Chief Executive Officer at Teach Plus

Our Why

Teach Plus is a national nonprofit whose mission is to empower excellent, experienced, and diverse teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that advance equity, opportunity, and student access. The Teach Plus team exists to breathe life into the Student Opportunity Mandate: All students should have the opportunity to achieve their potential in an education system defined by its commitment to equity, its responsiveness to individual needs, and its ability to prepare students for postsecondary success. At the heart of our work is advocacy for collective impact beginning with classroom teachers.

What We Do

At Teach Plus, we believe in equity-driven teacher leadership. When we invest in developing our most talented teachers into teacher leaders who are well-informed, persuasive, and prepared to lead, they have deep leverage in advancing equity for students, especially for students of color, low income students, and those from underserved communities. In an effort to close the opportunity gap and to ensure equitable access to world class education for all students in the schools and communities we serve, we ignite systems change at multiple levels through our Policy Fellowship and Instructional Leadership programs designed to inspire and equip teachers. We are committed to leading change in our Equity Focus Areas: Rigorous Curricula, High Standards, and Meaningful Accountability; High-Quality Early Education; Recruitment and Retention of a Diverse Teaching Force; Teacher Preparation, Development, and Leadership; and, Whole Child, Student-Centered Learning.

What You’ll Do

As the lead learner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Teach Plus, you will guide our organization through the next chapter of our collective story as we work to achieve the goals set forth in Teach Plus in 2025. Reporting to the Teach Plus board, the CEO will drive our growth strategy toward dramatically increasing the number of teacher leaders participating in Teach Plus programs, toward fostering purposeful and sustainable connections across a nationwide network of educators and partners committed to change, toward expanding our reach to 16 states, and toward supporting the organization to define Teach Plus attributes, skills, and competencies as essential levers for teacher leadership in schools.

What You’ll Own

Inspirational Leadership & Organizational Management

• Ensure that the Teach Plus mission is clearly articulated and well understood by our staff, partners, funders, and stakeholders
• Model innovation, creativity, and thought leadership that is inclusive, transparent, and empowering in a manner that upholds the organization’s vision and drives its mission
• Partner with senior leadership team to manage day-to-day operations of the organization and ensure its overall successful immediate, short-term, and long-term operations; clarify and utilize consistent decision-making protocols
• Systematize key functions in the organization to maximize efficiency, enhance productivity, and increase access to necessary information for internal stakeholders
• Ensure written and spoken communication is consistent with organizational goals and programs; engage policy advocacy to enhance collective impact based on established goals and priorities

Development, Fundraising & Network Cultivation

• Initiate, cultivate, and extend strategic relationships with the organization’s portfolio of individual, foundation, and corporate supporters with an emphasis on developing new partnerships; collaborate with other like-minded organizations to cultivate funding
• Lead efforts to generate philanthropic support in collaboration with the Director of Development, leveraging the Board as needed
• Communicate with Teach Plus partners and supporters to cultivate strong relationships and continued support for the organization’s mission and essential levers for change

Purposeful Team Leadership & Professional Development

• Mentor and develop the existing organizational leaders ensuring functional areas continue to be led by strong, mission-aligned colleagues
• Engage equitable and inclusive recruiting, hiring, and onboarding practices to find, grow, and keep a diverse team
• Spearhead effective talent management strategies throughout the organization, including operationalizing a path to advancement that is open to all Teach Plus staff
• Coach and develop members of the Senior Leadership Team to be effective in their roles and in their management of their teams and functional areas

Financial Management

• Monitor and ensure the fiscal integrity of the organization; accept and foster extraordinary accountability with respect to financial management practices
• Direct multi-state resources and expenses, and manage all financials prudently in conjunction with the Chief Strategy & Operations Officer within budget guidelines and according to current laws and regulations
• Ensure maximum resource utilization, budget management, and maintenance of the organization to put the organization in a positive, productive and sustainable financial situation

State & Community Partnership Building

• Present and promote the organization and its mission, programs, partners, and members in a consistently positive manner
• Create and nurture trusting relationships with community institutions and offer solutions that uphold the Student Opportunity Mandate through empowered teacher leadership
• Evangelize the necessary structural changes needed at the systems level to promote intentional, sustainable, and impactful teacher leadership

