Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund (“the Fund”) seeks to recruit a Program Director, Education Opportunity to be based in San Francisco, California

Established in 1953, the Fund is a well-respected family foundation that has awarded more than $300 million in grants since its inception, and will make over $40 million in grants in 2008. At the core of the Haas, Jr. Fund's philanthropy is a vision of a just and caring society where all people are able to live, work and raise their families with dignity.

This vision drives the Fund’s efforts in helping those who live and work at society’s margins gain opportunities to participate, succeed and contribute. Guided by the values of fairness and equality, the Fund aims to level the playing field through: 1) promoting education opportunity for low income young people and adults, and those of color, 2) promoting equal rights and dignity for gays, lesbians, and immigrants. The Fund also invests in the leadership of the nonprofit organizations that are crucial to fulfillment of this work.

The Fund’s Education Opportunity program seeks to close the achievement gap and ultimately, move families and young people from poverty by giving them the skills and tools to succeed in life and be fully contributing members of the community. The Fund is particularly interested in equalizing education opportunities in low income communities for immigrants and those of color. The funding in this area is focused on campuses in the Bay Area (especially San Francisco and Alameda Counties) with relevant policy work that directly supports the local efforts. The Fund views its local work as a learning lab that can inform policy and work in other regions. This is a major new priority area and the Fund will significantly increase its investments in this arena over the next few years.

The Fund seeks a leader who will help reduce the economic and racial disparities in academic achievement through three primary strands of work:

• Early School Success: Ensuring all children are reading and doing math at grade level by the end of third grade. We will be helping to launch public private partnerships to pilot a comprehensive model that aligns high quality instruction and curriculum for students from age three in preschool through grade three. This model includes parenting, after school and summer school supports.

• Pipeline to College: Ensuring that middle school and high school students are prepared for and on a pathway for success in college. We will be exploring strategies for increasing the knowledge and supports for young people to get ready for and enter college. We also aim to grow the leadership and voice of young people and their parents to advocate for what they need in schools to be successful.

• Community College Success: Ensuring timely graduation and completion of career training certificates. The Fund will be developing strategies to build capacity and catalyze improvements on local campuses to improve the pathways to successful and timely graduation, e.g., in career and technical education, vocational English language learning, and developmental education. We also will explore retention approaches to help students complete their course of study.

The Fund’s work in this program area is still at a formative stage and they are eager to engage with candidates to hear their vision and how they would lead and develop strategies for this new program.

The Program Director will report to the Vice President of Programs and serve on the senior program management team. The Program Director should possess a proven ability to think strategically, and have a demonstrated record of success working with a diverse constituency of partners and stakeholders to achieve specific policy and programmatic outcomes. The Program Director must also possess an outcome based orientation to goal setting and thrive in a workplace environment that values transparency and is filled with the exploration of new ideas to solve complex problems. In this role, this individual will serve as a catalyst, convener and director of strategy – bringing together public and private sector leaders to address critical and timely education issues.

The Program Director, Education Opportunity is responsible for:

Strategic Grantmaking and Change-maker Role

-Providing vision and leadership for high level strategic work at the Fund and in the education field to close the achievement gap;

-Identifying, selecting and managing the goals and strategies to achieve the program’s objectives in these new areas of work (Preschool to 3rd grade, college pipeline, and community college);

-Developing, coordinating, managing and monitoring all grantmaking activities in the Education Opportunity program area;

-Playing a change-maker role not only through grantmaking, but also proactively convening, brokering ideas and allies, bringing other funders to the table, and helping grantees problem-solve and strategize;

-Applying research and strategy to creating new grantmaking initiatives and strengthening current initiatives;

-Overseeing special initiatives such as the SF Beacon Initiative, and Diversity Initiative of UC Berkeley;

-Preparing grant recommendations for the Trustees and other memos and written materials as required, including conducting an annual program review;

-Providing technical assistance as necessary and appropriate to grantees.

