Executive Director

Position Highlights:

• Full-time, 12-month work year, onsite position
• Location: Humboldt Park, IL
• Salary: $150+K
• Start date is immediate/flexible: By early Summer 2025 in preparation for the 2025-26 school year.

Organization Overview:

​​​​​Our client, Erie Elementary Charter School (Erie), is a K-8 nonprofit dual language public charter school open to all and serving Chicago’s Northwest Side community. The school’s vision is a world of empowered students who cultivate character, connect to culture, pursue education and contribute to their community in order to thrive in a diverse global society. To realize this vision, Erie pursues its mission of fostering the habits of Heart, Mind and Work. Erie builds Spanish proficiency and opens doors to multicultural competence. The school’s responsive environment and engaging curriculum empower, educate and elevate students to confidently enter a path of higher education and participate in a diverse global society.

Erie was founded in 2005, created and incubated by Erie Neighborhood House, a comprehensive social service agency that promotes a just and inclusive society. Erie embodies the vision of providing families educational choice in a school where students experience a nurturing, caring environment while getting an excellent K-8 education.

Erie is a community where children and adults learn self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, personal safety, and responsible decision-making. The school’s foundational pillars - the three tenets that frame Erie’s past, present, and future - include:

1. Lifelong Learning - elevating students to confidently enter a path of higher learning
2. Dual Language - building multicultural competency through Spanish proficiency
3. Whole Child - creating a responsive and supportive environment through social-emotional learning

Position Overview:

Erie seeks an inspirational leader with a vision aligned to Erie’s values and committed to building upon the school’s achievements, unique dual-language philosophy and strong community. This individual will develop and lead long-term organizational strategy, partnerships and growth efforts.

Reporting directly to the Erie Elementary Charter School Board of Directors, the Executive Director (ED) serves as the most senior administrator at Erie. The ED is responsible for all aspects of organizational health, including advancing the school’s mission/vision; meeting the school's fundraising and financial goals, and maintaining effective operational systems.

As Executive Director, You are Responsible for:

Leadership and Strategic Vision

• Engage/collaborate with students, families, teachers, staff and Board members to foster a positive, ambitious and cohesive organizational culture and vision.
• Inspire a culture of quality in students, staff and community.
• Evaluate staffing needs and provide human resource leadership to meet the school’s mission and strategic plan, including hiring and management of staff.
• Ensure excellence through rigorous program evaluation and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications and systems; recommend timelines, structures and resources needed to achieve strategic goals.

Operational and Financial Oversight

• Manage Board-approved annual school budget and long-term financial goals. Regularly meet with the Board Finance Committee.
• Be the primary contact for charter renewal and ensure that the school complies with applicable charter school best practices, laws and regulations.
• Regularly attend relevant charter school network and CPS events.
• Oversee all HR/talent management, including hiring, performance assessment, staff development and resource allocation.
• Directly manage, coach and develop key leaders including the Principal, Director of Operations, and student recruiting and development professionals.
• Maintain regular weekly meetings with the Operations and Academic teams.

Fundraising, Development and External Relations

• Ensure the financial health of the school by cultivating relationships and actively maintaining and growing funding from individuals, foundations and corporations. Ensure that the school meets its short- and long-term fundraising goals.
• Build and strengthen relationships with key stakeholders (parent leadership groups, community partners, local politicians, etc.) to promote organizational priorities, collaborative partnerships and community inclusiveness.
• In collaboration with appropriate staff and committees, initiate, plan and lead resource development efforts including grants management, fundraising campaigns and marketing.
• Recruit students to ensure full capacity enrollment.

Board Governance

• Serve as the primary point of contact between the school staff and the Board of directors. Communicate updates on the mission, strategic plan and organizational progress to the Board and key stakeholders, and relay the board’s vision to the staff.
• Engage the Board in strategic planning, fundraising and community outreach initiatives.
• Maintain regular reporting (weekly or bi-weekly) meetings with the Executive Board.

What You Bring to the Role:

• Results-focused, highly organized self-starter who works effectively with others and independently.
• Ability to manage a high-volume, deadline-driven workload with discipline, poise and optimism.
• Demonstrated success in strategic planning, operations, finance and fundraising.
• Demonstrated experience implementing and managing strong organizational structures with regular reporting and measurable results.
• Unwavering commitment to quality programs and data-driven evaluation.
• Passion for education with a solid understanding of education policy and best practices.
• Sophisticated relationship-building skills to effectively act as the external face of the organization.
• Executive level management experience with a track record of results that exceed established goals.
• Problem solver with the ability to modify best practices to fit Erie resources and needs.
• Ability to engage and work collaboratively with staff, students, community partners, Board and donors.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required, relevant graduate degree preferred.
• At least 5 years of management experience in a school or district, including staff supervision, strategic vision setting and execution.
• Demonstrated experience and competence in working with operations, finance and budget, ideally in a charter school context.
• Demonstrated successful, relevant fundraising and Board management experience.
• Fluency in Spanish is strongly preferred.

Compensation, Benefits, and Job Structure:

• Competitive compensation structure of $150k+ based on skills and experience.
• Comprehensive health & welfare benefits.
• Performance bonus based on annual goals set by the Board in collaboration with the Executive Director.
• Ongoing professional development.

Reporting and Evaluation

The Executive Director will report to the Erie Elementary Charter School Board of Directors. The Board will evaluate the Executive Director annually.