Board Engagement

• Manage strong relationship and partnership with the Teach Plus Board, maintaining regular and ongoing communication and providing support and guidance to members to support effective governance of the organization
• Work closely and openly with the Board and its committees, ensuring ongoing communication of risks, issues, successes, and ideas
• Implement Board policies and procedures and build support for Board decisions among staff
• Cultivate new Board prospects as opportunities for membership become available

What Skills You’ll Need to be Successful

Commitment to Equity & Values

• You contribute with intention and purpose to organizational relationships by challenging assumptions, understanding alternative perspectives and beliefs, addressing inequities, and employing a variety of strategies to develop trust across the organization.
• You foster, promote, and drive a culture of inclusion in our organization. Improving DEI practices is a crucial aspect of your approach to assessing organizational health. You are prepared to rethink hiring and promotion practices in an effort to encourage, model, and expect equitable and inclusive leadership.
• You thrive at building authentic relationships across lines of difference (race, gender, age, socioeconomic background, LGBTQIA+ status, etc.) through self-reflection, empathy, and a clear personal identity.

Visionary Change Leadership

• You have the ability to analyze conditions for change by considering education trends and legislative priorities with a focus on stakeholder needs. You are confident in developing and communicating goals in support of Teach Plus’s vision and mission. Integral to your mission is to bring state and community change leaders together to realize a common national strategy.
• You are confident in developing and executing a comprehensive strategy to frame the dissemination of knowledge across the country in an effort to share what Teach Plus practitioners have learned about the need to change structures for teacher leadership and empowerment in schools.
• Your predisposition to lead groundbreaking practice, innovative thinking, and organizational design efforts is evident in everything you do. You flourish in leading organizational effectiveness by initiating, sponsoring, and implementing organizational change. You are confident in developing strategy and leading the team to meet the organization’s ambitious Teach Plus 2025 goals.

Extraordinary Communication

• Connecting purposefully, intentionally, and masterfully with others in various ways is an evidence-based strength in your repertoire of skills as a leader at this level. You express yourself with clarity, respect, and awareness in conversations and interactions with others.
• You are committed to transparency and authenticity in your communication with stakeholders at every level. You invite, include, and engage at every turn in the spirit of equity and empowerment based on your deep skills as a relationship builder. The systems you create and utilize create clarity, understanding, and alignment across programs, teams, and geographies.
• Your leadership and life experiences have afforded you the capacity and willingness to speak your philosophical truth and share your organizational beliefs without hesitation. Your commitment to Teach Plus’s vision and mission is evident in your interactions with stakeholders at every level.
• You are experienced and confident navigating difficult conversations and necessary conflict with the genuine belief that it is in this crucible that change happens and progress is made.

Ability to Connect Purposefully with Stakeholders

• Cultivating relationships has been a focus for you at every stage of your leadership journey. You recognize the power and exponential nature of connections.
• When it comes to creating connections with others, you unwaveringly lead by example. As the CEO for Teach Plus, your constant and consistent embodiment of this value is key. Integrity and trust in the relationships you build comprise the fulcrum upon which your success balances.
• You bring a passion for policy and understand the intersection of legislation and education in ways that bring stakeholders on both sides of the table to shared understanding of the impact of teacher leadership.

What You’ll Bring

• 10 years of senior leadership experience in nonprofit or education contexts at progressive levels of responsibility with evidence of successful development and organizational outcomes
• Experience leading a complex network of sites in multiple locations across the country
• Knowledge of and expertise in the teacher leadership arena, as well as an understanding of teacher-related policies and systems change in public education is a significant plus
• Understanding of the intersection of national and state political climates with public education, and the impact legislation has on education practitioners and key stakeholders
• Experience working in conjunction with a board to identify priorities, establish goals, monitor progress, and produce outcomes in service to stakeholders
• A growth mindset and belief that continuous improvement happens through constant learning
• Ability to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity in times of tremendous change, and to prioritize work efforts to achieve overall strategy as defined in collaboration with the Teach Plus board
• Active belief in Teach Plus’s fierce commitment to empowering teacher leaders across the country

Salary for this integral leadership position is competitive, and commensurate with prior experience. In addition, a comprehensive benefits package will be included in the ultimate offer for the identified sole finalist. We look forward to discussing details with you as the interview process progresses. Teach Plus is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from diverse candidates. Teach Plus does not discriminate in any aspect of employment on the basis of race, color, ancestry or national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or age.

Location

The location for this role is flexible and can be located in one of Teach Plus’ current states with a preference for Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Texas.