Chief Executive Officer

Position: Chief Executive Officer
Organization: College Possible
Location: Location is agnostic as long as the individual has the ability
to represent College Possible in the community and willingness to travel
regularly throughout the country on behalf of the organization.
Reporting Relationship: National Board of Directors
Website: https://collegepossible.org/

ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND
As one of the largest and most successful college access and success programs
in the country, since ‎2000 College Possible has helped more than ‎80,000
students from underrepresented communities get into and through college
through an intensive curriculum of coaching and support. Its pioneering model
matches students with a near-peer coach and an evidence-based curriculum
designed to help students overcome the most common barriers to getting into
college and completing their degree - all at no cost to students or their
families. Nationwide, College Possible students are three times more likely to
earn a bachelor's degree within six years than their peers from similar
backgrounds.

College Possible's near-peer coaching model has earned national recognition:
the inaugural Evergreen National Education Award recognized its leadership in
increasing access to and success in college for students from low-income
backgrounds. It also earns top-of-field results: a Harvard study found that
the program more than doubles a student's chance of enrolling in a four-year
college, and its students are four times more likely to become college
graduates than their low-income peers. College Possible has an annual
operating budget of $‎33 million, more than ‎150 full-time employees and over
‎175 AmeriCorps and VISTA service members. During the ‎2021-‎2022 school year,
the reach was an estimated ‎24,000 students nationwide.

College Possible is a proud AmeriCorps program. AmeriCorps is a federal agency
that brings people together to tackle the country's most pressing challenges
through national service. AmeriCorps members commit to a year of service as a
College Possible coach in communities throughout the country. Many coaches
represent the identities of the students they serve, and each brings a
commitment to social justice and closing the college equity divide.
College Possible operates eight regional sites in St. Paul, MN; Chicago, IL;
Milwaukee, WI; Omaha, NE; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; and Seattle, WA; and
College Forward in Austin, TX. The organization also delivers two national
offerings: CoPilot and Catalyze partnerships in California, Iowa, Minnesota,
New York, Ohio, and Tennessee.

College Forward
As part of College Possible 's continued commitment to deepen its impact and
scale meaningful student outcomes, College Forward became part of College
Possible on July ‎1, ‎2021. College Forward expanded the work to Austin, TX. By
combining organizations, it reinforces foundational programming, expands
national reach, and evolves the service model and capacity to meet the needs
of students long into the future.

Catalyze
Catalyze is a college success partnership program where partner universities
are matched with trained near-peer coaches to support the first-to-second-year
persistence and degree completion of eligible students on their campuses.
College Possible provides trained, on-campus AmeriCorps coaches, program
administration support, and a proprietary coaching curriculum that adds
capacity for better student retention. Catalyze coaches extend the reach of
already existing campus resources. The Catalyze program can be customized to
reach top-priority student segments, and/or specific retention goals, or to
augment known gaps in student support.

CoPilot
CoPilot is an industry-leading student information system providing student
support professionals/practitioners with a ‎360-degree view of their students,
offering insight into the academic, financial, and social well-being of
students. CoPilot users can track student interactions, monitor student
progress, and replace data silos or spreadsheets. The team guides
organizations through data migration, implementation, and optimization. Built
on the Salesforce.com platform and highly customizable, CoPilot empowers users
with cloud-based technology and equips them with real-time analytics to
prevent students from falling through the cracks.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
College Possible is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and seeks
to build a diverse workforce to create impact in partnership with the
communities served. We welcome a diverse pool of qualified applicants. For
each of its positions, College Possible is mindful about how to best serves
its students, and seeks to hire staff with relevant experience, skills and
aptitude, and a commitment to the power of education.

THE OPPORTUNITY- WHAT YOU 'LL DO
College Possible has achieved national recognition as a leader increasing
access to and success in college for students from low-income backgrounds, and
since its inception has grown significantly. The next phase of the
organization 's evolution is critical. After ‎20+ years of rapid growth and
expansion, the next CEO must strengthen the organizational infrastructure to
be more sustainable before deepening/expanding the impact of its programs and
services to support more youth. There is a mandate for delivering a strong
national vision and value, strengthened relationships with all sites, future
growth, and programmatic innovation. As such, the CEO will be charged with
strengthening the operational structure and driving intentional investment in
its leaders that will even further enhance their ability to create more
opportunities for underserved students and ultimately greater social impact.

The CEO for College Possible will be responsible for the strategic leadership
and management of the national organization and for setting a strong vision
for its future as a robust multi-site and multi-service enterprise. The CEO,
with the collaborative support of dedicated site executive directors and a
national leadership team, will build organizational capacity to achieve its
mission and goals. The next chapter will require change management and
accountability of all team members to meet goals and metrics that deliver for
students. The CEO will establish policies, systems, and procedures to maximize
efficiencies and alleviate natural tensions of a multi-site organization and
national programs working at scale. This position will lead the development
and implementation of College Possible's strategic objectives and related
business plans and budgets.

This next phase of organizational building will position College Possible to
drive scale and enhance program offerings, financial sustainability, and
operational capabilities. The CEO will manage a senior team and provide
mentorship. Working closely with the National Board, the CEO will serve as the
chief resource-generator and ambassador for College Possible, raise community
awareness of its mission, goals and accomplishments, and act as the
spokesperson for the organization in its efforts to attract and retain donors,
funders, and business partners.

