Director of the Equity and Justice Institute

Director of the Equity and Justice Institute

Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences

Santa Monica, CA

About Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences

Crossroads School has always been on the forefront of educating youth for engaged leadership in the wider community, and the School recently formalized and elevated its equity and justice programs to a new level. In an attempt to further our commitment to helping to foster, systemic social change, Crossroads School launched a new hallmark program in 2018: The Equity & Justice Institute. The Institute is an endowed program, ensuring that our philosophy of influencing positive change in the world and serving the greater good will remain a part of the school’s core values and program in perpetuity. In addition to the Director, the Institute will have a shared program assistant and an external Advisory Council.

The Crossroads School Equity & Justice Institute is founded on Three Core Commitments:

• Deepening our Teaching and Learning in order to help students develop innovative solutions to issues facing local and global communities while giving them the academic knowledge to be fluent in questions of power and privilege; the social-emotional skills to successfully understand and interact with a myriad of individuals, people, and cultures; and a deeper understanding of the ways in which they can be both leaders and activists to help create systemic change.

• Supporting Community Action by developing mutually beneficial partnerships between Crossroads and non-governmental organizations, community organizations, and neighborhood groups that will allow students to passionately engage in real-world activism that makes a systemic difference on issues facing local and global communities.

• Providing Resources for the Public Good through logistical and financial support that allows our neighborhood, community partners, and Crossroads faculty and students to expand the scope of their equity and justice work, incubating new initiatives that provide solutions to real needs.

 

For more information on Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, please visit https://www.xrds.org/.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Head of School, the Director of the Equity and Justice Institute (“Director”) serves as an important leader in formalizing and elevating the School’s ongoing work in equity and justice programs and partnerships. The Director serves on the senior administrative team and is a highly visible presence within the school community, engaging individually and collectively with students, faculty, staff, and the greater community. The Director will be a significant external presence, building and strengthening the School’s role in neighborhood, regional, and global partnerships, while simultaneously collaborating closely with the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion to ensure that the work of both programs are complementing and supporting each other.

A strategic thought leader with strong implementation and collaborative skills, the Director is an experienced community organizer who understands how to leverage institutional resources to successfully achieve mission-related goals with respect to issues of equity and justice. The Institute will be the primary catalyst for Crossroads students, staff, families, alumni, nonprofits, and the community to work together in order to have a more significant impact on issues facing our local and global community.

Unique Collaborative Approach

 

Crossroads is proud to have a robust department of Equity and Inclusion. The department includes divisional diversity coordinators, the Associate Director of Latinx Support and Outreach, and the Director of Diversity Equity and Inclusion, who also sits on the senior leadership team. The Director of the Equity and Justice Institute will work in tandem with this department to support the five commitments of the school. The two directors will share an administrative support person and work collaboratively to make sure that our internal and external presence is aligned.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Continue to create a cohesive program that serves as a national model for equity and justice education.

• Establish a vision of K-12 service learning, leadership, and activism as the Institute redevelops the current Community Service program.

• Explore opportunities to continue to serve the greater good through new initiatives and partnerships.

• Create meaningful partnerships with other community organizations.

Program Development & Oversight

• Plan and steward the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Equity & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series, which helps stimulate dialogue among students, educators, and community leaders committed to tackling the problems of racism, poverty, war, environmental degradation, educational inequities, religious persecution, genocide, and other forms of injustice

• Collaborate with the Director of DEI and the three division heads to continue to develop and implement an integrated and comprehensive equity and justice social and academic curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade

• Provide support for and partner with faculty as they create new courses, develop lessons, organize assemblies and conferences, cultivate residencies, sponsor fellowships, hold rallies, and bring new community organizations, allies, and vitality to the Crossroads campuses

• Develop and oversee opportunities for students to travel domestically and internationally to support and participate in the work of our partner organizations, and engage in cross-cultural experiential education

• Provide infrastructure and resources to successfully incubate and support Crossroads’ student and community partner initiatives

Internal/External Relations & Communications

• Establish and sustain robust, mutually beneficial partnerships with neighborhood, regional, national, and international non-profits and NGOs

• Oversee an Advisory Council of thought leaders who can help support the work of the Equity & Justice Institute.

