Executive Director

About Educators for Excellence (E4E)

Founded by public school teachers, Educators for Excellence is a growing movement of over 36,000 educators, united behind a mission to improve student learning and elevate the teaching profession. We work together to identify issues that impact our schools, create solutions to these challenges, and advocate for policies and programs that give all students access to a quality education.

We treat teachers as agents of change instead of subjects of change. We do this by organizing anti-racist, student-focused educators, building their leadership capabilities and collective power through issue-based advocacy campaigns, and supporting them to take on positions of leadership in their schools, districts, and most importantly, in their unions.

With six chapters currently operating in Los Angeles, New York, Connecticut, Chicago, Massachusetts, and Minnesota, tens of thousands of educators have signed on to a common vision for elevating the teaching profession and improving student outcomes; thousands of teacher members have successfully advocated for and won equity and excellence focused policy changes in their local communities; and hundreds have trained for and taken on positions of elected and appointed leadership in their schools, districts, and unions.

To learn more, visit https://e4e.org/

Position Summary

Educators for Excellence (E4E) seeks a dynamic Executive Director to lead and build on the current momentum for our Chicago Chapter. This new leader will set the strategy and vision for the chapter, own and implement the fundraising strategy for the next phase of growth, and serve, alongside our Teacher Leaders, as the primary external representative of E4E’s work in Chicago while leading a small but mighty team of three.

Reporting to the Chief of Regional Impact & Strategy and serving as a member of E4E’s National Leadership Team, this hands-on role will oversee a $700K-$900K operating budget while leading the team to deliver on E4E’s Theory of Change to improve outcomes for students, particularly those from systemically underserved communities, and to elevate the prestige and quality of the teaching profession.

Key Responsibilities

Design and Execute Local Programs and Strategy

• Design and execute a local vision and multi-year plan for E4E-Chicago that works in concert with E4E’s theory of change, national strategic plan, and org-wide goals
• Evaluate opportunities within the local landscape for educators to influence policy at the district and state level
• Craft strategies to cultivate teacher members to grow their participation and develop their leadership so that they can pursue leadership roles within their district, state, and union
• Lead the organizing team to achieve power-building goals related to membership growth, teacher activism, and teacher leadership, create and implement metric-based chapter goals aligned with national goals and priorities; and manage data systems for evaluating progress toward those strategic goals

Lead and Manage Fundraising Strategy

• Work in collaboration with the Midwest Regional Development Manager (who reports into the national team) and National Development Team to fundraise the annual chapter budget of approximately $1M
• Innovate and expand local fundraising activities, with a strong focus on diversifying our current funding base, particularly by cultivating new individual and grassroots donors, exploring earned revenue opportunities, and stewarding relationships with existing partners with support from the national development team

Build and Manage a High Performing Team

• Model our core values and promote a strong and inclusive team culture, especially focused on our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and impact.
• Coach and manage a team of three, including two Organizers, and a third to-be-hired director-level role to support the chapter’s programming & operations
• Manage toward ambitious programmatic and operational goals, which include implementation of E4E’s grassroots organizing model, teacher leadership programs, and event series.

Represent E4E in the community

• Give speeches, author op-eds, attend education events and conferences, work with media, and engage with teachers and the general public to uplift the perspectives and ideas of E4E members
• Secure opportunities for teachers to share their voices directly in local media
• Build and maintain relationships with local policymakers, union leaders, key stakeholders, interest groups, and elected officials to support our local strategy
• Establish E4E-Chicago as a source for the opinions and perspectives of progressive educators on issues that impact Chicago’s classrooms

Serve on E4E’s Leadership Team

• Participate in Leadership Team (LT) calls, retreats, and Executive Director (ED) Cohort meetings, requiring quarterly travel
• Share input on key decisions that impact the entire organization and proactively develop potential solutions to the concerns identified for the betterment of our work, our culture, our staff, and our whole organization
• Act as a two-way communicator between the local team and the Leadership Team and vice versa, elevating issues and communicating important information
• Engage in org-wide community-building and work teams (e.g. Diversity Council, identity-based learning communities, serve on hiring committees, etc.)

