About NYC Kids RISE

NYC Kids RISE is a nonprofit organization working with the City of New York and the NYC Department of Education to manage the Save for College Program (the Program). Through the Program, eligible students enrolled in an NYC public school (including participating charter schools), starting in kindergarten, automatically receive a free NYC Scholarship Account with an initial allocation of $100 by NYC Kids RISE on their behalf, invested in a NY 529 Direct Plan, and opportunities to receive additional rewards over time. Their families can open and connect their own college savings account on their child’s behalf, and communities can contribute to groups of these NYC Scholarship Accounts as both a targeted and universal platform for community-driven asset-building in every neighborhood. This approach draws from a variety of best practices and disciplines across the fields of asset building, child savings accounts, financial empowerment, education, community wealth building, urban poverty, neighborhood effects and social capital research, collective impact, and more. Read more about NYC Kids RISE and the Save for College Program and listen to stories from partners who helped build the platform during its pilot phase from 2017 to 2022. You can also view recent articles in Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and the NYCHA Journal; and read more about NYC Kids RISE theory of change in a recent report by the Urban Institute.

After a successful pilot phase in the communities of School District 30 in Queens, NYC Kids RISE
expanded citywide during the 2021-2022 school year. This school year nearly 150,000 Kindergarten
students across more than 1,000 elementary schools have an NYC Scholarship for their
educational futures.

About the School Networks Team

Elementary schools are at the heart of every neighborhood and the most central institution in directly supporting educational achievement, equity, and college and career readiness. As a key piece of building and enabling a universal, community driven wealth-building platform, NYC Kids RISE is working to support the capacity of school districts and elementary schools throughout New York City to use the Save for College Program as a tool to advance their own goals of college and career readiness, family empowerment, and strong family-community ties. The Director, School Networks will report to the Chief Platform Officer and will oversee the School Networks team which includes a Deputy Director, Charter Schools; Deputy Director, District Schools; Deputy Director, Districts; and Project Lead, School Networks.

The School Networks team is focused on the following key areas:

1) School and District Capacity Building Support and Technical Assistance: NYC Kids RISE provides capacity building support to districts and schools in their development and implementation of the Save for College Program including advancing the ways that the Program can be a tool for their priorities. Building on lessons learned from the pilot, this includes supporting districts and schools (and their stakeholders) to set up the infrastructure to execute four programmatic milestone events and help position them to work with families to activate and view their accounts. NYC Kids RISE meets regularly with district-level and school-level stakeholders to share progress, get feedback and collaborate on ways to advance aligned goals.

2) Professional Learning + Content Creation + Communities of Practice: NYC Kids RISE hosts and facilitates regular professional learning sessions for school stakeholders including monthly sessions for District Liaisons and workshops for school stakeholders (e.g., School Liaisons, School Teams, and School Secretaries). NYC Kids RISE works with partners to identify and share lessons learned and best practices within and across districts and schools to further improve efforts, amplify best practices and develop relationships among school communities, using a variety of formats for training and information sharing. Additionally, NYC Kids RISE works with stakeholders to design and create original content for Schools to adapt and leverage for milestone events, to be used with students (i.e., 529 Day Activity Handbook) and families. NYC Kids RISE fosters connections among community based organizations, schools and other community stakeholders in service to advancing “community support” for all children (i.e., College & Career Days).

3) Systems Integration: NYC Kids RISE works with DOE Central and at the District and school levels to identify ways in which the Save for College Program can be best integrated into their operations and streamlined into their systems (e.g, adding Building Block 1 Status on report cards; integrating into CEP process).

About the Director, School Networks Role

The Director will be an entrepreneurial generalist that can toggle between the big picture and daily implementation steps, complex project management, content development, relationship management, compliance oversight, policy analysis, communication planning, research and facilitation. They will oversee the development, iteration and implementation of the short-, medium- and long-term engagement strategies for each school stakeholder type to measurably advance the institutionalization of the Save for College Program within districts and school communities, and the DOE system at large. The Director will be a strong manager with a management style focused on coaching and staff development.

