JOB TITLE: Managing Director, Alumni Leadership

TEAM: California Capital Valley

REPORTS TO: Angelina Molina, Executive Director

APPLICATION DEADLINE: February 18, 2025 at 11:59pm ET

LOCATION: Sacramento, CA highly preferred

THE ROLE

As the Managing Director, Alumni Leadership you will lead our program work in the California Capital Valley to help us continue building our network strategy with a focus on fostering collective leadership and identifying the ways we can most contribute to impact in our communities. You will design and iterate strategies that invest in the leadership of our network based on the strategic clarity of our region, our 10 year goal, our foundations and theory of leadership. You will work from a passion for building relationships with alumni, finding opportunities to collaborate with other leaders in our community and building coalitions around opportunities in our communities. You will embrace thinking expansively about what is possible, co-creating new approaches to leadership development with education leaders and students, and ultimately working from a vision that radically reimagines how we do school. You thrive in an environment that calls on you to move from abstraction and ambiguity to defining a path and executing work aligned with a compelling vision. You will work closely with the Executive Director as a strategic thought partner and regularly engage in our regional collaborative space to help steward cohesion and coherence across our internal and external regional work.

THE PERSON

Alumni Strategic Planning and Execution (30%)

• Ideate, iterate, and strategically align initiatives alongside key regional stakeholders that include alumni, community partners, staff, and students that build connection and community, and drive impact for our network.

• Create short and long-term goals for programs, initiatives or projects that fit within a multi-year plan grounded in our strategic clarity and aligned with our vision for leadership development.

• Design and execute the One CA Alumni Talent strategy in partnership with CA alumni staff to drive our alumni network into key roles, including identifying key leadership pipelines and curating professional development opportunities for alumni, either directly or through critical partnerships.

• Develop annual goals in partnership with CA Executive Directors around the size and strength of our statewide alumni talent programming through a comprehensive analysis of the California educational landscape, and the impact and scale of alumni leadership initiatives.

• Forge strategic partnerships, in collaboration with CA alumni staff, with organizations, schools, networks, and educational leadership programs to create opportunities for alumni involvement and career advancement.

Alumni Leadership and Talent Development (30%)

• Activate, assess and optimize relationships with alumni including regularly learning how we can best support them and strategically evolve our approach and utilize their experience and expertise to better support the network.

• Act as the primary liaison for Ignite school partnerships, working with the Ignite Team to manage partnerships, build relationships, and ensure impact for fellows and students.

• Design and execute programming and resources for the School Leadership Lab. This includes school-based strategic planning, instructional walkthroughs, academic recommendations, 1:1 school leader coaching, and educator-based professional development.

• Design and execute programming and resources for the Summer Reading Camp. This includes partner and school-based planning, operational direction, academic recommendations, quality assurance, and staff development.

Build Alumni Network and Strengthen Connectivity (30%)

• Develop relationships in the California Capital Valley communities that open and expand opportunities to partner, engage and collaborate on issues, initiatives or projects grounded in a shared vision for an excellent education and that advance our mission and strategy.

• Maintain an ongoing analysis of the education landscape across the communities where we work and reflect our alumni network including changes in systems leadership, conditions for change, and perspectives of alumni in key positions.

• Establish new partnerships and strengthen existing partnerships with schools, districts, and other key partners to catalyze the impact of our alumni.

• Represent TFA California alongside CA alumni staff at relevant events and forums to build relationships and increase visibility for the alumni network.

• Design and execute programming and resources alongside CA alumni staff to drive alumni talent into high impact roles across California.

• Collaborate with CA alumni staff to strengthen statewide alumni connectivity by building strategic relationships with individual alumni in high impact roles via in-person and virtual meetings that are aligned to and further our alumni priorities and lead to sustained activation.

Regional Team Responsibilities (10%)

• Be a strategic thought partner with other team members in development and communications as well as with the Executive Director in ways that provide learning, insight, and support to our regional vision.

• Engage as an unwavering team player, attending all-staff meetings and supporting the execution of region-wide projects for the benefit of the collective team as a steward of key performance indicators.

• Participate in-region and organization-wide initiatives and events such as National alumni calls and selection (corps members and Ignite) as well as working groups.

• Steward the strategic alignment of our region with government affairs, California regional team collaboration, and national priorities to ensure we optimize our learning, influence and support.

• Be a cultural leader that reflects our core values, commitment to being an anti-racist organization and the deep belief in our people, our alumni, students and diverse and wide ranging community partners.

• Engage in regional meetings, stepback, retreats, Regional Advisory Board meetings and actively engage in opportunities to collaborate, learn and advise about ongoing regional work.

• Engage in ongoing opportunities to learn and collaborate with teams and leaders across Teach For America to both gain insight and perspective and share learning and expertise with other internal teams.

THE MUST HAVES

• A love for building coalitions: you know and believe that bringing people together around shared values and interests is a powerful way to developing priorities and goals and find satisfaction and have fire for individual connections as well as building teams and facilitating groups toward meaningful impact

• Plays well with others: You know that collaboration is key to successful execution of experiences and events and act on that belief. You see the connection between operations, logistics, compliance, and culture and our ability to reach outcomes. Consistently orients to “our” work vs “my work” and holds an uncommon level of personal responsibility for our region-wide outcomes

• Grace under fire: You are emotionally intelligent. You can read people/read a room and can restore equilibrium, grace, and positivity. You focus on de-escalating, simplifying, and neutralizing challenging or complex situations.

• Most likely to play Macgyver: You do not see the world as either/or. You consider all the shades of grey, consider alternatives, and are always open to mocking up and taking a different path as long as you get to your destination. You are a nuanced thinker and are also quick to take actions. Where others see roadblocks or challenges, you see solutions (and duct tape).

• See the forest and the trees: You sweat the small stuff, but do not get lost in details or go down detail-rabbit holes. You feel ownership over the sum, not the parts. You consistently orient operations back to the “why” of operations and are always thinking three steps - or three years - ahead.

• Impeccable judgment: You don’t need to be told when to consult with others, you are

• self-aware and know who to go to, at what level, and when. You can be trusted to lead with integrity, nuance and an org-wide orientation.

• Your word is your bond: One of your core values is integrity. You are trustworthy. You can handle confidential information. When there’s talk at a water cooler, you walk away. You are who you are, no matter where you are.

• A systems thinker: Seeks to elevate the current development opportunity for the greatest impact tomorrow, next year, and five years from now. Works to fully integrate strategy across sub-teams for seamless external stakeholder engagement.

• A concise communicator: Analyzes, synthesizes, and prioritizes large volumes of information into consumable chunks.

• Loves puzzles: Can proactively seek out missing information, identify discordant views, and build a recommendation for the next right step.

• DEI is what we do and how we do: Aligned toward and resonates deeply with Teach For America's core values and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusiveness.

• An enthusiast: You find joy in the work. You enjoy a good laugh. You like to be delighted and delight others.

Prior Experience

Skills

Work Demands

• Occasional weekend and evening work required for events within the California Capital Valley

• This role is required to travel to and work from our Downtown Sacramento office as needed

YOUR COMPENSATION

The applicable salary range for each U.S.-based role is based on where the employee works and is aligned to one of 3 tiers according to a cost of labor index in that geographic area. Starting pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of job-related factors, which may include education, training, experience, location, business needs, or market demands. New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. The expected salary ranges for this role are set forth below. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Tier B: $98,100-131,100

You can view which tier applies to where you plan to work here. If your location is not listed, please click here for additional total rewards information.