WJWI Managing Director, Place-Based Portfolio

THE OPPORTUNITY

Are you committed to equipping communities with the necessary supports to eradicate systemic poverty, transform lives, and ensure a better future?

Do you feel a charge to connect people, resources, and ideas for impactful change for something bigger and better?

Are you relentless in your focus on results and efficiency? To expand place-based models and share best practices? To participate in reform efforts to address systemic barriers of poverty?

If so, then we invite you to keep reading and think about the untapped opportunities for you to make a lasting difference in the lives of countless others throughout the country.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) is a world-renowned nonprofit that breaks the cycle of intergenerational poverty by building up opportunities so children, families, and communities can thrive. At HCZ, you’ll join a team of tenacious educators, administrators, counselors, researchers, wellness specialists, and more who are transforming lives.

HCZ provides its staff with the unique opportunity to foster the growth of young people — from the time they’re born to the time they walk across the graduation stage. From its Education and Youth programs that empower children at every stage of life to Health and Community services and National Leadership initiatives, HCZ opens pathways to prosperity for thousands of people in Harlem and beyond.

Launched in 2020, the William Julius Wilson Institute (WJWI) at HCZ was founded as part of an organizational strategy to scale impact nationally. Led by Geoffrey Canada – Founder and President of HCZ – and housed within HCZ, WJWI acts as a central hub for place-based services and programs and for backbone organizations across the nation to access the support they need to be successful. The Institute’s mission is to connect young people to opportunities that place them on a pathway to social and economic mobility and racial equity from “Cradle to Career.”

Conceived from the success of HCZ’s place-based, Cradle-to-Career model, and named for one of the nation’s most prolific African American scholars on race and poverty, WJWI works together with on-the-ground grantees and regional and national partners to deliver comprehensive strategies, support services, and tools that systematically root out poverty and close opportunity gaps in neighborhoods across America.

Building on the strong reputation, talent, and expertise of HCZ’s work in Harlem, WJWI is developing support for and engagement in field-building activities to accelerate the place-based theory of change to promote social and economic mobility.

For more information, please visit https://hcz.org/.

BASIC FUNCTION

Reporting directly to WJWI leader Geoffrey Canada, the Managing Director will serve as a relationship manager and ongoing touchpoint for leaders of neighborhood and regional organizations. They will advance a shared understanding of and commitment to what it takes to drive sustainable, place-based change, including the centrality of the neighborhood-based Cradle-to-Career model. The Managing Director will build an effective capacity for place-based work, including groups with a shared orientation. They will provide best-in-class expertise to strengthen systems and skills of community collaborators so teams can lead, achieve, and sustain measurable outcomes.

PRIORITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

It is expected that the Managing Director will:

• Establish a strong relationship with Geoffrey Canada and senior leadership of HCZ built on trust and a shared vision.
• Serve as senior relationship manager and ongoing touchpoint for leaders of neighborhood organizations and regional backbone organizational clients.
• Provide advice, coaching, and guidance to neighborhood and regional leaders of place-based organizations.
• Grow existing client relationships and cultivate new ones to expand WJWI’s work over time; build effective capacity for place-based work by identifying high-potential clients for WJWI to support in the future; lead the pipeline identification process.
• Lead and/or lend expertise for extensive workshops and individualized support engagements.
• Continually measure and assess progress on how WJWI is reaching its targeted goals.

IDEAL EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

The Managing Director will be an experienced professional with the following skills, qualities, and experience.

• A commitment to HCZ’s mission and values, sharing a deep empathy with and compassion for the children and families of people being served.
• Leadership experience in the nonprofit, public, or private sector focusing on youth and families in underserved communities. A commitment to excellence and to building programs with national impact.
• Deep knowledge of place-based Cradle-to-Career programs.
• Ability to balance long-term strategic vision with daily operational issues.
• A collaborative management style with the ability to attract and nurture local and regional relationships.
• Ability to build consensus with an inclusive style.
• Skilled at creating trusted relationships with staff, partners, and community and regional organizations supporting children and families.
• Enthusiasm, with high energy; strong communicator and problem solver, with the skill to listen, learn, and share information with a focus on customer service; comfortable working with a sophisticated team.
• Experience overseeing the development, operation, and evaluation of programs; skilled at using best practices and data feedback to support innovative program models.
• Gravitas, with the confidence to ask for help when needed.
• Sense of humor and an ability to maintain balance and perspective.
• High emotional intelligence.

HCZ values inclusion and diversity in every sense of the word – from background and birthplace to experience and ideas.

Please send applications (cover letters and CVs) and nominations to Susan Meade and Paul Spivey at HCZ@PhillipsOppenheim.com.