Position Overview  

Click here to download a PDF version of this position.

The Chief Community Impact Officer (CCIO) is responsible for the design and leadership of our Alliance community, with the aspiration of building the leading “practitioners’ community” for youth-supporting non-profits in the country. In service of this vision, the CCIO will oversee Alliance membership and programming, collective impact initiatives, research, communications, policy, and the youth leadership work at America’s Promise Alliance. Reporting to the CEO and serving as a member of the Leadership Team, the CCIO is ultimately responsible for the vitality, growth, and efficacy of our Alliance community, building powerful coalitions to achieve field-level change in our chosen issue areas, and ensuring that America’s Promise Alliance achieves the goals of its 2022-2027 strategic plan.  

About America’s Promise Alliance  

America’s Promise Alliance was founded in 1997 by five U.S. Presidents and General Colin Powell. Over the last 24 years, our Alliance has grown into a community of hundreds of the top youth-supporting non-profits in the country, working together to advance equity, increase opportunity, and improve outcomes for young people in America. Collectively, our member organizations serve millions of young people each year across every state in the country.  

America’s Promise Alliance is an independent entity that exists to serve the youth-supporting field*, to build the community, establish the infrastructure, and secure the resources necessary for collective improvement and action at national scale. Our job is to make collaboration among our member organizations effective, efficient, continuous, informed by communities, and joyful. We believe that if you want to foster coordination and collaboration, you start by building relationships. We believe that if you want to build a field, you first create an authentic community dedicated to helping each other. We believe a sustained and continuous effort to bring the best organizations into deep and trusting working relationships with one another will ultimately translate into more effective and more connected support for young people across the country. 

*We define the “field” as organizations working in the outcome areas at the intersection of young people’s lived experiences: (1) education & youth development, (2) racial & social justice, (3) workforce development & economic mobility, and (4) mental health and wellbeing.

About Our Next Chapter 

America’s Promise Alliance is in the process of completing a new 5-year strategic plan and a comprehensive “next chapter” for the organization. The Chief Community Impact Officer role will be responsible for the successful implementation of this five-year strategy. An overview of that strategy is here.  

Responsibilities  

The first priority of the CCIO role is the design and launch of our reimagined Alliance community, including designing and implementing new, innovative program offerings. The CCIO will oversee the Alliance team and will also manage the research and communications teams at APA. Over time, the CCIO will also be responsible for building the youth leadership practice for the organization.   

Core responsibilities for this position include:  

Alliance Design & Leadership  

In 2022, America’s Promise Alliance will launch its redesigned Alliance. CCIO responsibilities in this work include:  

• Design of our Alliance community and the continuous improvement on community design over time 

• Design and continuous improvement for all programmatic offerings  

• Establish core metrics and measures for success  

• Recruitment, onboarding and retention of community members  

• Lead a community-wide process to select our collective action issue areas  

• Form and mobilize coalitions of Alliance members in pursuit of collective action in our selected issue areas  

• Ensure financial viability of the community through membership fees and sponsorships  

Research, Communications & Policy  

In each of our key issue areas, America’s Promise will lead independent research, launch national communications campaigns, and focus on policy development. CCIO responsibilities in these areas include:  

• Oversee the design of our national research agendas, the execution of high-quality research that centers the experience of young people, and the dissemination of results to the stakeholders who can best utilize our findings  

• Oversee annual State of the Field research and utilize findings to cultivate new opportunities and collaborations  

• Oversee national communications campaigns that center first-person storytelling from young leaders in our key issue areas 

• Develop strategic partnerships for content creation and high impact distribution of national communications campaigns 

• Seamlessly integrate research and storytelling to create “head and heart” campaigns around our key issues 

• Develop a framework for APA policy work that centers young leaders and practitioners in the policy process 

• Identify the most opportune areas to drive policy change and mobilize coalitions of Alliance members in those areas 

Youth Leadership 

In 2023, we aspire to launch a new community-based youth leadership model. CCIO responsibilities in this area include:  

• Forming and leading a youth leadership body to partner with America’s Promise on all aspects of model design, issue selection, and city selection 

