Director

General Description:

Graduate NYC! (www.gradnyc.com) brings together the resources of the City University of New York, the New York City Department of Education, the New York City Mayor’s Office, and a wide range of youth-serving organizations in New York City to address issues related to college readiness and college success. By 2020, Graduate NYC! aims to significantly increase the college readiness rate and college completion rate of young people in New York City.

The Director will be responsible for the oversight and management of the Graduate NYC! Initiative.

Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the position are as follows:

• Provide management and oversight for current Graduate NYC! Projects and programs, which include:
  • Curriculum Alignment Pilot, which brings together high school and college faculty in English and mathematics to develop curriculum units aligned to the Common Core State Standards;
  • Graduate NYC! Academy, a professional development series for practitioners in the college access and college completion field;
  • College Focus Program, an academic preparation program for high school students who have not yet met college readiness benchmarks;
  • Community Best Practice Forums, quarterly meetings in which specific topics are presented/discussed among college access and success practitioners in NYC;
  • Longitudinal Tracking Database, technical support for the creation of a longitudinal database that draws upon CUNY and DOE student-level data.
• Provide leadership in the creation and development of two major city-wide resources:
  • NYC College Line, a web-based portal which will feature:
    • A searchable database of NYC-based programs. This “directory” will enable students, families and professionals, for the first time in NYC, to differentiate and find college readiness, access, and completion programs;
    • Access to advisement services. Trained student and advisor fellowship will be available to answer students questions;
    • A personalized experience by user. A “bulletin board” tool that enables users to categorize, save, and share the most recent internet-based resources related to college preparation, access, transition, and college success;
      
    • Student and parent perspective. Dynamic student and parent generated content like video diaries, blogs, social media, etc., to provide student and parent perspective on college going, and college completion.
  • NYC College Completion Innovation Fund to support promising community practices aimed at improving student college completion outcomes. With $200,000 in committed seed funding, the goal is to develop a dedicated fund aimed at dramatically improving college completion rates in New York City. The Fund will do so by improving student access to high quality community-based support services pre- and post- college enrollment, increased citywide awareness of the steps to prepare for, enroll, and complete college, and increase capacity of youth serving organizations to support college completion.
• Other new projects as needs arise.
• Communicate Graduate NYC!’s progress and accomplishments with all CUNY and Department of Education; ensure work is aligned with existing policies and priorities at both institutions;
• Develop and manage Graduate NYC!’s reports for the National League of Cities, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, OMG Center for Collaboration, the City University of New York, the NYC Department of Education and other relevant parties;
• Develop and manage the budget for Graduate NYC! Staff and projects;
• Raise additional funding for the sustainability of Graduate NYC! Work;
• Manage and support Initiative staff.

Other Duties:

• Management of taskforces, as needed;
• Management of various, diverse projects related to college readiness and success;
• Assist and/or lead meeting and event planning;
• Ensure that project goals, tasks, schedule and budget are well defined and maintained.
• Maintain confidentiality as required by the project or as directed by supervisors.

Core Competencies/Qualifications:

• Experience working with non-for-profits in New York City;
• Experience in youth policy or education;
• Experience in soliciting, selecting and managing external contractors;
• Experience in raising funds from philanthropies and donors;
• Ability to perform simple to moderately complex analyses;
• Experience developing or managing public communication strategies;
• Experience managing complex projects;
• Experience planning and facilitating meetings;
• Proven ability to take initiative and multi-task;
• Strong interpersonal skills, excellent organizational skills, and strong written and verbal communication skills;
• Computer skills should include MS Office suite (Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint).
• Ability to take direction and work as part of a team as well as independently;
• Master Degree and at least five years experience.

Salary: Commensurate with experience.

Application Instructions
Please submit a cover letter and resume to: gnycsearch@gmail.com.

Job Type: Executive
Organization Type: Nonprofit Organizations