ABOUT WEST CONTRA COSTA PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND (Ed Fund)

The West Contra Costa Public Education Fund (Ed Fund), an organization committed to ensuring all West Contra Costa Unified (WCCUSD) students acquire the skills and knowledge to succeed in the world, seeks a new Executive Director (ED) to lead the Ed Fund into a new era of strengthened partnerships and impact.

Organizational Overview

The Ed Fund aligns the efforts of our partners and mobilizes resources for K-12 students to ensure that all WCCUSD youth succeed in college, career, and life. We believe that when communities work together to eliminate inequities, our youth will thrive. As an intermediary, the Ed Fund accomplishes our missions through:

1. Fundraising and driving resources to district and community projects that create and sustain excellent outcomes, especially for initiatives that center Black students. 

2. Investing in leadership and leadership development opportunities that create and sustain innovative and effective schools.

3. Convening stakeholders around a collective vision and shared responsibility for student outcomes.

Values that guide our work are:

o   Love – We see the brilliance and potential of all WCCUSD students.

o   Public Education – We believe that quality, equitable public education is a human right.

o   Justice – We work to correct the historic and ongoing divestment in Black students.

o   Partnership – It takes strong and deep collaboration across the region to make sure all students have what they need to thrive.

o   Community – Everything we do is in service to this place we call home!

Opportunity Highlights:

• Lead the Ed Fund into a new stage of growth, partnership, and results that improve social and academic outcomes for WCCUSD students

• Focus on increasing education equity, thereby understanding how race, class, immigration, language, gender, sexuality, and ability impact education outcomes

• Short-term goal is to double organizational revenue over the next few years

• Salary $120,000 – $135,000

• Benefits include:

o   100% medical and dental coverage for individual AND family

o   Employer-sponsored 403b plan

o   15 accrued vacation days

o   12 paid holidays

o   Parental leave

Since its founding in 1983, the Ed Fund has been committed to ensuring all students in West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) acquire the skills and knowledge to succeed in the world. Over the years, the Ed Fund has provided $3M in teacher grants, $1.2M in student scholarships, and has been at the forefront of collective impact efforts.  Now is an exciting time for the Ed Fund as we move into a new era focused on strengthening partnerships with WCCUSD, families, community, and philanthropic partners. Please review the Ed Fund’s Annual Report to learn more about our impact.

WCCUSD is also facing many challenges: low and stagnant scores on the SBAC English Language Arts and Math assessments (California’s standardized exams), high class sizes, poor teacher retention, declining enrollment, and chronic performance gaps among African American and Latino students. The Ed Fund believes that now, more than ever, the WCCUSD community must come together to meet the needs of students.

For more information, please visit www.edfundwest.org/ 

EQUITY STATEMENT

The Ed Fund is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status

POSITION OVERVIEW

The West Contra Costa Public Education Fund (Ed Fund), an organization committed to ensuring all West Contra Costa Unified (WCCUSD) students acquire the skills and knowledge to succeed in the world, seeks a new Executive Director (ED) to lead the Ed Fund into a new era of strengthened partnerships and impact.

The Ed Fund is looking for an inspirational leader that has a proven commitment to equity, the ability to grow the organization through bold fundraising, and demonstrated experience bringing stakeholders together to achieve results. The ideal candidate will have a deep commitment to West Contra Costa students and our community, education achievement, learning and evaluation, fund development, and fiscal management.

The organization’s annual operating budget is just under $1M.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will also lead, inspire and motivate a small team of staff, interns, and volunteers toward progress on strategic plan and recruit and train additional staff as needed.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• In partnership with the Board of Directors and WCCUSD leadership, drive a bold vision to vastly increase funding and program services for students and their families.

  Double organizational revenue over the next few years.

• Lead the Ed Fund’s external engagement with students, families, communities, local decision-makers, funders, and other organizations.

• Hold and execute an idea around organizational evaluation to understand and share our value proposition.

• Lead, inspire and motivate a small team of staff, interns, and volunteers toward progress on the strategic plan and recruit and train additional staff as needed.

• ·Manage and help guide day-to-day activities of the foundation including but not limited to staff management, financial oversight, volunteer relations and support, and community relations.

• Value, promote and support the active participation of volunteers.

• Lead effective systems to track scaling progress and regularly evaluate program components to measure successes that will be communicated to the Board, donors, and other constituents.

• Deepen and refine all aspects of communications, from web presence to external relations to digital & social media campaigns, with the goal of creating an even stronger brand in the community.

• Attend Board meetings and work with Board chair to create and implement plan for Board fundraising engagement.

• Monitor, participate in and adhere to best practices in philanthropy and communications sectors.

• Drive the annual budget process ensuring monitoring and management of expenses, regular, accurate and timely reporting, sound accounting practices and compliance with applicable laws, and successful completion of the annual audit.

• Maintain/develop/deepen productive working relationships with key school district leaders and community members.

QUALIFICATIONS

The Ed Fund Board is looking for a candidate that represents many of the following attributes:

• Experience as an effective advocate and champion for equity in education, community engagement/development, or a related field.

• Experience as an effective fundraiser with the ability to ignite a diverse set of donors to invest in the mission of the Ed Fund.

• Strong understanding of school, district, and community partnerships.

• Entrepreneurial spirit able to grow programming and organizational mission.

• A passion for West Contra Costa students or community with similar demographics, with an understanding of the challenges and opportunities using an equity frame.

• Ability to foster and support a strong internal team and board culture where staff and board feel connected and energized about the work.

• Track record of significant success in engaging and “closing” a diverse group of donors and funders to support both short and long-term financial stability and growth.

• An understanding of how to engage political and community stakeholders in efforts to support increased educational outcomes for our students.

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills in order to convey the Ed Fund’s mission, vision, and outcomes.

• Knowledge of and ability to use CRMs and basic technology including MS Word and Google Suite. Any knowledge of SUMAC preferred,

• Ability to set direction and manage the relationship with the Board of Trustees.

• A college degree required aligned with the Ed Fund’s approach and values.

• Passion for and commitment to the mission of the West Contra Costa Public Education Fund.

SALARY OR SALARY RANGE

The salary range for this position is $120,000 – $135,000 plus benefits including,

o   100% medical and dental for individual AND family

o   Employer-sponsored 403b plan

o   15 accrued vacation days

o   12 paid holidays

o   Parental leave

TO APPLY

To apply for this position, or for additional information on the opportunity, please send a copy of your resume with a cover letter to Victoria Silverman at apply@cooksilverman.com.

All applications and inquiries will receive a response and be kept strictly confidential.