• Comprehensive program model design  

• Partnering with the CEO to secure seed funding for 2-3 pilot cities  

• Selection of the issue areas the model will address 

• Recruitment of local partners to recruit young leaders, serve as educators in the model, and form a local Board of Advisors 

• Hiring, onboarding and management of a local team to run the model  

• Design program evaluation and measures for success  

• Continuous improvement & evolution of the model over time  

Organizational Leadership 

• Build and manage high performing teams 

• Serve as a member of APA’s Leadership Team  

• In partnership with the Leadership Team, operationalize APA’s commitment centering racial equity, and to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging within teams, in APA’s organizational culture, and in our Alliance 

• Ensure we meet the annual and 5-year goals included in our 2022-2027 strategic plan 

• Partner with the CEO to mobilize both the Board of Directors and Alliance Trustees in service of APA’s mission 

• Represent the organization externally to funders, partners, policy makers, and community members  

• Oversee annual staff planning and budgets for the Alliance, research and communications teams  

Qualifications  

• 15+ years of senior leadership experience in youth-supporting organizations operating at national scale (direct service organizations, coalition building efforts, policy, philanthropy, etc.)  

• Demonstrated experience operationalizing equity, diversity, inclusion, justice, and belonging in all aspects within and external to the organization. 

• Proven team-builder and people manager who prioritizes inclusion and has the ability to lead high performing and diverse teams through a period of organizational change, while maintaining cohesion and coordination at all levels. 

• Substantial program leadership experience, including program design, implementation, and evaluation.  

• Prior experience with bringing diverse leaders and organizations together to achieve common goals; proven ability to build energy and momentum behind collective efforts. This includes membership in, and leadership of, coalitions, communities, and networks.  

• Experience working in one or more of APA’s outcome areas: education & youth development; racial & social justice; workforce development & economic mobility; mental health and wellbeing.  

• Efficacy and comfort leading in both startup and high growth periods in an organization’s trajectory.  

• Understanding of latest research and policy connected to APA issue areas and the youth-supporting field, with the ability to diagnose trends and to synthesize the work of diverse stakeholders, identifying the biggest opportunities for impact.  

• A believer in the power of youth leadership and the wisdom that can only be found in lived experience. An ability to share voice, space, and power with youth and community leaders.  

Compensation & Benefits 

Salary and benefits will be competitive and commensurate with experience with a range of $200,000 -$250,000. America’s Promise Alliance offers a generous benefits package that extends beyond health care coverage to help provide team members with a work-life balance that includes childcare, wellness initiatives, professional development, retirement savings, and more. 

Location is flexible within the United States.

To Apply  

Please submit a resume and cover letter detailing your interest in this position to [email protected]. Please include the position title in the subject line of your e-mail.  

America’s Promise Alliance is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We actively seek and welcome diversity of all types on the America’s Promise team. America’s Promise is committed to an inclusive environment that allows all team members to thrive. While we sincerely appreciate all applications; only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted. 

Position Overview 

Click here to download PDF version of this position.

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) will oversee the strategic management of the internal operations of America’s Promise Alliance (APA), in addition to supporting the development and administration of the Alliance member community. The COO will be tasked with leading and managing APA as it prepares to launch an ambitious five-year strategic plan, providing critical stewardship and infrastructure development during a period of high change and rapid growth. Reporting to the CEO and serving as a member of the Leadership Team, the COO will lead and manage core internal functions of the organization, including Finance, Talent & HR, Operations, Legal, Facilities, IT, and Alliance infrastructure. The ideal candidate for this role will bring a systems-minded, inclusive and collaborative approach to the management of APA, providing critical leadership essential to ensuring America’s Promise Alliance achieves the goals of its 2022-2026 strategic plan. 

About America’s Promise Alliance 

America’s Promise Alliance was founded in 1997 by five U.S. Presidents and General Colin Powell. Over the last 24 years, our Alliance has grown into a community of hundreds of the top youth-supporting non-profits in the country, working together to advance equity, increase opportunity, and improve outcomes for young people in America. Collectively, our member organizations serve millions of young people each year across every state in the country.  

