Senior Director of Programs

Organization Overview:

Minds Matter NYC (MMNYC) connects driven and determined students from low-income families with people, preparation, and possibilities to succeed in college, create their future, and change the world! MMNYC is the founding and largest of the 14 Minds Matter chapters nationally. Since 1991, every Minds Matter student has been admitted to a four-year college. Their success is rooted in holistic programming and a unique model that puts dedicated volunteers at the forefront of the work with students.

In recent years, MMNYC has experienced tremendous growth — doubling the size of the student body (now reaching 500+ students), strengthening our volunteer corps and paid staff, and increasing our annual budget to $3MM. As part of the 2025 Strategic Plan, MMNYC dramatically expanded both its service population and scope of services — expanding from a 3-year college access program to a premier 7+ year college and career attainment program serving students from high school through college and into careers.

Position Summary & Responsibilities:

The Senior Director of Programs is the key leader for the delivery of MMNYC signature services. We are seeking an experienced and inspiring education leader to oversee the operational success of our programs. This leader will be responsible for implementing and executing all aspects of MMNYC programs, ensuring seamless delivery, and managing a team of talented program staff and dedicated volunteer leaders. This leader will also play a critical role collaborating with peers from Minds Matter chapters across the country and coordinating with the Chief Program Officer from Minds Matter National.

Reporting to the Executive Director and a critical member of our Leadership Team, the ideal applicant has proven expertise in college access and success and is passionate about MMNYC continuing to be seen as a best-in-class college attainment program. The Senior Director of Programs is a highly collaborative leadership role that works with various stakeholders throughout the organization, including members of the Minds Matter NYC staff, our Board of Directors, our volunteer community, amazing students/families, and our school, college, and CBO partners.

The key responsibilities for the Senior Director of Programs role include, but are not limited to:

Program Management (40%)

• Accountable for Program success, proactively planning for the future, and anticipating challenges.
• Oversee Saturday sessions, ensuring attendance and volunteers are prepared to facilitate curriculum.
• Successfully plan and execute MMNYC annual summer program for rising high school juniors.
• Foster relationships for strong collaboration and communication between staff and volunteer leaders.
• Cultivate relationships with partner high schools, other CBOs, and colleges and universities.
• Oversee school partnerships as it relates to space needs and student recruitment.
• Oversee all aspects of data collection and ensure the accuracy of student records in Salesforce.
• Manage and analyze data for accurate reporting that is compliant with internal/external standards.
• Develop Program budget and assist with grant-related budgets to ensure all are within requirements.

Curriculum Delivery & Evaluation (30%)

• Keep abreast of the latest educational data, strategies, and programs, and develop and define innovative curriculum and programmatic offerings for MMNYC high school and college students.
• Serve as resident content expert in college access, college success, and career readiness.
• Distribute and analyze annual student surveys, making recommendations and changes as needed.
• Participate in on-going internal program evaluation, such as the annual student and volunteer happiness survey, and incorporate the use of data into program management and development.
• Develop and implement program evaluations that guide improvements aligned to the strategic plan and collaborate with the Leadership Team to develop future strategic plans.

People Management, Engagement & Team Culture (30%)

• Provide strong leadership to the Program staff, ensuring they understand their role as it pertains to the overall MMNYC strategy, setting goals and deliverables for ongoing feedback and reviews.
• Ensure students and volunteers are successfully welcomed into the program, and that expectations for each are clear and consistent. Create points of celebration and ritual throughout the program.
• Collaborate with the Volunteers & Partnerships Team to ensure that all volunteer positions are filled before the start of each program year. Oversee and manage volunteer leaders to ensure that all are trained and prepared to execute and facilitate all programs. Track student and volunteer engagement and create strategies to continuously improve retention.

Professional Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will have non-profit expertise in college access and/or college success organizations. They will possess knowledge of educational equity issues and a passion for serving youth. They are a skilled education professional with experience directing programs, including setting vision and strategy. They understand the value of data and the power of leveraging it to improve programmatic outcomes. If you love working with people, especially volunteers joined by a common purpose, and are skilled at motivating early career direct reports, then this may be the perfect role for you!

Specific education and professional requirements include:

• Bachelor’s degree in Education, Psychology, Business, or other related fields (Master’s is a plus)
• 12+ years in organizational leadership role (education or youth development sectors preferred)
• Highly detailed oriented, able to manage multiple projects/timelines/tasks in fast-paced environment
• Experienced in project management, program execution, and curriculum design and evaluation
• Confident public speaker, able to convey organizational messages articulately and enthusiastically
• Strong Interpersonal skills and ability to genuinely connect with people from diverse backgrounds
• Motivated, self-starter who can execute existing processes but also create and lead new initiatives
• Experienced in evaluating curriculum to meet student needs and using data to drive decision-making
• Knowledgeable and experienced with CRM databases (Salesforce preferred)
• Must be able to work 15 to 20 Saturdays (10am - 2pm, September to June) & occasional evenings
• Ability and willingness to travel to various school locations within New York City for programs