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 geographic School District 30 in Queens, NYC Kids RISE expanded citywide during the 2021-2022 school year, which means that nearly 70,000 first grade students across more than 1,000 elementary schools now have an NYC Scholarship for their educational futures.

Deputy Director, School Networks (Charter Schools)

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.

NYC Kids RISE seeks an exceptional relationship builder, communicator, and manager, to serve as the Deputy Director for School Networks with a focus on charter school engagement and participation. In the short-term, this role will lead NYC Kids RISE’s system-building work around charter schools for this school year including project managing and improving on the systems to support the ~200 charter schools across the city to effectively participate in and contribute to the Save for College Program.

The Deputy Director will be a generalist that can toggle between complex project management, relationship management, compliance oversight, policy analysis, communication planning, research and facilitation.

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

• Serve as the NYC Kids RISE liaison and primary point person for charter schools participating in the Save for College Program citywide.
• Manage relationships with school stakeholders including their identified Liaisons, Charter Management Organizations, and others as makes sense and develop, iterate and implement the right engagement strategies for each role with an eye towards advancing institutionalization within school communities and charter management organizations.
• Become fluent in Save for College Program and Save for College Program tools and resources for school stakeholders (including relevant NYC DOE systems); answer questions and provide support regarding both general program understanding, the roles that schools play in the Program and the pieces they must execute including charter school specific policies.
• Working 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.
• 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.
• Identify, track and work with interdisciplinary NYC Kids RISE Team and partners to proactively identify any questions, issues that may come up and problem solve accordingly including outstanding policy questions
• Coordinate and work closely with the the NYC Department of Education’s Charter Office
• Provide ongoing support to schools throughout the year, which could include any or all of the following:
  • Develop as needed, adapt and lead professional development sessions to maximize engagement, learning and objectives and the development of a learning community - highlighting best practices and voice of school communities wherever possible.
  • Provide short 1:1 “technical assistance” sessions to individual schools by appointment for questions and requests for support that require problem solving / brainstorming
  • Host scheduled group Q&A sessions throughout the course of the year for any interested school and manage logistics of promoting, scheduling and running virtual sessions as well as data entry and follow up.
  • Help facilitate answers to the incoming questions from participating schools in the city that come via the NYC Kids RISE hotline or schools email address.
  • Lead and support school-stakeholder advisory groups as necessary.
• Document interactions with school stakeholders in NYC Kids RISE CRM system (including via email and phone) and complete or follow up from initial interactions as necessary.
• Work with Parent Foundations leadership to liaise with Parent Foundations team members about school requests related to individual parent support and ensure follow up.
• Submit 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.
• With the support of the NYC Kids RISE Team, coordinate and collaborate with NYC Kids RISE team members who are focused on supporting district schools and provide additional support as needed, working together and with Leadership to iterate around the development of longer-term systems.
• 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.

Qualifications

• At least 8 years of experience in relationship management, community organizing, performance management, economic and community development activities, education, or financial empowerment service-delivery, or comparable experience;
• Experience working with or in government preferred;
• Experience System-building preferred;
• Team and collaborative orientation and able 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 Deputy Director, School Networks (Charter Schools) 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 “Deputy Director, School Networks (Charter Schools)" in your cover letter. The potential salary for this position is from $110,000 to $125,000 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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