America’s Promise Alliance is an independent entity that exists to serve the field*, to build the community, establish the infrastructure, and secure the resources necessary for collective improvement and action at a national scale. Our job is to make collaboration among our member organizations effective, efficient, continuous, informed by communities, and joyful. We believe that if you want to foster coordination and collaboration, you start by building relationships. We believe that if you want to build a field, you first create an authentic community dedicated to helping each other. We believe a sustained and continuous effort to bring the best organizations into deep and trusting working relationships with one another will ultimately translate into more effective and more connected support for young people across the country.  

*We define the “field” as organizations working in the outcome areas at the intersection of young people’s lived experiences: (1) education & youth development, (2) racial & social justice, (3) workforce development & economic mobility, and (4) mental health and wellbeing.

About Our Next Chapter 

America’s Promise Alliance is in the process of completing a new 5-year strategic plan and a comprehensive “next chapter” for the organization. The work of the COO is essential to the successful implementation of this five-year strategy. An overview of that strategy is here. 

Responsibilities 

The COO will manage a high-performing, diverse, and evolving team during a period of strategic reimagining and internal growth at APA, and will play a key role in developing the infrastructure of the growing Alliance member community. This includes overall responsibility for APA’s efficacy and efficiency, ensuring APA is an incredible place to work for our team, and ensuring our culture is rooted in equity, belonging, curiosity, and continuous improvement.   

Core responsibilities for this position include: 

Budget and Finance 

• Develop a 5-year financial model to support APA’s 2022-2026 strategic plan; lead a multi-year financial planning process to support APA’s financial growth and health. 

• Develop and manage annual budgets.  

• Establish strategic financial goals, monitor APA’s performance against those goals, and recommend adjustments when necessary. 

• Conduct regular financial analyses; forecasting costs related to different strategic choices, and oversee the development of budgets for new projects. 

• Serve as a liaison to the Board of Directors and point person for the Board Finance Committee.  

• Oversee investment strategy and serve as liaison with APA’s external investment manager to ensure compliance with APA’s Investment Policy Statement.

• Oversee financial and governance policies and procedures.  Establish new polices as needed to maintain best practices. 

• Oversee the audit process, filing of the annual IRS Form 990 and state charitable registration filings.   

Administration & Operations  

• Oversee cross-functional team leaders in areas including Finance, IT, and Talent/HR to ensure teams are working seamlessly and in alignment with organizational priorities and available resources. 

• Lead annual and ongoing planning for APA.  

• Lead negotiations and manage ongoing vendor relationships for various operational functions. 

• Oversee all contracts, partnership agreements, and consulting relationships.  

• Serve as liaison on legal matters with APA’s external legal counsel. 

• Coordinate project management and administrative support issues with the operations teams, balancing need for high performance and rapid growth with a commitment to building a culture of collaboration, iterative learning, and equitable practices. 

• Lead APA in developing task management and communications processes and systems to promote effective collaborations and iterative project management within a diverse and evolving team. 

• Recognize and anticipate gaps, opportunities and challenges as they relate to operations and administrative systems; generating ideas, innovative solutions and strategies to drive transformational organization-wide collaboration and deepening impact. 

• Ensure that all operational decisions are supported by sound business practices and systems, and in alignment with APA’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and anti-racism. 

Facilities 

The APA team has been working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic, but maintains an office headquarters in Washington, DC. The COO will be ultimately responsible for overseeing the management of APA’s facilities, including: 

• Serve as the primary point person for APA’s office and real estate stakeholders. 

• Evaluate functional needs of APA’s facilities and ensure all facilities are properly maintained to promote comfort, efficiency and utility for APA employees and guests. 

• Develop in-office and remote working policies that meets the needs of team members and positions APA to achieve its goals.  

• Explore and oversee subleasing options to maximize the utility of APA’s office space.  

Talent, Culture and Human Resources 

In order to achieve the goals of APA’s 2022-2026 strategic plan, the organization anticipates near term ambitious growth of the internal team in order to support an expanding and dynamic Alliance community. COO responsibilities in this area include: 

• Oversee the new Senior Director of Talent and Culture in all aspects of APA’s talent work, including developing recruitment strategies and systems, establishing and implementing performance management and talent development processes, and evolving employee engagement and inclusion initiatives. 

