About Us: 

Achieving the Dream — Conceived as an initiative in 2004 by Lumina Foundation and seven founding partner organizations, Achieving the Dream now leads the most comprehensive non-governmental reform movement for student success in higher education history. Together with our Network of over 300 institutions of higher education, 75 coaches and advisors, and numerous investors and partners working throughout 45 states and the District of Columbia we are helping more than 4 million community college students have a better chance of realizing greater economic opportunity and achieving their dreams.

Achieving the Dream (ATD) believes that equity — our core founding principle — is the driving force to achieve the educational, economic, and social benefits of higher education for the students we serve. We believe that when colleges intentionally design and implement antiracist and just structures, policies, and practices that combat oppression, students and their communities thrive. Higher education must interrogate the disconnect between institutionalized practices that impact student success and the systemic structures and processes that continue to oppress and exclude students based on the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender identity, language, (dis)ability, sexual orientation, economic status, and/or religion.

Achieving the Dream remains steadfast in our commitment to delivering student-centered strategies to guide and support colleges to disrupt and dismantle historical systemic discriminatory legacies, structures, and barriers that prevent community members from prospering. We expect ATD Network colleges to honor their institutional responsibilities to create and invest in thriving local communities by leveraging their leadership positions to actualize social, economic, and racial justice. Through bold actions, colleges must transform their practices to target and eliminate specific barriers to student success and address their students’ needs by centering equity within their local context.

To learn more about ATD’s commitment to equity, review our Equity Statement: https://www.achievingthedream.org/equity-statement

To learn more about our organization and mission, visit our homepage: http://www.achievingthedream.org/

About This Role: 

Job Overview

Achieving The Dream is seeking an equity-minded, strategic leader with strong analytical, critical thinking and systems thinking skills to help us take our Network colleges’ experience to the next level. If you’re looking for an opportunity to play a pivotal role in supporting ATD’s mission, and you believe you have many or all the skills for this role, we look forward to receiving your application.

Achieving the Dream (ATD) provides our growing Network of more than 300 community colleges across the country with tailored supports and peer learning opportunities that transform institutions into strong engines of student and community growth. ATD works closely with leaders and educators in every aspect of their work — from foundational capacities such as leadership, data and analytics, and equity to strategic advancement in teaching and learning, holistic student supports, community partnerships, and more. Our vision is for every institution to be a catalyst for equitable, antiracist, and economically vibrant communities. Our comprehensive suite of network benefits and opportunities, including our virtual and in-person peer learning experiences and awards and recognitions, support active engagement that leverages the collective power of our Network.

The Executive Director, Network Engagement leads the creation, scaling, and implementation of a comprehensive suite of benefits and services for network colleges. This position holds the primary responsibility for executing ATD’s Network engagement strategy, with the goal of creating a strong network experience for all ATD Colleges. Executing this strategy involves leading efforts to recruit and retain institutions into the ATD Network, engaging colleges during their life cycle of participation with ATD, and designing peer learning events that inspire and mobilize college leaders across their organizations to adopt innovative, evidence-based practices that accelerate equitable student success outcomes and increase social and economic mobility.

The Executive Director, Network Engagement works collaboratively across the organization and with our external partners to identify and respond to the evolving needs of higher education stakeholders.

This position supports organizational strategy development working collaboratively with ATD leaders responsible for coaching, program development, and services management. The Executive Director, Network Engagement leads a team responsible for expanding ATD’s footprint in the field by bringing new colleges into the network, creating and supporting network affinity groups, and providing a range of opportunities for peer learning.

The Executive Director, Network Engagement reports to the Vice President, Network Engagement and supervises the network engagement team of 4.

Duties and Responsibilities

Network Engagement and Innovation (45%)

• Develop and implement strategies to enhance the Network experience in line with ATD’s strategic plan, including the development of new opportunities for engagement, awards and recognitions, and learning across the Network Reimagine new pathways to and through the ATD Network, including cohort models that further tailor the experience to the needs of each college. Identify strategies for tailoring the Network experience to colleges’ needs, including providing meaningful engagement opportunities contextualized for institution type, BIPOC students, and other targeted student populations and affinity groups Collaborate with the Research team to assess the needs of network colleges and impact of the Network experience. Lead the team in planning a comprehensive annual strategy for recruiting colleges to join the ATD Network Collaborate with the Development team to build the capacity of Network services and identify and secure potential funding opportunities.

Peer Learning and Thought Leadership (25%)

• Identify strategies for leveraging ATD learning events to expand our impact within current ATD Network colleges and potential Network colleges Lead the content development for our annual conference, DREAM, and the annual Kickoff Institute that launches the ATD journey of incoming Network colleges. Design and support new peer learning across the ATD network through relationship building and engagement strategies, purposeful uses of ATD technology platforms, and connections to resources and experts, including but not limited to ATD staff and coaches. Collaborate with other teams to identify and disseminate high-impact learnings from grant projects and other services into the field and core ATD Network experience.