The Director’s responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

Relationship Management

• Represent NYC Kids RISE with superintendents, district leaders, school leaders, charter management organizations, education-related entities and other stakeholders, in addition to representing NYC Kids RISE at workshops and events.
• Coordinate and collaborate with the NYC Department of Education at various touch points including schools, district and the central level as needed.
• Foster connections among community based organizations, schools and other community stakeholders.
• Become fluent in the Save for College Program and the tools and resources for school stakeholders (including relevant NYC DOE systems) in order to be able to answer questions and provide support regarding both general program understanding, the roles that schools play in the program, and the pieces schools must execute.

Program Strategy and Implementation

• Generate ideas and implement strategic efforts to further integrate the Save for College Program into school, district and citywide operations.
• Develop, iterate and implement effective short-, medium- and long-term engagement strategies for each stakeholder type with an eye towards advancing institutionalization of the Save for College Program within school communities and charter management organizations.
• Manage the formation of a school networks stakeholder advisory group and oversee all aspects of the advisory group’s work.
• Lead School Networks team and help them develop and maintain a menu of technical assistance opportunities that is responsive to stakeholder needs and may include professional development sessions, 1:1 technical assistance, live Q&A sessions, email/hotline support, and convening school stakeholder advisory groups.
• Work with the internal Parent Foundations team to respond to school requests related to individual parent support and family-targeted events, and ensure follow up.

Monitoring and Reporting

• Lead efforts to make sure that NYC Kids RISE is meeting key targets including Building Block 1 activations and professional learning attendance.
• Assess effectiveness of efforts with and by school stakeholders; identify opportunities for improvement; identify and share lessons learned and best practices.
• Review school performance tracking systems and reports and devise tools for internal performance management for the school year. As necessary, follow up with schools to receive necessary data for NYC Kids RISE reporting and tracking.
• Oversee the development of regular reports summarizing technical assistance provided and analyzing trends; make recommendations for future school support and work with Parent Foundations leadership, to implement these recommendations.

Organizational Administration and Leadership

• Work with NYC Kids RISE team to further develop as needed and implement compliance measures to ensure adherence with Save for College Program policies and procedures.
• Participate and share in the organization’s work to advance racial equity and anti-oppression in the organization’s and program’s operations and practices; proactively identify opportunities to advance the development of an anti-racist organization; share and solicit ongoing feedback and conversations to advance this work.
• Maintain, and support other staff and volunteers to maintain, strict adherence to NYC Kids RISE data security and privacy policies.
• Lead and/or support special initiatives and ad-hoc projects, as needed.

Qualifications

• At least 8 years of experience in education or youth development, community organizing, performance management, economic and community development activities, education, or financial empowerment service-delivery, or comparable experience;
• System-building experience preferred;
• Team and collaborative orientation, with ability to work independently
• Superb communication and relationship building skills, including writing, public speaking, facilitation, and presentation to diverse audiences;
• Adaptable, flexible and effective problem solver in fast-paced settings;
• Proven project manager, highly organized, good attention to detail;
• Ability to analyze trends and distill observations into actionable recommendations;
• Strong judgment;
• Experience working in or with New York City district and/or charter schools and/or the NYC Department of Education preferred;
• Experience with training and capacity building for diverse stakeholders preferred;
• Experience in a start-up setting preferred;

Due to COVID-19, the application process for this role will be conducted virtually. The entire team is currently working remotely and depending on the timing of this hire, the Director, School Networks will likely begin this position remotely as well. The office is otherwise based in Long Island City (Queens, NY), and the entire team is expected to return to the office once health conditions allow.

To apply, a cover letter and resume is required. Please list the name of the position “Director, School Networks " in your cover letter. The potential salary for this position is from $125,000 to $140,000 which represents a range commensurate with experience.

NYC Kids Rise is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in employment on the basis of basis of gender, religion, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, marital status, caregiver status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, unemployed status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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