• Lead the process through which APA operationalizes the goals of our 2022-2026 strategic plan and defines the culture that bests serves the organization; implement the systems and practices that monitor our pursuit of our performance and culture goals.  

• Continuously model anti-racism in leadership and embrace APA’s commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging; and through leadership promote an ongoing learning and evolution in anti-racism and equitable practices throughout the organization. 

• Partner with the VP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to organize and execute on our internal DEI roadmaps and priorities.  

• Serve as liaison with APA’s benefit broker to negotiate employee benefits on an annual basis. 

• Direct and maintain policies and procedures to ensure APA’s compliance with federal and state employment laws. 

Organizational Performance & Learning 

The COO will lead APA’s efforts to drive systems, process and efficiency improvements across the organization as APA transforms and grows. In this area, the COO will: 

• Develop a comprehensive framework, metrics, and infrastructure to monitor organizational performance and learning.  

• Lead quarterly and annual review of progress against our performance and learning goals.    

• Support leaders and teams in developing and building a culture of high performance and continuous learning.  

Organizational Leadership 

The COO will lead, manage and model effective leadership, both within the teams directly managed by the role and for the organization more broadly. Core responsibilities in this area include: 

• Provide effective management and support the professional growth of direct reports and the teams they manage.  

• Ensure the organization’s Leadership Team is effectively providing org-wide leadership for the organization.  

• Represent APA at Board of Directors meetings and work directly with Board members on special projects.  

• Represent APA with external stakeholders and partners.  

• Working closely with the Leadership Team and the new Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, craft and implement strategies to operationalize APA’s commitments to anti-racism and DEI roadmap across the organization. 

Alliance Community Infrastructure 

In addition to managing the internal operations of APA, the COO will also work closely with the new Chief Community Impact Officer (CCIO) to develop and build scalable infrastructure for the contemplated growth of the reimagined Alliance community. In this area, the COO will: 

• Develop a financial model for the Alliance overall and financial KPI’s that can help us manage the Alliance to a place of financial stability.  

• Build and scale the infrastructure for member recruitment, enrollment, management, and retention.  

• Build and scale the infrastructure for the collection and management of membership fees.  

• Build and maintain event management and community communication solutions.  

• Understand the technology tools that can best support Alliance operations as we scale.  

• Provide leadership, collaboration and counseling to various cross-functional teams to ensure diverse teams work seamlessly together to scale the Alliance and deliver on APA’s commitments to our Alliance Community. 

Qualifications 

• 10+ years of senior leadership experience, preferably in the non-profit and youth-supporting field. 

• 10+ years in operations management, including finance, talent, human resources, and operations.  

• Prior experience in building and scaling operational systems and processes at a non-profit organization. 

• Efficacy and comfort in both startup and high scale environments. Proven ability to enthusiastically lead and mobilize an evolving team through high-change and high-growth periods in an organization’s trajectory. 

• Demonstrated ability to lead diverse, high-performing layered teams. 

• Able to identify gaps, opportunities and strengths within an organization’s infrastructure, and to provide innovative strategies to improve processes and systems. 

• DEI-centered leader who demonstrates a commitment to continuous learning, and who leads by modeling anti-racist practices. 

• Demonstrated adept facilitation skills and ability to work and manage across lines of difference and approaching conversations with humility, thought and care. 

• Demonstrated commitment to racial justice and improving youth outcomes. 

• Experience working in one or more of APA’s outcome areas: education & youth development; racial & social justice; workforce development & economic mobility; mental health and wellbeing. 

Compensation & Benefits 

Salary and benefits will be competitive and commensurate with experience with a range of $200,000 -$230,000. America’s Promise Alliance offers a generous benefits package that extends beyond health care coverage to help provide team members with a work-life balance that includes childcare, wellness initiatives, professional development, retirement savings, and more. 

Location is flexible within the United States.

To Apply  

Please submit a resume and cover letter detailing your interest in this position to [email protected]. Please include the position title in the subject line of your e-mail.  