• Serve on all-school committees and fully invest in the life of the school

Candidate Profile

The Director will be a strategic and innovative leader with the deep knowledge of major equity and justice issues needed to effectively guide, influence, and collaborate with Crossroads’ internal and external stakeholders. This individual will have the enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit needed to develop and lead a groundbreaking program. The Director will have a commitment to equity and justice, and will serve as a model of openness and acceptance while leading with personal and professional integrity, warmth, humility, and humor. This individual will demonstrate impeccable ethics and an unwavering commitment to confidentiality.

The Director will have the credibility to build deep and abiding trust with a number of constituencies and be able to influence and bring them together around shared goals. This individual will be a confident and effective communicator with the ability to speak persuasively to the importance of equity and justice in Crossroads’ classrooms and beyond with fluency and clarity.

The ideal candidate will have the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:

 

Strategic Leadership & Vision

 

The Director must be a strategic leader and visionary thinker who will have the drive and passion to develop new and unique opportunities to serve the mission of Crossroads School’s Equity & Justice Institute. This individual will have experience establishing a clear and understandable vision for equity and justice education and social action, engaging Crossroads and the broader community in the implementation of the vision and goals, and building the operational components to execute.

 

This individual will be outcome driven and will bring the ability to motivate, inspire, develop, and collaborate with a diverse group of experienced leaders, teachers, staff members, and community members. This individual will have demonstrated experience in complex project management and experience incubating and launching significant initiatives pertaining to equity and justice. The Director will be a strategic risk taker while crafting and executing a strong vision and will have the ability to be flexible and comfortable with ambiguity.

 

Relationship Building & Collaboration

 

The Director will have substantial experience in community organizing and/or social justice advocacy. This individual will have demonstrated experience developing community partnerships that offer opportunities for innovative and experiential collaboration. The Director will come to Crossroads with a demonstrated track record of inspiring and facilitating open, productive, and challenging conversations centered on equity and justice and will have exemplary skills in internal/external constituent relations and public speaking. This individual will be a natural bridge-builder internally and externally. This leader will be an engaged and active listener, skilled collaborator, and will endeavor to connect, build bridges, and sustain excellent relationships with existing and potential partners, government officials, and funders.

 

Communication

 

The Director will possess excellent verbal and written communication skills and the capacity to authentically articulate complex issues with purpose to a variety of audiences. This individual will have a confident presence with the ability to demonstrate immediate credibility and engender the respect of others, both internally and externally. This individual will have an inspired ability to listen intently to a variety of constituent groups, synthesize input, make decisions, and share information broadly in order to build consensus and support for action with a clearly articulated vision. Furthermore, the Director will utilize incisive persuasion and negotiation skills, to build community using accessible language to explain information, strategy, and processes to individuals with differing levels of familiarity.

 

Mission Alignment & Expertise

 

The Director will have a fundamental belief in the importance of equity and justice education and an unwavering commitment to effecting social change. A dedicated lifelong learner, this individual will have strong familiarity with leading edge research on issues of equity and justice, and the ability to successfully integrate research into practice within a school setting. The Director will have experience with and deep knowledge of pedagogy, curriculum, and child and adolescent development.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Contact

Koya Partners, the executive search firm that specializes in mission-driven search, has been exclusively retained for this engagement. Michelle Bonoan and Jennifer Smith of Koya Partners have been exclusively retained for this search. To express interest in this role, please submit your materials here (https://talent-profile.diversifiedsearchgroup.com/search/v2/16420), or email Michelle and Jennifer directly at mbonoan@koyapartners.com and jsmith@koyapartners.com. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.

Koya Partners is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email NonprofitSearchOps@divsearch.com. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.

One of Crossroads School’s founding commitments is to developing a socially, economically and racially diverse student body.  We are equally committed to supporting a vibrant and diverse workforce.  Crossroads is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer; we do not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, gender or gender identity, age or sexual orientation.  People of color, women and differently-abled individuals are encouraged to apply.

About Koya Partners

Koya Partners, a part of Diversified Search Group, is a leading executive search and strategic advising firm dedicated to connecting exceptionally talented people with mission-driven clients. Our founding philosophy—The Right Person in the Right Place Can Change the World—guides our work as we partner with nonprofits & NGOs, institutions of higher education, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.

For more information about Koya Partners, visit www.koyapartners.com.