Leadership

-Building key partnerships by working collaboratively with a wide variety of leaders and attracting partners from the nonprofit, government, philanthropic, academic, and business sectors;

-Acting as a prominent advocate for closing the achievement gap through presentations, articles and speeches to influential audiences;

-Creating partnerships that bring increased funding to the table;

-Representing the Fund in philanthropy and the community to advance the program strategy;

-Initiating and participating in partnerships with the Fund’s other program areas to advance mutual goals;

-Maintaining and advancing a high level of knowledge about current issues and trends in the field and educating Trustees, staff and other stakeholders regarding challenges and opportunities for advancing education opportunities at the local and state levels;

-Developing and maintaining a network of knowledgeable and respected advisors.

Management

-Building and supporting the Education Opportunity team including, two program officers/senior program officers, a program assistant, and consultants as needed. This includes hiring, training, supervision, setting performance standards and staff development;

-Participating in senior program management team that includes the Vice President of Programs and Program Director for Rights to develop organization-wide capacities in evaluation/learning, public policy, leadership and strategic communications; conduct strategy development, budgeting and planning; and manage the grantmaking process;

-Helping develop a collegial work environment through active participation in internal collaborations and activities, including with the Fund’s communication, public policy and leadership development staff and other program areas.

Professional Qualifications and Personal Attributes
This is an ideal opportunity for a leader with the creativity, passion, and intellectual substance to effect social change and build a new program. The right candidate will have the capacity to engage and inspire people as well as the proven ability to translate bold ideas into action. Candidates should possess the ability to handle complex and difficult issues with a leadership style that is consensus building in nature rather than adversarial.

Moreover, this position requires a very high level ability to think and act strategically. At the same time, the successful candidate will be a professional who can bring ideas to fruition within a community—someone with the curiosity of a scholar, the drive of an activist, and the political savvy of a diplomat. The Fund also seeks a person who brings an abundance of joy and positive attitude to workplace colleagues and partners in the field.

Specifically, the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund seeks a professional who has the following professional qualifications and personal attributes:

-Extensive leadership experience in very senior level positions in government or nonprofits with significant accomplishments in these positions. Established credibility with high level public officials from local school districts and those in the community college system, as well as state policy makers;

-A strategic and analytic thinker, able to assume leadership in developing and managing the Fund’s Education Opportunity Program in order to make significant progress in improving student achievement and graduation rates and reducing economic and racial disparities;

-Possessing an understanding of how to shape public policy in order to effect change from both inside and outside government;

-Successful track record developing public-private partnerships and experience creating and implementing ambitious initiatives involving multi-stakeholder partners;

-Knowledgeable about emerging challenges and opportunities in the fields of children/youth/families and education, plus the ability to spot upcoming issues ahead of the curve;

-Possessing a deep understanding of and experience with program and policy issues that impact underserved children and youth, especially Latinos and African Americans;

-Strong experience with and knowledge of the role of foundations in the nonprofit sector and in public/private partnerships; keen ability to determine the foundation’s role in different situations – when to lead, when to follow, when to partner;

-Demonstrated ability to raise money and leverage new funding sources;

-An informed and practical perspective on what works—and what doesn’t—that is grounded in research and demonstrated field experience;

-A strong commitment to valuing diversity and effectiveness in working with diverse communities;

-A seasoned manager who has sound judgment, can lead by example, inspire others, and attract, develop and retain talented staff and build a strong team;

-Excellent communication skills, including the ability to write clearly, analytically, and persuasively, and ease in public speaking;

-Highest standards of integrity and confidentiality in all relationships with trustees, staff, grantees, colleagues, applicants and other audiences;

-Additionally, the successful candidate will likely have an advanced degree in a related field.

-Compassion, a sense of fun, and a commitment to doing the highest quality work;

-Openness, flexibility and a comfort working with ambiguity and change.

Compensation
Compensation for the Program Director, Education Opportunity includes a competitive base salary, and an excellent employee benefits package.

To Apply
Please send a cover letter and resume in confidence to:

Daniel A. Sherman
President, Explore Company
E-Mail: resumes@explorecompany.com

Additional information on the Fund can be found at www.haasjr.org

Evelyn & Walter, Haas, Jr. Fund is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes a diverse pool of candidates in this search.