America’s Promise Alliance is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We actively seek and welcome diversity of all types on the America’s Promise team. America’s Promise is committed to an inclusive environment that allows all team members to thrive. While we sincerely appreciate all applications, only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted. 

Position Overview   

Click here to download PDF version of this position.

The Senior Director of Communications leads the development, direction, and implementation of the communications strategy for America’s Promise Alliance. America’s Promise is a coalition of national and community-level youth-supporting organizations—collectively known as the Alliance. The organization is in the process of reimagining its longstanding Alliance community, with the aspiration of building the leading “practitioners’ community” for youth-supporting non-profits in the country. In service of this vision, the Senior Director of Communications is responsible for elevating the work of our member organizations, sharing insights generated by our community, disseminating our field-leading original research, and designing and executing national storytelling campaigns to support our collective impact initiatives. Reporting to the Chief Community Impact Officer and serving as a member of the Leadership Team, the Senior Director of Communications will join America’s Promise at an important moment, as we complete a comprehensive organizational rebrand, celebrate our 25th anniversary, and unveil a new 5-year strategic plan. This provides the Senior Director of Communications with a unique opportunity to shape and grow the America’s Promise brand, lifting up the work of our member organizations, contributing to our systemic change efforts, and bringing new partners and supporters to our community.  

About America’s Promise Alliance   

America’s Promise Alliance was founded in 1997 by five U.S. Presidents and General Colin Powell. Over the last 24 years, our Alliance has grown into a community of hundreds of the top youth-supporting non-profits in the country, working together to advance equity, increase opportunity, and improve outcomes for young people in America. Collectively, our member organizations serve millions of young people each year across every state in the country.  

America’s Promise Alliance is an independent entity that exists to serve the youth-supporting field, to build the community, establish the infrastructure, and secure the resources necessary for collective improvement and action at national scale. Our job is to make collaboration among our member organizations effective, efficient, continuous, informed by communities, and joyful. We believe that if you want to foster coordination and collaboration, you start by building relationships. We believe that if you want to build a field, you first create an authentic community dedicated to helping each other. We believe a sustained and continuous effort to bring the best organizations into deep and trusting working relationships with one another will ultimately translate into more effective and more connected support for young people across the country.   

About Our Next Chapter  

America’s Promise Alliance is in the process of completing a new 5-year strategic plan and a comprehensive “next chapter” for the organization. The Senior Director of Communications plays a pivotal role in ensuring the successful implementation of this five-year strategy. An overview of that strategy is here.   

Responsibilities   

The initial priority of the Senior Director of Communications role is to help design and implement the public launch of the reimagined America’s Promise this spring. This launch represents a convergence of the organization’s new brand, its five-year strategy, and its reimagined Alliance community. After the launch, this position will conceptualize ongoing communication with and about the Alliance; amplify the organization’s research, policy, and youth leadership contributions; and play a key role in designing the Alliance community’s issue-based storytelling campaigns.   

Core responsibilities for this position include:   

Organizational Rebrand 

This spring, America’s Promise Alliance will unveil its new brand. The Senior Director of Communications will be responsible for leading all aspects of the rebranding process, working with our external branding partner, including:   

• Understanding the insights and learnings uncovered by the organization’s branding partner firm as part of the Discovery Phase, as well as the brand elements that have been determined as part of the Brand Strategy Phase.  

• Supporting the branding firm’s development of additional brand elements, including soliciting and compiling feedback from key stakeholders. 

• Supporting the branding firm and its web development partner’s creation of a new website for America’s Promise. 

• Leading the America’s Promise communications team in activation of the rebrand, from development of brand assets to the formulation of more detailed messaging.  

Launch of America’s Promise’s Next Chapter 

This spring, America’s Promise Alliance will launch as a reimagined Alliance community. This role’s launch responsibilities include:  

• Designing and implementing a multifaceted public launch that highlights key elements of the organization’s five-year strategy, introduces the founding Alliance community, reflects the new brand, and features a new website. 

