Minds Matter Executive Director Position

 

Organization Overview

Minds Matter National, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to transform the lives of accomplished high school students from low-income families by broadening their dreams and preparing them for college success.

Minds Matter has achieved 100% college acceptance for over one thousand program graduates, and more than 92% of eligible tracked alumni have graduated. A recently commissioned study concluded that Minds Matter delivers a return on investment exceeding 15x to its funders. In 2015, the organization celebrated its 25th anniversary, serving roughly 700 students in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Twin Cities, and Washington, D.C.

The intensive program ushers high school students through three years of growth by (a) assigning two highly dedicated volunteer mentors to each mentee and guiding these teams through a proven syllabus, (b) providing ACT/SAT test preparation and writing instruction, (c) exposing students to college life through attendance at highly competitive summer academic and leadership enrichment programs, and (d) supporting mentee applications to leading 4-year colleges, financial aid and scholarships.

Minds Matter achieves its results largely through the unusual dedication of its body of  nearly 2000 volunteer mentors, instructors, program leaders and local chapter leaders who thrive on the opportunity to see the difference they make possible in their mentees’ lives. Minds Matter chapters have grown organically in the number of students served, and the organization has organically added new chapters – often, when volunteers move to a new city, they are driven by their dedication and by Minds Matter’s results to start a chapter in their new home.

The national office currently maintains a staff of three, with outsourced accounting and fundraising support, and most other chapters are volunteer led. Dedication of Minds Matter’s volunteer leadership at every chapter highlights the power of the Minds Matter network, the incredible innovations developing within chapters, and the desire for National to increasingly drive chapter collaboration towards best practice identification and adoption.

 

Position Overview

The Executive Director is the builder who shares the Minds Matter community’s passion for the organization’s mission and volunteer culture. The Executive Director perpetuates the organization’s achievement of exceptional outcomes by inspiring collaboration and empowering staff and volunteers alike. This leader is adept at coordinating with staff and volunteers to balance sustaining obligations (e.g., fundraising), innovative projects like the creation of a successful alumni program, and continued growth in students served. Recently, the current Executive Director secured funding for $1m+ from 100 Women in Hedge Funds and worked with the Minds Matter network to develop a 3-year strategic plan for the organization. The Executive Director works with chapters to ensure the long-term relevancy of Minds Matter’s strategy in the context of an ever-changing education landscape. The position reports to the Board of Directors.

 

Responsibilities

LEADERSHIP AND PEOPLE MANAGEMENT

  • Identify and propagate key elements of Minds Matter’s culture and curriculum to perpetuate the organization’s success
  • Collaborate and communicate with and among chapter leadership, National staff, and the Boards of Directors
  • Combine distributed chapter collaboration with focused staff operations to spot patterns, identify solutions, construct well-reasoned recommendations and drive a path forward
  • Manage and develop a high performing team, including onboarding, setting effective goals, giving timely and impactful feedback, and communicating well
  • Inspire, lead, and collaborate with highly-motivated volunteer leaders across the nation who drive Minds Matter’s programming
  • Implement and build upon growth strategies determined by the Board of Directors, including evaluating the feasibility of new chapters and partner relationships

FUNDRAISING & PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

  • Expand fundraising activities to support program growth by sourcing, attracting, and retaining corporate, institutional and major donors to meet or exceed Minds Matter’s fundraising goals
  • Represent Minds Matter effectively with donors, partners and other stakeholders of different backgrounds in a wide variety of settings

PROGRAMMING & OUTCOMES

  • Collaborate with volunteer and industry leaders to manage the development, implementation, and assessment of creative and effective programming that advances Minds Matter’s goals and vision
  • Oversee program impact as measured by key metrics by monitoring leading indicators of program quality and making adjustments as necessary to drive student outcomes
  • Be an effective steward of resources via disciplined, mission-driven, results-oriented budgeting and planning

 

Qualifications:

  • Passionate belief in Minds Matter’s mission, vision and high standard of excellence. Demonstrated commitment and experience managing programs in the non-profit youth or education space(s)
  • Minimum of 8-10 years’ work experience required with substantial leadership, scope, and people management responsibility; experience with organizations with substantial volunteer leadership and/or chapter/affiliate structures a plus
  • Excellent interpersonal skills, strong worth ethic, high integrity, a relentless positive attitude, and a strong belief in collaboration. Ability to inspire, advise, and unify an organization of strong entrepreneurial chapter leadership and staff.  Demonstrated track record of retaining and developing high-performing staff
  • Very mature organizational instincts to process many viewpoints, provide well-reasoned recommendations with pros and cons and navigate through ambiguity to next-step plans/pilots. Ability to prioritize, allocate time and resources accordingly
  • Bachelor’s degree required; graduate degree preferred
  • Proven track record of scaling organizations with well-articulated strategy and while sustaining program outcomes
  • Experience managing fundraising efforts from institutional and individual donors with successful outcomes
  • Exceptional communication and persuasive skills in formats including presentations, proposals, informal conversations and e-mail
  • Outstanding organizational skills with proven ability to create and implement efficient operational systems via plan strategically, setting and managing objectives, and analyzing and mitigating risks
  • Ability to identify and establish strategic partnerships with companies, colleges and other not-for-profits
  • Ability to create budgets and forecasts, and manage Minds Matter’s controller, bookkeeper and auditors
  • Flexibility to manage scheduling constraints where volunteers are most available after standard work hours.

 

To Apply:

Minds Matter is engaged in a fast-moving process and requests that candidates submit materials as soon as possible and, while applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, preferably by July 31. Please submit a resume and cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position as well as your target salary objectives.  Please also indicate how you heard about this opportunity.  All materials should be submitted in Word format and sent to the search committee at admin@mindsmatter.org.

 

Minds Matter is an Equal Opportunity Employer.