Education Program Associate

Education Program Associate

Position Description

Organization

The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck (PCLB) Foundation is a private family foundation that seeks to help people solve problems in their communities. Our program areas are education, outdoors, medicine, science, and family projects. In those areas, we identify and support dynamic leaders and effective organizations who work unselfishly to improve and empower those around them. We provide problem-solvers with connections, information, experience, and money that they need to provide their communities with critical skills and resources—ultimately, to do something remarkable.

In 2023, PCLB adopted a 10-year strategic plan that names education as a core area of our grant-making. Last year, over 70% of our grant dollars were awarded to education. Our long term goal in education is to prepare all people to live rewarding, choice-filled lives by championing an excellent K-12 education. We believe that all students deserve an education that helps them build the knowledge, skills, and mindsets required to pursue their personal interests and ambitions. All students should graduate believing in their ability to succeed as capable, contributing members of society. To achieve our goal, through 2033, PCLB will partner with and fund organizations that support charter schools, people quality, and education advocacy.

Position Summary

As a member of PCLB’s Program Team, this Program Associate will support the Education Program Team with grant-making and grant oversight by engaging in a range of work. This includes conducting comprehensive research; analyzing and synthesizing qualitative and quantitative information; conducting an initial review of completed evaluation and monitoring documents/templates; drafting program-related communications; and managing logistics and tracking for specific grant activities. Additionally, the Program Associate will be directly responsible for management, oversight, and relationship-building for a select set of grantees, as assigned by the Team.

The ideal candidate for this position believes strongly in the goals and work of the Foundation’s education program area. The Program Associate thrives in both solo and group settings, showcasing adaptability and a commitment to collective success. They are an avid learner and an emergent subject matter expert in education. They are also expert at conducting desk research, adept at working with and manipulating datasets, and skilled at interacting with external parties to gather information. The Program Associate is a master at data storytelling! An ideal Program Associate can expertly analyze and synthesize research, data, and information, offering a succinct and coherent summary of findings that is understandable to a lay audience, and offers critical insight to help the Team in making decisions about strategy and grant-making. The Program Associate will also apply critical thinking skills when managing their own discreet set of grants and grantee relationships. The Program Associate reports directly to the Program and Administrative Officer.

Responsibilities

Grant Strategy Development

• Participates in and helps document the ideation of new or changing grant strategies created to achieve PCLB’s 10-year goals.
• Utilizes quantitative and qualitative research to help the Education Program Team learn more about issues/topics of interest (which will ultimately help inform grant strategies) and creates easy to understand reports that analyze and synthesize research findings.
• Contributes to the creation of tools and templates that enable the Team to more effectively and reliably track progress towards 10-year goals.
• Assists in the analysis of internally collected data and/or public, external data to evaluate progress toward PCLB’s 10-Year goals.

Grant-making

• Conducts background research on organizations/issues of interest to the Education Program Team and develops easy to understand profiles or reports that capture the requested information.
• Executes the grant-making process for a select list of grantees, as assigned, within deadlines. This work includes review of applications/reports and drafting internal-facing assessment documents.
• Assists in drafting internal presentations, and makes internal presentations as needed to explain rationale for recommended docket of grants.
• Supports the Education Program Team with revisions, updates, or improvements to PCLB’s internally developed performance measurements. Supports the Education Program Team with analysis of data submitted through performance measurements.

Grantee Relationship Building

• Engages with grantees, as needed, through site visits, meetings, phone calls and other channels to understand the organization’s work and to review opportunities and challenges.
• Preserves institutional knowledge and shares learnings internally by documenting critical information about grantees’ work.

Ongoing Learning and Development

• Supports Team in documenting values, principles, concepts, and methods in order to help codify/institutionalize the Foundation’s philosophy and strategic approaches.
• Promotes and participates in a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

A qualified candidate possesses:

• Commitment to the Foundation’s core values of Excellence, Fairness, Humility, Self-Reliance, and Trustworthiness.
• Commitment to, and belief in, the Foundation’s core program areas and portfolios.
• Some subject matter knowledge, experience, and interest in PCLB’s education program area/portfolios.
• Excellent quantitative, qualitative, and analysis skills and comfort in using applicable technology such as Microsoft Excel. Experience working with relational database management systems (e.g., MySQL) and data visualization software (e.g., PowerBI, Tableau) is a plus.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a wide range of individuals.
• Project management skills to manage multiple projects simultaneously and complete work on time.
• Discretion and commitment to organizational confidentiality.
• Willingness to travel and to work flexible hours, as needed.
• A bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 4-5 years of related experience, preferably with nonprofits.

Location

Staff spend three days per week “with people,” i.e., in the field with grantees or in the New York City office with colleagues. The other two days may be remote.

Compensation

The annual starting salary range is $80,000 to $90,000, and the salary is commensurate with the candidate’s skills and experience. PCLB also offers a strong benefits package.

Application Process

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to careers@pclbfoundation.org with “Education Program Associate” and where you found this job posting in the subject line. We will review applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled. The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.