• Conceptualizing every aspect of a strategic communications plan for the launch, including but not limited to, media outreach; social media strategy; partner, Board, and funder engagement; website deployment; Alliance storytelling. 

• Leading the communications team and external consultants in implementation of the launch plan. 

Alliance Communications 

After the launch, the organization will need to determine a strategy for ongoing communication with and about the Alliance. Senior Director responsibilities include:  

• Developing relationships with Alliance members to deeply understand their needs and insights, informing our Alliance communications work.  

• Developing a plan for regular communications with Alliance members about program offerings, Alliance community news and announcements, and updates from the field; leading the communications and Alliance teams in implementing the plan.  

• Guiding the communications team in unearthing potential story ideas from America’s Promise’s various partners and networks.  

• Establishing the Alliance as a trusted source of information about education and the youth development field for key stakeholders, including media and decisionmakers. 

Research, Policy, Youth Leadership Communications  

America’s Promise will lead independent research, influence policy, and create extensive opportunities for youth leadership. Senior Director responsibilities in these areas include:   

• Lead the dissemination of findings from America’s Promise Alliance’s unique, youth-centered research to the stakeholders who can best utilize the results and recommendations. 

• Develop and help implement a plan for communicating about the organization’s policy approach and the involvement of young leaders and practitioners in the policy process.  

• Develop and help implement a plan for communicating about the organization’s community-based youth leadership model. 

Storytelling Campaigns 

America’s Promise, its Alliance members, and youth leaders will identify issue areas that affect young people as the focus of national communication campaigns designed to raise public awareness, shift mindsets, or inspire action. Responsibilities in this area include: 

• Participating in a cross-functional team to design a process for taking the issue-based storytelling campaigns from conception to execution.  

• Partnering with the Senior Director of Research to seamlessly integrate research and storytelling to create “head and heart” campaigns that center first-person storytelling from young leaders in our key issue areas.  

• Overseeing the activation of the national communications campaigns, including pursuing strategic partnerships for compelling content creation and high impact distribution. 

• Developing an ethical, responsible, and sensitive approach to helping young people tell their stories and share their perspectives in ways that recognize their power, humanity, and autonomy.  

• Support the engagement and mobilization of coalitions of Alliance members in the design and execution of these campaigns.  

Team and Organizational Leadership  

The Senior Director of Communication’s leadership responsibilities include: 

• Leading a high-performing communications team 

• Serving as a member of America’s Promise’s Leadership Team 

• In partnership with other America’s Promise staff, operationalizing the organization’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within teams, in organizational culture, in our communications, and in our Alliance.  

Qualifications 

• Position requires at least 8 years of work experience in a related field. 

• Deep knowledge of the education and youth development fields and experience communicating about and with young people, the issues and experiences that shape their lives, and the practitioners and policymakers who support them.  

• Deep storytelling experience across a variety of media formats. 

• Strong messaging and framing skills and an intuition for the language, narratives, and arguments that resonate with various audiences. 

• Superb interpersonal skills with the ability to connect and collaborate with a range of individuals and organizational partners.  

• Flexible and adaptable. Able to work with ambiguity and changing conditions and priorities. 

• Sound organizational skills. Demonstrated ability to manage and balance a wide range of projects and duties in fast moving environment under tight deadlines. 

• The ability to not only spot problems but articulate solutions—and guide and empower others in executing them. 

• Strategic firepower that can be applied to developing and executing communications plans that advance America’s Promise Alliance’s organizational goals and positioning.  

• Ability to lead communication professionals with expertise in social and digital media, content development and promotion, storytelling, and project management; experience with prioritizing and integrating these functions within a high-performing communications team. 

• Experience communicating about racial and social injustice. 

• Bachelor’s degree (or related years of experience) is preferred, preferably in communications, public relations, marketing, journalism, or any related discipline. Graduate degree in related field a plus. 

Compensation & Benefits 

Salary and benefits will be competitive and commensurate with experience with a range of $100,000 -$130,000. America’s Promise Alliance offers a generous benefits package that extends beyond health care coverage to help provide team members with a work-life balance that includes childcare, wellness initiatives, professional development, retirement savings, and more. 

