimated 5-8 days per year spent at other Spark offices (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago) for trainings, staff development, and key events.

Background:

Spark is an award-winning youth apprenticeship program. Spark works to increase high-school graduation rates with a unique apprenticeship program, focused on at-risk middle-school students. In partnership with district and charter schools, Spark creates one-on-one apprenticeships in real workplaces, where youth explore careers and develop the skills and motivation to succeed academically. Funded by a number of major foundations, including the Packard Foundation and Cowell Foundation, as well as leading companies like Cisco and Gap, Spark is demonstrating a powerful new approach to the high-school dropout crisis, one that draws in new resources by turning workplaces into learning places.

Spark was awarded the prestigious Draper Richards Kaplan Fellowship in 2008, given to five early-stage non-profits from around the world with the highest potential for “broad social impact.” In 2010, Spark won the Ashoka Fellowship, one of the top honors for social innovation worldwide. With this and other support, Spark is building a foundation for national scale. Spark’s programs have been operating in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2005, in Los Angeles since January 2010, Chicago since 2011, and will launch in other locations in coming years. In Philadelphia, Spark will create an estimated 125 apprenticeships during its pilot year in 2013.

Spark has managed rapid fundraising growth in the past two years, moving from a regional to a national organization, with a 2012 budget of approximately $2.4 million. The Executive Director is responsible for raising funds from Philadelphia-based sources to sustain and grow programs, toward an estimated $350,000 budget in 2013. In this and other areas, the ED will have strong support from Spark’s national team, including Chief Advancement Officer, COO, CEO, and Chief Program Officer.

http://www.idealist.org/view/job/ZH9XgjpCdn2D/