Job Posting – Executive Director, uAspire Miami

Organization Vision

uAspire imagines a day when all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential by graduating from college, regardless of their families’ financial resources or college experiences.

Organization Summary

The United States is facing a college affordability crisis.  From 2000 to 2010, as many as two million college-qualified high school graduates from low and moderate income families were shut out of college entirely by financial concerns. For 27 years, uAspire has worked to ensure that all young people have the financial information and resources necessary to find an affordable path to – and through – a postsecondary education. To accomplish this mission, uAspire provides free financial aid advice and advocacy to young people and families to help them overcome the financial barriers to higher education. The continuum of programming provides ongoing college affordability guidance and information from middle school to high school through college graduation, ensuring that finances never get in the way of potential. uAspire has helped students secure more than $250 million in financial aid in the last three years alone, maintaining a 75% college graduation rate for the students we serve. uAspire is embarking on the early stages of an ambitious national growth plan that will allow the organization to serve a million students by 2017.  uAspire was recently named one of the Best Nonprofits to Work For by Opportunity Knocks.

Position Summary

In 2011, uAspire chose Miami as the first location to launch programming outside its homebase of Massachusetts. After two years of building a solid foundation for its Miami-based programs, uAspire seeks a Miami Executive Director with a record of success building programs, cultivating and expanding relationships with funders, strategic partners, and board members, and managing teams toward ambitious, measurable results.

Reporting to uAspire CEO Bob Giannino-Racine and working in partnership with a Regional Board and Board Chair, the Executive Director (ED) will hold responsibility and authority for the Miami site’s impact on postsecondary enrollment and college success. By developing and executing an annual operating plan and budget, the ED will establish and develop uAspire Miami into a sustainable, high-impact chapter of the national organization. As a key member of the national uAspire network, s/he will work to promote the organization’s values, culture, and overall success. Finally, s/he will collaborate with the Central Office Leadership Team to capture best practices for new site growth and programmatic innovation that will help uAspire pave the way for continued national expansion and impact.

The ideal candidate will be a seasoned, mission-driven leader with a proven ability to initiate, cultivate, and manage relationships with key stakeholders and funders to meet ambitious development goals. S/he must be passionate about the power of affordable pathways to postsecondary success and their role in promoting economic mobility and security. Experience analyzing and interpreting program data to drive strategy and anticipate future needs is essential. S/he must demonstrate the ability to motivate, excite, and inspire staff with an eye toward supporting new managers and developing new professionals. S/he will be quick, entrepreneurial, and flexible, with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and opportunities. The ED will have the opportunity to lead a talented team that is mission-focused, results-oriented, passionate, and fun.

Challenges and Opportunities

In a role critical to uAspire’s national plans for success, and as head of uAspire’s first replication site, the ED will follow on the founding ED’s work to successfully introduce and integrate this nationally-recognized program – with proven impact – into the South Florida region. S/he will bring urgency and vision to the critical network building and fundraising work needed to make uAspire Miami sustainable and bring the site to greater scale.  Specifically, sh/e will:

Secure the funding necessary to fully support uAspire Miami programming

• Work to identify and cultivate strategic relationships with a diverse array of local foundation, corporate, and individual donors
• Raise the funding necessary to sustain uAspire Miami’s current programs
• Work in partnership with the central office to identify, cultivate, and steward potential national funders interested in supporting uAspire Miami
• Set and meet annual revenue and budget goals in partnership with the Leadership Team and local Board

Raise uAspire’s regional profile through strategic relationship building, marketing, and outreach

• Represent uAspire to key constituencies and stakeholders throughout South Florida, including community leaders, government officials, K-12 school and higher education personnel, families, and students
• Promote uAspire’s brand and public profile through marketing, networking, traditional & social media, and major events

Cultivate and support a highly effective local board to drive the impact and sustainability of uAspire Miami