Management, Operations and Administration (20%)

• Ensure that team budgets, grants, and contracts are effectively managed, meeting deadlines and deliverables on time and within budget  Provide strategic leadership and oversight for staff responsible for the development of programs, projects and services development and delivery. Supervise, provide training and coaching, and define responsibilities, goals, priorities and objectives for all direct reports. Encourage ongoing professional development for staff.

Field Presence and Analysis (10%)

• Stay abreast of current trends in higher education, especially community colleges and the populations they serve Work across the organization and in collaboration with the Executive Director of Program Development to analyze implications of market trends on network engagement and benefits. Collaborate with the Research team to identify compelling stories, promising practices, and lessons for the field.

Skills/Qualifications/Experience

Grant and budget management, workforce experience and/or special student BIPOC population experience.

• A Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, or doctoral degree highly preferred and a minimum 7-10 years of related work experience required, with skills in non-profit management, higher education, or community college leadership Demonstrated experiencing leading teams Demonstrated project management experience and ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks, details, and competing priorities. Demonstrated success in managing budgets and multiple grant projects. A record of success in strategy development and execution and scaling and leading team operations with strong coaching and facilitation skills. Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of constituencies including technical, professional, and executive audiences. Demonstrated commitment to equitable outcomes with the ability to integrate, align, and embed diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies within all aspects of coaching and program work. Experience in community college leadership and/or regional/national student success movements preferred. Excellent writing, editing, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to write for a wide variety of audiences. Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) required; knowledge of Salesforce, Qualtrics, preferred.

Core Competencies

Collaboration: Demonstrates respect, humility, and willingness to collaborate when seeking to understand others and making decisions.

Disciplined Execution: Has the ability to break down big picture work goals into management tasks; has the foresight to anticipate potential roadblocks in order to ensure timely completion of tasks and projects.

Effective Communication: Ability to actively listen and thoughtfully question in order to create greater understanding and to offer insights that advance problem-solving.

Learning Orientation: Embraces challenges, new ideas and different perspectives as an opportunity to learn; continually seeks out and applies new learning to activate change or improvements.

Systems Thinking:  Defines the system and one’s role in the system. Sees relationships and the dynamic elements of the holistic system and executes work accordingly. Influences the system and maps connections to ATD’s external landscape.

Change Agent:  Serves as an agent of change at a personal, team, and organizational level to pursue outcomes for students. Adapts as the environment changes, while managing associated risks. Motivates staff, team, organization, and partners to activate the change needed to advance defined priorities. 

Culturally Competent: Models appreciate inquiry to gain understanding and awareness of others’ cultural identity and practices. Creates safe and constructive forums for sharing diverse perspectives and opinions.

Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates self-awareness and self-regulation and recognizes impact of personal behavior on others.

Position Details

Position Type:                                   Full Time, Exempt
Grade Level:                                     Grade 10
Salary:                                               $145,000-155,000
Reports To:                                        Vice President, Network Engagement
Work Location:                                  Silver Spring, MD
Level of Travel Required:                  Minimal

What We Offer:

We continually strive to be a committed, diverse, values-based organization. We also offer a robust portfolio of benefits, including: 

Health, dental and vision insurance coverage   401K Retirement plan   Optional pre-tax spending account for qualified medical FSA, dependent care FSA and commuter expenses  Premiums paid by ATD for short-term disability insurance, long-term disability insurance, life and AD&D insurance with options to elect and pay for additional coverage for spouse and children.  Paid sick leave, vacation time, and personal days (Additionally, ATD observes all 10 federal holidays and is closed the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and for Winter Break between December 25 and January 1.  Employee Assistance Program   Professional Development allowance (for full-time employees on successful completion of 90-day intro period)  Mobile First Work Policy: Remote work allows employees to work at home for all or part of their workweek as a viable, flexible work option to support the changing needs of employees. Upon hire, employees are notified of their work location (Silver Spring, Portland, or Remote). Remote may not be appropriate for all positions at ATD. ATD wants to ensure that both employees and ATD will benefit from these arrangements. 

ATD strongly encourages applicants from diverse and historically underrepresented backgrounds to apply.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the role. 

Please include a cover letter along with your resume. In the cover letter please discuss the following: 

Why are you passionate about ATD’s mission?  What qualities, experiences, or other considerations do you believe make you an ideal candidate for this position? 

Physical Demands: 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus. 

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion 

Achieving the Dream believes that diversity, equity and inclusion is critical to its work and its mission. ATD takes meaningful steps to promote inclusion in its hiring, retention, promotion, and board recruitment, and supports equity work at the community colleges it serves. 

Equal Opportunity Employer 

Achieving the Dream is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse work environment. Employment policies and decisions are based upon merit, qualifications, performance, and business needs. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), gender identity or expression, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, legally protected genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.