Position Summary

Urban Alliance believes that all young people deserve equal access to the paid work experiences, professional networks, and skills training needed to achieve economic mobility. As the Greater DC Executive Director, you’ll have the opportunity to leverage your leadership, relationship building skills, and passion for youth development to help young people aspire, work, and succeed. You’ll also lead our signature partnership with Martha’s Table, to engage students in their freshman year of high school, and increases in intensity, culminating in a senior-year internship at a local business through our flagship High School Internship Program.

As the Greater DC Executive Director, you will lead Urban Alliance’s largest region and longest-running program, and you will join the organization’s Senior Leadership Team alongside the executive directors in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit. The Greater DC region includes Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and Northern Virginia. You’ll lead a mission -focused dynamic, and impactful regional team of 13 staff members that reaches nearly 800 DC area youth a year across six school districts, while being supported with program development, evaluation, HR, communications, and operations from Urban Alliance’s national team. You’ll also develop and lead the Greater DC region’s new strategic plan, which is expected to more than double our impact over the next five years.

This role is ideal for an individual who is highly adept at developing strategic relationships, wants to manage a program and team that works with hundreds of young people every year, and has a deep understanding of the needs, landscape, and key stakeholders of the DC area. This position currently directly reports to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

About Urban Alliance & the Greater DC Region

Urban Alliance (UA) believes that all young people deserve equal access to the work experience, professional networks, and skills training needed to achieve economic mobility. For more than 25 years, Urban Alliance has connected thousands of young adults primarily from communities of color, with the skills, social capital, and career exposure needed to overcome systemic barriers to equal employment and economic mobility. Urban Alliance is a bridge between young adults, employers, and schools that provides high school students with comprehensive essential skills and digital literacy training, paid internships with local employers, individualized mentoring and case management, and ongoing post-high school planning support.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

As a key member of Urban Alliance’s Senior Leadership Team, you will:

Fundraising and Relationship Management

• Secure and grow revenue-generating partnerships with employer partners
• Collaborate with the Chief Development Officer to establish fundraising and paid internship targets for the region
• Collaborate with the national fund development team to solicit and secure grants from regional philanthropic organizations
• Ensure accurate tracking of the fund development and paid internship pipeline via Salesforce
• Represent the organization externally by participating in public speaking engagements, maintaining a robust social media presence, and regularly participating in and attending community events
• Serve as a thought partner to youth workforce development peers in the field and collaborate with the national team on high-visibility publications and events

Program Management

• Assure that the organization makes consistent and timely progress in achieving its mission and target programmatic impact
• Lead the Greater DC team by directly supervising program directors and managers to ensure programmatic delivery meets key deliverables, outcomes, and targets
• Collaborate with the Chief Financial Officer to establish the annual budget and track and project expenses

Team Management

• Oversee the day-to-day operations of the region and ensure overall successful long-term operations
• Manage program and college and career services manager to ensure that all staff meet goals for the region
• Facilitate strong working dynamics between the National and Greater DC teams
• Provide professional development for members of the Greater DC team
• Promote strong organizational health and culture throughout the region

Qualifications & Keys to Success

The following are required qualifications for this position:

Fundraising experience: At least three years of relevant experience in fundraising and relationship development.

Regional knowledge and experience: At least five year’s experience working in the nonprofit and/or local government and/or education sectors in the DC area is required, along with an understanding of the general philanthropic space in the DMV.

Professional experience: 5+ years of leadership experience in the youth, education, or workforce development field with a strong track record of developing and implementing strategic, innovative, and data-driven programming. The candidate will have a demonstrated ability to work effectively across a diverse portfolio of programs and a history of problem-solving complex issues by bridging the gap between strategy and implementation.

Leadership: The candidate will have 5+ years experience managing a team of at least two to three people. The ideal candidate will be a thoughtful, collaborative, and empowering leader with strong management qualities and demonstrated success in building, leading, and retaining diverse teams. The candidate will be committed to building staff capacity and elevating the work of their team.

Communication: the ideal candidate will be an excellent communicator and possess strong writing and speaking skills. The candidate will leverage their strong interpersonal skills to connect with diverse stakeholders, including youth and their families, staff, business leaders, volunteers, senior government officials, community leaders, and funders. The ideal candidate will enjoy public speaking and will advocate for important youth workforce development issues.

Commitment to racial equity and social justice: the ideal candidate will have an unwavering commitment to advancing racial equity and will ensure that it is reflected throughout the organization’s programs. The ideal candidate will recognize the intersection of race and economics in shaping education and employment opportunities and will work to elevate and amplify the voices of the young people we serve.

Urban Alliance Vaccination Policy

As established by the Urban Alliance Board of Directors, all employees are required to receive a vaccination against COVID-19, unless a medical or religious reasonable accommodation is approved. If offered a job, the candidate must be able to prove that they have been vaccinated with one of the CDC-authorized vaccines, including either Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson / Janssen or request and be granted an accommodation before their start date.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Urban Alliance is a racial and social justice organization committed to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Urban Alliance is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. Applicants from all underrepresented groups, including people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and DACA recipients are encouraged to apply.

Urban Alliance has retained the executive search firm LeaderFit to manage this search. Please submit your application on the LeaderFit website here.