Executive Director
- Employer
- The Petey Greene Program, Inc.
- Location
- Location: Negotiable, with preference for candidates who reside in the metro NYC-Connecticut-Philade
- Salary
- Salary commensurate with experience
- Closing date
- Jul 21, 2022
Executive Director
Background on the Petey Greene Program
Founded in 2008, the Petey Greene Program (PGP) operates the largest multi-state tutoring program for people who are currently or formerly incarcerated. The PGP is named after Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene, Jr., a formerly incarcerated 1960s community activist and media personality in Washington D.C., who dedicated his life to advocacy for racial and social justice. The PGP continues this legacy by providing and advocating for the highest quality education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, and educating volunteers on the injustice manifest in our carceral system. Since its founding, the PGP has tutored 16,000 students in over 50 correctional facilities and reentry programs, recruiting over 3,200 volunteer tutors from 30 universities in seven states and the District of Columbia. During the pandemic, the PGP has shifted to virtual tutoring where possible.
In July 2020, the PGP adopted a new three-year strategic plan, which articulates an expansion from only supplementing existing prison education programs, to also implementing and advocating for high-quality pre-collegiate education for incarcerated people. The PGP also extended its programming through reentry, and is committed to becoming an organization that elevates, supports, and is led by formerly incarcerated and system-impacted people. To position the PGP for sustainability and scale, the strategic plan also calls for expanding to a fee for service model, covering regional expenses with regional revenue, enabling the PGP to invest unrestricted philanthropic support in quality enhancements at a national level, including positions dedicated to training and coaching tutors, managing operations, and evaluating programs.
The Role
The PGP is looking for an Executive Director who is an experienced social entrepreneur, with expertise in implementing fee for service models, as well as foundation fundraising. They should be well-versed in the field of criminal justice, with a commitment to expanding access to education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, while engaging college student volunteers in the work of reimagining the criminal legal system. The PGP’s next executive director must be an adept networker and fundraiser, with the ability to promote the PGP to a variety of audiences, from prison educators, to funders, higher education leaders, and think tanks. The executive director currently has eight direct reports.
The Opportunity
The PGP is at an exciting moment in its history: It is part of a growing network of social justice organizations and academic institutions committed to ensuring that incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people have access to the high-quality educational opportunities that they need to thrive, both during and after incarceration. Working at the intersection of current social justice movements and the reinstatement of Pell Grants for incarcerated learners, the PGP is already shaping the national conversation about education in carceral spaces, and it is well-positioned to grow both operationally and in its influence on policy and practice. This is a rare opportunity for a highly skilled leader to join a vibrant organization and lead a passionate and dedicated team, bolstered by an enthusiastic volunteer base, in the work of creating a more just and free society.
Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Drive execution of the PGP strategic plan; track progress against the plan and anticipate any required adjustments to the plan
- Keep all functional areas of the organization focused on the PGP’s strategic priorities
- Support board development, to ensure the PGP has the range of expertise and connections to sustain and grow the organization
Fundraising
- Create and drive an ambitious fundraising plan, collaborating with development and regional staff to generate diversified funding, including government, individual, foundation and corporate funding
- Codify fee for service models, collaborating with regional program staff to identify and pursue contracting and subcontracting opportunities
- Support development of regional advisory boards, to ensure each region has the expertise and connections to sustain and grow
Promotion and Policy Development
- Elevate the PGP’s presence in the criminal justice field, collaborating with the director of communications to generate earned media coverage, and other promotional opportunities
- Pursuant to generating fee for service revenue and elevating the PGP in the field, develop and promote a policy agenda for the PGP, networking with education and criminal justice organizations to elevate pre-collegiate prison education among national and state policy priorities
- In collaboration with program staff, network with federal and state policymakers to promote the PGP and generate fully-funded expansion opportunities
Operations Management
- Lead senior management team to assure that all functional areas of the PGP operate effectively and efficiently
- Support and collaborate with relevant staff to ensure the PGP’s work is evidence-based and data-driven Experience managing educational programs strongly preferred
- Proven expertise in new program design
- Create a successful, rewarding, diverse, and inclusive organizational culture
Qualifications
- Experience managing a non-profit organization
- Experience overseeing program design and evaluation
- Deep expertise in budgeting
- Commitment to issues of mass incarceration, racial equity, and educational justice
- Proven track record of success in the cultivation, stewardship, and closing of gifts from major donors and foundations, as well as revenue from government contracts
- Superior public speaking, written, and verbal communication skills
- Excellent relationship builder with all types of people
- Excellent group facilitation and team building skills
- Demonstrated leadership in marketing, communications, and branding for a mission-driven, growing organization
- Comfort in utilizing technology to work with a largely remote staff
- Ability to travel regularly
- Bachelor’s degree required; relevant master’s degree preferred
Salary: Competitive plus benefits
Location: Negotiable, with preference for candidates who reside in the metro NYC-Connecticut-Philadelphia-New Jersey area. The position allows for flexibility to regularly work from home, a co-working space, and/or the PGP’s headquarters in Princeton, NJ.
How to apply: Submit a resume and cover letter via email to pgpedsearch@peteygreene.org. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
Diversity, equity and inclusion are foundational to the Petey Greene Program's work. We also believe that this work should be led by system-impacted people, whose perspectives and direct knowledge of the problems are necessary to achieving freedom and educational justice.
The PGP defines system-impacted as a person who by their own experience, family experience, school experiences, and/or communal experiences has previous interaction or involvement with and who is legally, economically, familially, or psychologically affected by the criminal legal system. Interaction or involvement with the criminal legal system includes arrest and/or detainment, appearance in criminal courts, incarceration, immigrant detention, juvenile detention, parole, and/or probation.
We strongly encourage system-impacted people, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and women to apply. The Petey Greene Program is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its personnel decisions based on race, ancestry, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/domestic partner status, religion, age, disability status, veteran status, or former incarceration status.
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