Location is flexible within the United States.

To Apply  

Click the ‘Apply Now’ to apply for this position.  Apply Now

America’s Promise Alliance is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We actively seek and welcome diversity of all types on the America’s Promise team. America’s Promise is committed to an inclusive environment that allows all team members to thrive. While we sincerely appreciate all applications; only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted. 

Position Overview  

Click here to download a PDF version of this position.

The Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (VP DEI) is responsible for the design and leadership of America’s Promise Alliance’s equity work, both within the organization and across the hundreds of youth-supporting member organizations in our Alliance. In the leadership of our Alliance programming, the VP DEI will create a strategy and design programs offerings for Alliance member organizations, bringing leaders and organizations together to interrogate and advance their equity practice in all facets of their work (this work also includes supporting APA’s existing Anti-Racist Alliance initiative). In this capacity, the VP DEI will help support the equity work and DEI practice of hundreds of organizations nationally. In addition to the work with the Alliance, the VP DEI will also design and lead APA’s internal diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging strategy. This includes the creation and leadership of a multi-year strategy to advance and operationalize our DEI vales and commitments in our organizational culture, leadership, programming, and external communications. Reporting to the CEO and serving as a member of the Leadership Team, the VP DEI is ultimately responsible for helping the youth-supporting field become more equitable, inclusive, and grounded in anti-racist practice, in service of creating more affirming spaces for young people, improving outcomes for organizations, and solidifying more equitable and just practices in the field. The work of the VP DEI is essential to ensuring America’s Promise Alliance achieves the goals of its 2022-2026 strategic plan.  

About America’s Promise Alliance  

America’s Promise Alliance was founded in 1997 by five U.S. Presidents and General Colin Powell. Over the last 24 years, our Alliance has grown into a community of 450+ of the top youth-supporting non-profits in the country, working together to advance equity, increase opportunity, and improve outcomes for young people in America. Collectively, our member organizations serve millions of young people each year across every state in the country.  

America’s Promise Alliance is an independent entity that exists to serve the field*, to build the community, establish the infrastructure, and secure the resources necessary for collective improvement and action at a national scale. Our job is to make collaboration among our member organizations effective, efficient, continuous, informed by communities, and joyful. We believe that if you want to foster coordination and collaboration, you start by building relationships. We believe that if you want to build a field, you first create an authentic community dedicated to helping each other. We believe a sustained and continuous effort to bring the best organizations into deep and trusting working relationships with one another will ultimately translate into more effective and more connected support for young people across the country. 

*We define the “field” as organizations working in the outcome areas at the intersection of young people’s lived experiences: (1) education & youth development, (2) racial & social justice, (3) workforce development & economic mobility, and (4) mental health and wellbeing. 

About Our Next Chapter 

America’s Promise Alliance is in the process of completing a new 5-year strategic plan and a comprehensive “next chapter” for the organization. The work of the VP DEI is essential to the successful implementation of this five-year strategy. An overview of that strategy is here.  

Responsibilities  

The VP DEI leads the strategy and execution of the equity work in our Alliance, develops and leads the strategy of APA’s internal DEI work, and serves as a member of the senior leadership team at APA. Core responsibilities for this position include:  

Work With Our Alliance  

In 2022, America’s Promise Alliance will launch its redesigned Alliance. Working to advance the DEI work and anti-racism practice of our member organizations will be one of the founding priorities of our community. VP DEI responsibilities in this work include:  

• Understand the needs, aspirations and capabilities of our Alliance community.  

• Utilize this understanding of our community to create a multi-year strategy for advancing the equity work of the organizations we serve.  

• Translate that strategy into program offerings and initiatives we offer to Alliance members.  

• Support APA’s existing Anti-Racist Alliance initiative, working with 13 national organizations to define concrete commitments to anti-racist practice in their organizational practice, programs, research, and advocacy.  

• Develop external partnerships to bring new resources and opportunities to our Alliance members.  

• Identifying examples of excellence within our Alliance community and ensuring others learn from those examples.  

• Measure the efficacy of our work with the Alliance and utilize findings to evolve programming over time.  