• Steward, support, and engage a dynamic, hands-on, productive local board composed of philanthropic, corporate, and community leaders
• Work with local Board leadership to identify Board composition needs and identify, cultivate, and onboard new Board members
• Actively engage and serve as thought-partner and facilitator to the Board in strategically aligning resources to advance uAspire’s mission.
• Work transparently with board members on strategic and operational priorities, initiatives, and challenges, in order to make full use of their strengths and knowledge to strengthen the organization’s internal capacity and external profile and impact
• Partner with the Leadership Team and local Board Chair to develop a multi-year strategic plan, annual operating plan, and annual budget that maximizes local impact and sustainability

Support and nurture a uAspire Miami team

• Hold responsibility for all Miami-based personnel decisions
• Manage and lead local uAspire team, including veteran Program Director, Development Director, and currently three front-line program staff
• Partner with the Program Director to support relationships with key members of the public school leadership and administration, as well as with other key, strategic programmatic partners including community organizations and local colleges and universities
• Maintain a high level of knowledge and understanding of financial aid policies and procedures, as well as a working knowledge of broad issues in higher education and college affordability

Contribute to the development of the national uAspire network of replication sites nationwide

• Work in partnership with uAspire’s Boston-based central office to further develop the national growth implementation plan
• Align the Miami site’s strategy and priorities with those of the national organization
• Support and participate in network-wide initiatives with the central office and with regional site leader counterparts, modeling and sharing best practices and learning
• Establish strong collaborative relationships with the staff at the central office and with leaders at other new sites as they come online
• Instill a culture that reflects uAspire’s values through all programs both regionally and nationally: Student-Centered, Collaborative, Dedicated, Excellent, and Systems-Focused

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal Executive Director is an energetic, enthusiastic individual interested in driving the growth and impact of a collaborative, entrepreneurial organization. S/he is driven by a passion for, and commitment to, the uAspire mission of ensuring that all students have the financial resources and information necessary to get to and through a postsecondary education. This passion may stem from personal experience of challenges associated with college affordability and completion. S/he is entrepreneurial, goal-oriented, and undaunted by taking on an ambitious project and driving it to successful completion through exceptional performance that inspires the team s/he manages to do the same. Finally, the ideal candidate is a team player who is able to learn from uAspire’s history, thoughtfully contribute to its experience, and actively support its growth in Miami and beyond.

• Minimum of 8 years of community or executive leadership experience, with particular value on experience working in nonprofit organizations with fast-paced, high-growth environments
• Proven ability to initiate, cultivate, and manage relationships with key individual and institutional stakeholders and meet ambitious fundraising goals
• Strong Miami networks combined with a deep understanding of both South Florida communities generally and the local education landscape specifically
• 5+ years of proven success managing teams toward ambitious, measurable results
• Ability to motivate, excite, and inspire staff with an eye toward supporting new managers and developing new professionals
• A sincere and deep commitment to the fundamental belief that every child deserves a college education and that college closes the opportunity gap
• Rigorous thinker with the ability to analyze program data, anticipate future needs, and drive strategy
• Strong project manager with the ability to scope projects and execute multi-faceted processes in a collaborative context
• Outstanding ability to build trust with diverse partners and stakeholders
• Exceptional cultural competency and demonstrated success with diverse populations including donors, community leaders, and high school and college-aged students
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, as well as strong presentation skills
• A persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills
• A customer service orientation
• Comfort with web-based tools and technology and good instincts about how it can be used most effectively
• Resourceful, flexible team-player with a positive “can do” attitude and a sense of humor
• Open to change, learning, and improvement
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or equivalent experience preferred
• Ability to work flexible hours that will include evenings and some weekends

This search is being conducted with assistance from Carlos Arboleda of COI access. Due to the pace of this search, candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.  Applications including a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your resume (in Word format), salary history, and where you learned of the position should be submitted to: Profiles@COIaccess.com.  Applicataions missing any of the above will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed.

The post Job Posting – Executive Director, uAspire Miami appeared first on uAspire.