Senior Director of College Access and Educational Opportunity

THE FOUNDATION

The Miami Foundation builds the philanthropic, civic, and leadership backbone for Greater Miami. Since 1967, the Foundation has invested over $770 million to strengthen our community with partnerships and contributions from more than 1000 fundholders and 35,000 donors. The Miami Foundation, which currently manages over $570 million in assets, mobilizes donors, nonprofits, leaders, and locals to set a bold vision for our community's future and to invest in a stronger, more equitable, more resilient Greater Miami.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

We are seeking a visionary and collaborative leader to serve as our Senior Director of College Access and Educational Opportunity. This role will oversee two robust bodies of work: our scholarship and college access portfolio, and our leadership investments in education. 

Scholarships and college access: The Miami Foundation houses fifteen distinct scholarship programs, each of which provide opportunities for students through the generosity of our donor partners. We aim to build a world-class college access continuum for students in Miami that not only strengthens our existing offerings, but focuses on providing a thriving continuum of care for students in our region, bringing together all of the aligned scholarship and college access partners in South Florida to build a strong and unified spectrum of offerings for students, monitoring student needs and outcomes, and driving toward increased opportunity and degree completion.

Leadership investments in PK-20 education: The Miami Foundation sees an opportunity to fuel increased resources to high-potential educational-opportunity initiatives in the region. Education is the number one priority area for our donor network, and our partners are often looking for ways to increase their impact.  We are ready to explore several big new ideas, and also to monitor the most promising existing ideas across the region to help fuel smart philanthropic investments that drive the maximum potential impact.

The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of what it takes to create positive change in large, complex education systems, strong relationship-building skills, deep project management experience, and a track record of successful collaboration across diverse groups of stakeholders. 

The Senior Director of College Access and Educational Opportunity will start out reporting to the Vice President of Community Investments but will work closely with our Vice President of Collective Impact team as well.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build a clear understanding of the best-in-class scholarship programs across the nation, and help reshape The Miami Foundation’s scholarship portfolio to incorporate best practices. Build a world-class continuum of care for scholarship recipients, including a strong and unified network of nonprofit and philanthropic partners, systems of support, and feedback mechanisms that allow for continuous improvement.  Assess the existing high-impact educational opportunities in Miami, and build a strong working relationship with aligned philanthropic partners to fuel bolder, more unified education investments in the region. Cultivate and maintain relationships with school districts, educators, nonprofit organizations, policymakers, businesses, and other stakeholders. Serve as a trusted partner and liaison between the foundation and educational institutions to align resources with identified needs. Foster a culture of collaboration, trust, and shared purpose among participants in the initiatives. Manage project timelines, budgets, and resources to ensure successful implementation of collective impact initiatives.  Communicate progress, successes, and challenges to stakeholders and organizational leadership on a regular basis. Establish clear metrics for success and evaluate outcomes; utilize data and evidence-based approaches to inform collective impact strategies and measure progress toward achieving intended outcomes.  Serve as a subject matter expert, advisor and occasionally manager for education-related initiatives across the Foundation including scholarships, education, and collective impact work. Identify funding opportunities and collaborate with the Foundation's development team to secure financial support for collective impact initiatives. Liaise with donors, fundholders and stakeholders of the initiative, providing regular progress updates. Explore potential partnerships and grant opportunities with philanthropic organizations and government agencies to augment funding. Stay up-to-date with trends and best practices in collective impact, and integrate new insights into the organization's approach to social change. Lead a high impact, joyful, and exceptionally performing team as well as a portfolio of outstanding and high performing contractors and consultants to achieve all departmental and organizational goals.  Work with internal stakeholders, including the Communications, Collective Impact, and Community Investments teams to ensure organizational alignment. Represent the Foundation at community gatherings, virtually and in person, to support the work of partners as well as initiate conversations with potential partners.

This role requires occasional availability outside of office hours for community engagement opportunities as well as transportation across the county for both events and partnership coordination.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

Essential Qualities 

• Entrepreneurial spirit – A passion for building innovative solutions from inception and developing the necessary processes and partnerships for their continued success. An eagerness for working across multiple functions of a project. 
• Facilitation and communication skills - Strong facilitation, communication and negotiation skills, with experience in bringing together diverse stakeholders and managing group dynamics. Excellent writing and grammar skills and general communications abilities written and verbal. 
• Strong interpersonal skills - Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain relationships with stakeholders at all levels. 
• Proactive and solution-oriented – An inclination to proactively seek opportunities to maximize impact or overcome challenges. Creative and resourceful in seeking or developing solutions. 
• Strong project and time management skills – An adeptness at using organizational methods and tools to manage multiple workstreams with ease and effectiveness, while maximizing shared visibility and accountability, with a proven track record of leading complex projects from start to finish. 
• Robust commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion – A dedication to deliberately and proactively engage and partner with groups that are historically underrepresented. Passionately believing that our strength as a community is rooted in our diversity. 

Desired Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in education, public administration, nonprofit management, or a related field. Doctorate preferred. 
• At least 10 years of experience in education, nonprofit leadership, or a related field, with a proven track record of program development and implementation, of which at least five years have been in Miami.
• At least 5 years of experience in collective impact or related fields (such as community organizing, program management, or stakeholder engagement). 
• Deep understanding of public school systems, education policy, and community-based initiatives. 
• Demonstrated success in designing, implementing, and evaluating collective impact initiatives or similar collaborative efforts. 
• Strong understanding of social issues and challenges faced by the Miami-Dade County community. 
• Data-driven mindset, with experience in using data to inform decision-making and evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives.   

This list of essential functions is not intended to be exhaustive. The Miami Foundation reserves the right to revise this job description as needed to comply with actual job requirements.  

SPECIFICS

Position available:          Immediately 

Status:                            Full Time, exempt

Target range:                 $130,000 - $150,000. The final determination of the selected candidate's title and pay will be based on experience and qualifications

We offer a comprehensive and generous benefits package which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 403(b)-retirement plan, flex spending and dependent care accounts, professional development stipend, paid time off, cell phone stipend, gym reimbursement, and the opportunity to establish a Staff Donor-Advised Fund (DAF). 

Please reach out to hr@miamifoundation.org if you need any accommodation in applying. 

The Miami Foundation’s Anti-Discrimination Policy - The Miami Foundation does not discriminate based on race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include hiring and firing staff, selecting volunteers, selecting vendors, and providing services. 

The Miami Foundation practices and champions inclusiveness. We honor the diverse strengths, needs, voices, and backgrounds of all members of our community. Candidates from traditionally marginalized communities are especially encouraged to apply.