• Codify learnings from our community and share them with the broader field to drive further conversation, understanding, and investment in this critical work.  

APA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy  

In alignment with APA’s new 5-year strategic plan, the VP DEI will create a multi-year strategy to advance the equity work at APA. This strategy will be essential to sustaining a culture of inclusion and belonging at APA, to ensuring APA fosters a culture that celebrates diversity and benefits from diverse perspectives, and ensuring APA is an affirming and supportive environment for all employees. The VP DEI will:  

• Create a multi-year DEI and belonging strategy for the organization, including a focus on recruitment & hiring, performance management, leadership development, culture, decision making, employee engagement and retention, and the use of our external voice.  

• Translate this multi-year strategy into annual roadmaps and ensure successful implementation of our initiatives.  

• Develop a methodology and metrics for measuring our progress against our DEI goals and utilize this information to evolve our work over time.  

• Lead APA’s DEI Task Force to enhance understanding of organizational issues, to operationalize the DEI roadmap, and foster dialogue up, down, and across APA. 

• Collaborate with the Leadership Team to deepen the equity practice within individuals and the team, ensuring equity is at the center of both the policy and practice of how we lead at APA.  

• Establishing equity and inclusion excellence as core values throughout all aspects of APA's policies, practices, and design, including internal workplace practices and external work of Alliance members and the broader sector. 

Organizational Leadership 

• Serve as a member of the Senior Leadership Team 

• Ensure all leaders at APA operationalize APA’s commitment to centering racial equity in our work, and to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging within teams, in APA’s organizational culture, and in our Alliance.  

• Represent the organization externally to funders, partners, policy makers, and community members  

• Maintain strong collaborative working relationships among cross functional teams. 

• Work with Human Resources to ensure compliance with applicable federal/state laws, policies, and procedures (e.g Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity, Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, etc.). 

Qualifications  

• 10+ years of senior leadership experience, preferably in the non-profit and youth-supporting sector.  

• Experience leading the development and implementation of a comprehensive DEI strategy in a non-profit organization.  

• Prior experience with bringing diverse leaders and organizations together to achieve common goals. This includes membership in, and leadership of, coalitions, communities, and networks. Experience shaping and designing culturally competent processes to support collaborative efforts involving multiple organizations.  

• Ability to go beyond introductory level concepts with a focus on strategies and application of concepts in the practice of individual organizations and across multiple organizations.   

• An adept facilitator, creating inclusive, inviting environments that can encourage participation from a diversity of perspectives. Ability to create a culture of healthy communication and iterative reflection.  

• Ability to focus on organizational change while holding space for individual change.  

• Demonstrated commitment to racial justice; strong grasp of anti-racism and how to move organizations toward a transformed society; understanding of how racism and white supremacy have been perpetuated in the youth-supporting sector.   

• Familiarity with youth development concepts and the youth-supporting field.  

• Experience working in one or more of APA’s outcome areas: education & youth development; racial & social justice; workforce development & economic mobility; mental health and wellbeing.  

• Efficacy and comfort leading in both startup and high scale environments. Efficacy and comfort leading through high-change and high-growth periods in an organization’s trajectory.  

• Ability to understand and diagnose trends in the field and to synthesize the work of diverse stakeholders and identify the biggest opportunities for impact.  

• A believer in the power of youth leadership and the wisdom that can only be found in lived experience. An ability to share voice, space, and power with youth and community leaders.  

Compensation & Benefits 

Salary and benefits will be competitive and commensurate with experience with a range of $140,000 - $160,000. America’s Promise Alliance offers a generous benefits package that extends beyond health care coverage to help provide team members with a work-life balance that includes childcare, wellness initiatives, professional development, retirement savings, and more. 

Location is flexible within the United States.

To Apply  

Please submit a resume and cover letter detailing your interest in this position to [email protected]. Please include the position title in the subject line of your e-mail.  

America’s Promise Alliance is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  We actively seek and welcome diversity of all types on the America’s Promise team. America’s Promise is committed to an inclusive environment that allows all team members to thrive. While we sincerely appreciate all applications, only those candidates selected for interview will be contacted.