Desired Qualifications

The Executive Director will possess strong communication skills, the ability to set clear actionable goals, and effectively allocate resources to achieve desired local and national goals. The ideal candidate will bring expertise in building partnerships, fundraising, community organizing, and leading effective teams. The successful candidate will be politically astute with a demonstrated track record of effectively navigating complex power dynamics and building coalitions.

While it’s understood that no single candidate will bring every single competency, strong candidates will offer the following skills, characteristics, and experiences:

• Bachelor's degree
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in leading others within the education, education policy, campaign organizing, and/or advocacy space, including at least five years of experience in one of the following fields preferred: Pre-K- 12 education, classroom teaching experience, community organizing, campaign organizing and/or union organizing
• An acumen for building an inclusive workplace where diversity and individual differences are valued and leveraged to achieve the vision and mission of the organization,
• The ability to build and maintain a deep knowledge of key Chicago and IL legislation, economic, social, and political trends and developments, including deep knowledge of the educational landscape; and their impact on the organization, its strategy, and its internal and external stakeholders.
• An entrepreneurial mindset, hustle, and resilient spirit in solving unexpected problems and successfully overcoming obstacles in challenging environments
• Strong motivational and staff leadership abilities
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; experience in effectively communicating key information both verbally and in writing to other senior leaders, teacher members, External Partners, Media, peers, and direct reports

Location

E4E is a remote-first organization. Given the nature of our work, team members will often engage in work in the field, at schools, at community events, and at meetings with teachers, partners, and donors. Outside of fieldwork, team members have access to a WeWork location locally in Chicago and can work remotely when work doesn’t require in-person engagement. The Executive Director is expected to be engaged in the Chicago community and attend events/meetings. This role includes up to 20% travel for team retreats, industry conferences, professional development opportunities, and state-level advocacy forums.

Compensation and Benefits

E4E is committed to valuing team members holistically in appreciation of their contribution to the organization’s success and for the good they create for society as part of our mission. We strive to attract, retain, and reward top talent by offering competitive salaries and benefits that are equitably and transparently administered. Therefore, we do not engage in salary negotiations - our first offer is always our best offer! The salary band for this role is $150,000 - $185,000.

Within this range, our competitive, non-negotiable salary offer will be based on a candidate’s relevant experience and credentials, role-related competencies assessed through our robust hiring process, and geographic location.

Our generous benefits package includes health, dental, vision, childcare, wellness initiatives, professional development, 401k savings plan with 50% employer matching up to 6% of salary, life insurance, long-term disability plan, short-term disability plan, accident insurance, paid family leave policy and robust PTO policy, which includes paid days for vacation, sick, and holidays.

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

All new employees are required to comply with E4E’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, which requires all staff be fully vaccinated prior to the start of employment. An employee will be considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the requisite number of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Employees may request an exemption as a reasonable accommodation due to a medical reason or a sincerely held religious belief. E4E abides by each state’s requirements and acknowledges they may change over time.

How to Apply

Maneva Group, a woman and minority-owned national executive search firm that specializes in mission-driven searches, has been exclusively retained for this engagement. To express interest in this role, please submit your resume and cover letter here: https://adr.to/en7wiai

All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential. This position is available immediately; we will accept and review new applications until the position is filled.

E4E is committed to valuing team members holistically in appreciation of their contribution to the organization’s success and for the good they create for society as part of our mission. We strive to attract, retain, and reward top talent by offering competitive salaries and benefits that are equitably and transparently administered. Therefore, we do not engage in salary negotiations - our first offer is always our best offer! The salary band for this role is $150,000 - $185,000.

Within this range, our competitive, non-negotiable salary offer will be based on a candidate’s relevant experience and credentials, role-related competencies assessed through our robust hiring process, and geographic location.

Our generous benefits package includes health, dental, vision, childcare, wellness initiatives, professional development, 401k savings plan with 50% employer matching up to 6% of salary, life insurance, long-term disability plan, short-term disability plan, accident insurance, paid family leave policy and robust PTO policy, which includes paid days for vacation, sick, and holidays.