Executive Director, Washington State Charter Schools Association

WHO WE ARE

We believe charter public schools are a critical lever to improve educational outcomes for all students. And we know that Global Majority communities, immigrant and refugee communities, low-income communities, and individuals living with disabilities disproportionately shoulder the burden of the impacts of inequitable access to high-quality public schools. Working in partnership with impacted communities to support charter public schools at every stage of their development is a top priority of our work.

Washington is the 42nd state to open its public education system to charter public schools and the charter public school law puts a strong emphasis on ensuring that its charters are high-quality options for students that don’t have access to them currently. The Washington State Charter Schools Association (WA Charters) is a non-profit organization that advocates for and develops high-quality charter public schools that meet the needs of systemically underserved students.

POSITION OVERVIEW

A pillar of the charter space in Washington for over a decade, WA Charters has historically provided a broad level of support to the sector. Today, it is embarking upon a new strategy that will leverage its past successes and distinct strengths. This pivot to an approach focused more squarely on policy, advocacy, and communications, will enhance the organization’s capacity and better position WA Charters to respond to the needs of students, families, and educators and support future growth.

This new chapter calls for a leader with a relentless commitment to high-quality education for all, and for systemically marginalized populations in particular. The Executive Director (ED) must be a visionary and entrepreneurial leader with a demonstrated track record of centering equity in all of the work that they do. The role also calls for a leader who is able to build strong and lasting relationships across a variety of stakeholder groups, convene and align stakeholders around a shared vision for education, understand the relationship between C3, C4 and PAC entities, and marshal resources across multiple levers of opportunity to lead each entity successfully.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Core responsibilities also include:

• • building a broad coalition of education stakeholders including but not limited to: school leaders and educators, families, state agencies, and advocates to enable a supportive policy environment in which charter public schools can thrive;
  • working in close alignment with these stakeholders to develop a collective vision and strategy designed to support an ecosystem where access to high-quality charter public school options is abundant;
  • setting org-wide strategy and leading the change management to support WA Charters’ evolution and growth;
  • recruiting, managing, and developing a high-performing team and creating a culture of belonging that fuels the achievement of strategic objectives, including managing a lobby team, consultants, and communications firms;
  • ensuring financial sustainability including revenue generation and appropriate fiscal management;
  • serving as a passionate public advocate for high-quality education in Washington, focused on defining legislative and legal strategy for the Washington charter public school sector;
  • setting the direction for and sharing the organization’s key messages and perspectives through a variety of strategic communications channels, including managing multiple communications partners; and
  • ensuring regular, transparent communications with the board, including reporting on all strategic decisions; leading board recruitment efforts that produce a diverse, dedicated, and engaged group of directors.

WHO YOU ARE

The Executive Director will possess a significant subset of the following:

• • senior leadership experience in K-12 education, education philanthropy, organizing, issue advocacy, policy, government relations, campaigns, or a related area, with a track record of developing and executing strategic change initiatives that have a significant and positive community impact;
  • interest in disrupting inequitable power structures and shifting systems to focus more on the needs of families and students;
  • experience building and maintaining coalitions, and leveraging community assets and diverse perspectives to drive change;
  • experience recruiting, managing, and developing a team to support operations and programming, and forecasting and managing multi-year, phased organizational growth, including managing a lobby team and contractors;
  • proven ability to develop and manage a budget, including efficient resource utilization;
  • a successful track record of stewardship, raising funds, and/or the ability to identify and secure new sources of funding by building relationships with foundations, corporations, investors, and/or individual donors;
  • comfort and experience working in a fast-paced, sometimes relentless environment, supporting others to maintain momentum at high-stakes moments;
  • experience working with a Board of Directors or other governing body; and
  • connection to the state of Washington and the Washington education ecosystem (preferred).

WHAT WE OFFER

• • A salary in the range of $200k-$250k
  • A chance to transform Washington State’s public education to create broader equitable outcomes and policies for all students in Washington State
  • A chance to shape the next five years of strategic priorities for the Association and work with some of the most innovative public education programs and leaders in the country
  • A passionate, fun, fast-moving, and collaborative team
  • Medical, dental, vision, and Rx benefits; and life insurance (details provided upon request)
  • A 401(k) plan with an employer match
  • Generous holiday, PTO, and wellness allowance

REPORTING

The Executive Director will report to the Board and supervise a team of approximately 4-8 full-time staff.

LOCATION

The Executive Director is required to live in Washington state. The nature of the ED role is in-person, and we maintain an office in the SODO neighborhood of Seattle for that reason. While we have a hybrid work model and there is currently no full-time in-office requirement, the ED will be expected to build a collaborative, affirming culture with the team and, thus, develop an in-person meeting cadence that supports that outcome. The role will also require some travel to school sites which are located across the state as illustrated here.

TO APPLY

We have engaged Promise54 to support the hiring process.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.  Follow these instructions to submit your resume and one-page cover letter expressing your motivation for pursuing this opportunity at this moment.

• • Visit the Opportunities section on Promise54’s website and click on the APPLY NOW tab within the Executive Director, Washington State Charter Schools Association position description.
  • Answer a brief set of questions about yourself.
  • Below the questions, you’ll be able to upload your resume.

Finally, if you encounter any technical difficulties, please contact admin@promise54.org.

WA Charters is an equal-opportunity employer.

We will not discriminate and will take affirmative action measures to ensure against discrimination in employment, recruitment, advertisements for employment, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of employment against any employee or job applicant on the bases of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

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