Partner, Diverse Leaders

OPPORTUNITY

Nationally recognized nonprofit venture philanthropy seeks a Partner to lead the Diverse Leaders investment area. 

ORGANIZATION

NewSchools Venture Fund is a national nonprofit that supports and invests in promising and innovative education entrepreneurs and leaders and helps them accomplish their missions to achieve outstanding results for the schools, students and educators they serve. We are committed to helping students graduate high school prepared and inspired to achieve their most ambitious dreams and plans. Through our investing, management assistance, network building, and thought leadership, NewSchools helps to reimagine PK-12 education.  

We have a passionate, inclusive, bold, accountable and connected culture where employees at all levels have the opportunity to grow and contribute.  Please visit our website at www.newschools.org to learn more about NewSchools Venture Fund and our core values.  

DIVERSE LEADERS INVESTMENT AREA

The Diverse Leaders strategy aims to advance Black and Latino leadership in education. Our goal is for Black and Latino leaders to represent at least 40 percent of the PreK-12 education workforce, mirroring the demographics of U.S. students today. We seek to accomplish this by:

• Investing in entrepreneurs with bold new ideas to diversify education leadership. We provide seed funding to new organizations and support new initiatives within existing organizations. 
• Influencing funders and partners to prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion. We advise funders on their DEI strategy development, engage in funder convenings, and create high-impact publications to advance action on this topic and share lessons from the field.
• Supporting the other investment teams to prioritize racial equity in their investing and management assistance practices. 

To learn more about our work, please visit:  https://www.newschools.org/diverse-leaders/strategy/

RESPONSIBILITIES

NewSchools seeks a Partner to lead our Diverse Leaders team, and to bring the vision & strategy for this critical investment area to life. You will develop our approaches to investing in a national portfolio of ventures, design high-impact management assistance supports for this group and create meaningful thought leadership pieces. You will manage the Diverse Leaders team, supporting the growth and development of three direct reports. In this role, you will report to Frances Messano, Senior Managing Partner, and a member of NewSchools’ leadership team. You will work remotely from anywhere in the U.S., though if you are based in the Bay Area, you will be able to work from our office in Oakland, CA when it is safe to do so. 

Your legacy at NewSchools will include:

Accelerating the Diverse Leaders strategy and influencing the field to advance diversity, equity and inclusion. You’ll have the opportunity to: 

• Determine how we will integrate parent leadership into our broader strategy and utilize continuous improvement approaches to refine our strategy on an ongoing basis based on lessons learned
• Identify opportunities for NewSchools to advance DEI as a priority across the education sector, including producing public facing content to communicate what we are learning, creating strategic convenings, developing DEI content for our Summit, and representing NewSchools at conferences and events 
• Provide relevant updates to the Board on the Learning Solutions strategy, activities and impact 
• Engage and influence funders to increase their commitment and funding to DEI
• Collaborate with external partners to ensure that we are able to deliver on our ambitious annual and long-term goals

Leading a high-performing, diverse team with the support they need to execute the Diverse Leaders strategy. You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Develop and implement a vision for an effective, growth-oriented, inclusive team 
• Set annual goals for the Diverse Leaders team that advance organizational objectives and support direct reports in achieving their aligned individual goals 
• Ensure the growth, development, and retention of three team members through world-class management and coaching skills
• Represent NewSchools and our values to both internal and external audiences
• Collaborate with other partners and team leaders across the organization to ensure aligned approaches and equitable experiences for direct reports
• Support other NewSchools’ investment teams and staff members in infusing a commitment to DEI across all of their work, and apply the lessons learned from our external work into our internal approaches

Investing at least $8M per year to create a growing portfolio of Diverse Leaders ventures. You’ll have the opportunity to:

• Expand our network with partner organizations and aspiring innovators to build our pipeline of aligned applicants
• Design our approach to one or two funding opportunities each year to invest in new ventures
• Determine how we should provide growth funding to existing ventures with the most promise to expand their impact 
• Lead a team to conduct due diligence on prospective ventures’ ideas and leadership to make investment decisions and document decisions
• Measure the impact of the portfolio and individual ventures to ensure organizations are helping to advance our overall strategy

Supporting a strong portfolio of innovators that have significantly advanced Black and Latino education leadership with your coaching and support. You will: 

• Improve our vision for supporting leaders in our portfolio, who have a wide range of skills and needs, working to advance diverse leadership in education 
• Refine existing strategies and approaches, such as needs assessments, communities of practice, technical assistance, and coaching, to provide customized support in effective and efficient ways. Lead the team to execute our management assistance vision
• Coach a portfolio of 15-20 ventures on a range of topics, such as fundraising and strategy, as well as sharing resources and making connections. Support team members to serve as effective coaches 
• Partner with external experts to enhance our management assistance approaches
• Create and curate resources and codify best practices to support venture leaders. Surface key trends, themes and patterns across the portfolio to make adjustments to our management assistance approach and to inform our thought leadership efforts

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Passion for innovation and excellence in public education
• Deep understanding of the best practices and challenges related to diversity, equity and inclusion and education leadership
• Demonstrated commitment to learning and continuous improvement
• Demonstrated track record leading in a fast-paced environment, managing a team to high performance and collaborating with a wide-range of stakeholders to achieve shared goals
• Demonstrated success in strategy development and implementation
• Ability to manage multiple priorities amid ambiguity and to leverage creative thinking 
• Ability to design and facilitate highly impactful adult learning experiences
• Ability to coach and support entrepreneurial educators to find greater success in their work
• A high degree of self-awareness and a relationship-orientation that inspires and motivates others
• Ability to support the growth and development of direct reports
• Deep relationships and networks within Black and Latino communities
• Ability to travel up to 25% for in-person team and all-team meetings and retreats, venture visits, convenings and conferences when we are able to travel again
• Working style suited to a small organization with limited support staff, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Suite with the ability to produce high quality work products in each program            

EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 15 years of professional experience with substantial experience working in leadership development, racial equity, management consulting or philanthropy
• Senior leadership experience in entrepreneurial, innovative environments
• Demonstrated track record of success as a manager of people 

COMPENSATION

A competitive compensation package including base salary, performance bonus and complete benefits is available.

NewSchools Venture Fund has a strong commitment to diversity. Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.