|
|
|
Position Description for
Executive Director
The Academy of Hope
Background
Established in 1985, the
Academy of Hope provides a community of hope and opportunity through high
quality education and job skills training to low-income and at-risk adults in
Washington, DC and offers learning opportunities to students at all levels.
The Academy of Hope accomplishes its mission by focusing on three key areas:
learning environment, education, and job readiness. The Academy creates a
nurturing, high quality, individualized student-centered learning environment,
within which it provides adult basic education leading to improved literacy,
high school credentials, and computer and technology training, as appropriate.
The Academy's job readiness focus includes career counseling, pre-employment
workshops, and resume and interview preparation. In addition to these three
areas of concentration, the Academy maintains a commitment to a strong
volunteer focus, to maximizing access to services for high-need students, and
to forming partnerships with other community-based organizations.
The Academy is guided by the following public commitment: "The Academy of Hope
will be a school in which the main subject for everyone, teachers and students
alike, is not reading, writing, or math, but hope."
Current Situation
An actively engaged nineteen-member volunteer Board of Directors governs AoH.
The Executive Director oversees the operations of the organization, which has
a full-time staff of nine, including the Director, as well as two full-time
interns and 65 active volunteers per semester. A senior team of managers
oversees the Academy's programs. Together, they serve 400 adult learners each
year, through daytime and evening classes.
The operating budget for 2006 is $650,000, with a solid and increasingly
diverse financial base. The Academy's primary sources of revenue are grants
and contributions from individuals, foundations, corporations, associations,
and faith-based organizations.
The AoH has four major programs: Adult Basic Education (ABE)/General
Educational Development (GED), External Diploma Program, Workplace Literacy,
and Computers. The organizational culture can be described as a mutually
caring community that is respectful, down to earth, and creative. It is
further distinguished by its results-oriented programming and by a commitment
to setting and achieving high standards. Located in a large church in the
Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC, the Academy is currently
seeking a new and larger facility. The organization believes that the size of
its present enrollment permits delivery of the individualized, high quality
services its students need. Rather than expanding the student base, AoH seeks
to enhance the depth of services offered to its students, while also always
finding new, creative ways to address enrollment attrition issues on an
individual basis.
In 2005 the Academy of Hope implemented a new three-year strategic plan,
helped 25 students earn their high school diplomas and 111 students boost
their test scores; the Academy served over 100 adults through its workplace
literacy program.
Specific Responsibilities
The Academy is seeking a visionary and multi-skilled Executive Director to
lead the organization and build on its exceptional twenty-year record serving
adult learners in Washington, D.C.
The Executive Director will serve as the leader and chief spokesperson for the
Academy of Hope and will report directly to the Board of Directors, through
the Board's President. The new Director will lead the organization collegially
in a manner consistent with the mission and vision of the AoH, and will
develop the talents and skills of the staff, interns, and volunteers. S/he
will inspire and solicit support from a wide spectrum of people from different
social and cultural backgrounds, and must have interpersonal skills that
inspire trust and confidence.
The Executive Director will ensure that the organizational structure enables
the Academy to effectively accomplish its mission and strategic objectives.
The Executive Director will supervise staff, work with an active policy and
fundraising board, and engage a large and dedicated group of volunteer
teachers and tutors. The Executive Director will manage the organization and
its resources and raise funds from public and private sources. S/he will
provide effective and collaborative leadership across the organization and
must be able to engage in strategic visioning (i.e., see the "big picture") as
well as ensure strong and efficient internal communication and management
systems on a day-to-day basis.
The Executive Director will play an active role in guiding the Academy's
educational programs. S/he will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of
current programs, and inspire the staff and volunteers to find creative ways
of improving services. The new Director will represent the organization
effectively with funders, other nonprofits, and the community.
Major Objectives
The new Executive Director is expected to accomplish the following major
objectives over the next 12-18 months:
-
Collaborate with staff,
interns, and volunteers to strengthen the infrastructure of the
organization in a manner consistent with the mission, vision, and values
of the Academy, and create an ongoing leadership development plan for
staff and volunteers that identifies professional growth opportunities
that also support AoH's strategic direction;
-
Articulate the Academy's
vision and mission to members of the D.C. community in a manner that
increases its visibility;
-
Plan, organize, and manage
a move to new office space;
-
Continue to enhance and
refine the programs and services to develop a holistic, student-centered
system that helps each individual reach his/her highest potential;
-
Work closely with the Board
of Directors to design and implement a comprehensive development strategy
to increase and diversify operational funding and a marketing plan for
raising the profile of the organization.
Professional
Qualifications
The incoming Executive Director
should possess the following qualifications:
-
A capacity to motivate
others, provide vision, maintain focus, and ensure that the Academy is
responsive to student and community needs and has a clear sense of purpose
and direction;
-
The ability to assess and
refine programs and services;
-
At least five years of
senior management experience, including nonprofit management experience,
reflecting an ability to effectively manage and maintain high quality
services and internal organizational systems;
-
Strong media,
communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills;
-
Strong development skills,
with a proven track record raising funds from a range of public and
private sources, and the ability to expand and further diversify the
Academy's funding base;
-
The capacity to organize
resources, establish priorities, develop and monitor budgets, and to
ensure that financial resources are managed effectively and efficiently;
-
Demonstrated experience in
empowerment through education, experience in adult education, literacy,
and/or other social services, or a willingness to become thoroughly
knowledgeable about adult education services;
-
Demonstrated capacity to
work with a nonprofit board of directors, ensuring information sharing,
effective communications, consultation, and support to enable it to
fulfill its policy and oversight responsibilities;
-
Ability to attract,
develop, motivate, retain, and manage the professional development of
diverse staff, interns, and volunteers;
-
Successful experience as a
team builder who has thrived in an inclusive, diverse, environment.
Personal Characteristics
The new Executive Director should possess the following characteristics:
-
An appreciation of the challenges poverty creates for the Academy's adult
learners, the hurdles each must overcome to be successful in the Academy's
programs, and the ways in the Academy's culture and approach to adult
education make success possible;
-
A demonstrated commitment to high quality service and excellence, to
diversity and inclusion, and to the population of at-risk or low-income
adults AoH serves;
-
Personal commitment and passion for adult literacy and educational
empowerment;
-
An ability to inspire and elicit support from a wide spectrum of people
from different social and cultural backgrounds;
-
Ability to recognize and maximize opportunity on behalf of the
organization;
-
Drive, coupled with energetic, entrepreneurial leadership qualities; a
willingness to take risks and sometimes be unpopular in order to be a
strong advocate for people;
-
A positive and confident leadership style;
-
A warm, personal style with a good sense of humor.
Compensation
Salary and other compensation will be negotiated and will be competitive with
similar positions commensurate to qualifications and experience.
Please forward a
letter, a detailed resume, three professional
references, and appropriate materials immediately to:
AoHSearch@boulwareinc.com
|
|
|