The CEO inspires and motivates internal and external audiences, leads with
clarity and purpose, expands the organization 's impact and supporters,
engenders an inclusive and engaged internal culture, and demonstrates a strong
commitment to the powerful mission.

Specific opportunities include:
* Lead the national strategy for the organization's continued impact and growth: The CEO will provide the vision and leadership necessary to achieve the philosophy, mission, and future goals through long-range planning efforts of the organization including shaping the overall strategy for organizational sustainability and capacity to enhance organizational impact and growth. Build a productive working relationship with the Board, its committees, and task forces.
* Ensure Program Quality Across All Sites & College Partners: Create standardization, role clarity, unified culture, and consistent approach/programmatic delivery. Help ensure the delivery of high-quality programming to students, including maintaining and enhancing relationships with partner high schools, colleges, and community volunteers. Oversee the implementation of the College Possible curriculum and ensure the site level program is operating in synergy with the national model while innovating to improve program outcomes.
* Refine Organizational Capacity for College Possible: Provide a high level of managerial leadership throughout the organization with clearly defined accountability measures. Oversee budget planning and financial reporting. Build, develop and retain a high-quality senior management team and staff. Direct ongoing internal organizational development to define and measure success and build or refine the infrastructure necessary to support a collaborative multi-site organization and support the growth plans of the organization including review of the current and potential pipeline for peer coaching.
* Prioritize Culture: Build a culture that fosters collaboration within and across communities across the organization. As a leader, the CEO will model and ensure a culture that builds trust, promotes belonging, supports courage, and empowers community that fully embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion.
* Diversify Funding: Enable the success of fundraising activities and initiatives, including earned revenue, national fundraising, and multi-site grants. Work closely with Board, staff, and volunteers in expanding the organization's donor base and engaging corporate partners to generate revenue and mobilize significant resources in support of the College Possible vision. Ideate, encourage, and implement new programming and earned revenue opportunities that expand the reach of the organization.
* Represent College Possible locally and nationally: Serve as the primary national spokesperson for the organization. Leverage compelling storytelling to build a network of external partners and supporters who are advocates of CP and its mission. Establish and manage the organization's national reputation and branding.

WHO YOU ARE
The ideal candidate should bring a mix of the following experience, qualities,
and established track record in order to lead College Possible:
*
Demonstrated leadership experience with a track record of success in managing
a fiscally sound, growing, complex, multi-program nonprofit and/or corporate
organization.
* Passion for and demonstrated commitment to advancing college access and college success for underserved students and first generation to college students, and public service.
* Considerable experience or exposure working directly with a Board of Directors, maintaining collaborative working relationships with its members, and the ability to develop, recruit and leverage an effective Board.
* Managerial experience at scale with an emphasis on developing, mentoring, retaining, and inspiring distributed and diverse teams.
* A history of empowering and fostering a positive culture and implementing change as needed.
* Experience and patience building organizational capacity, gaining organizational and partner buy-in across a distributed, multi-site, diverse organization through stable change management.
* A strong dedication to and success in fundraising and revenue generation.
* Financial fluency paired with experience in fiscal responsibility.
* Demonstrated accomplishments in the areas of strategic development and implementation; the ability to identify and prioritize varied and competing issues.
* Proven record of facilitating collaboration and cooperation with organizations and the community.
* Working knowledge of strategies to propel educational access initiatives and prioritize other relevant issues via public policy advocacy.

Additional ideal personal, leadership and values-based characteristics will
include:
* A high level of humble confidence combined with an entrepreneurial yet collaborative, accessible management style that engenders trust, empathy, credibility, values transparency, and cohesion.
* Effective public speaker and motivational leader; able to communicate the mission of the organization in many different arenas and to diverse constituencies.
* Highly effective listening and communication skills, both written and oral, a high tolerance for ambiguity and change, sound judgment, and a strong results orientation.
* Demonstrated experience defining and measuring the success of diversity, equity, and inclusion; attuned to current social environment/educational challenges.
* An ability to connect authentically with College Possible 's students, representing marginalized communities and identities.
* Servant leadership that models the highest integrity, ethical standards, and respect for others.
* Knowledge of college access and college success offerings with an authentic connection to first generation students, ideally.

EDUCATION
Given the mission of the organization, an undergraduate degree from an
accredited college or university is strongly preferred. However, we recognize
that education requirements can perpetuate racial, gender, socio-economic, and
background disparities due to access. We encourage all candidates with the
professional experiences, values, and skills outlined in this position
specification to apply.

COMPENSATION
This position offers a comprehensive compensation package with a target of
$‎325,000 and excellent benefits package (complete health, dental, life, short-
term and long-term insurance, ‎401(k) retirement plan and generous paid time
off program).

Equal Opportunity Employer
College Possible is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants will receive
consideration for employment regardless of their race, color, creed, religion,
national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, or
status with regard to public assistance. Individuals with disabilities are
encouraged to apply.

TO APPLY TO KORN FERRY
Please upload your current resume (in pdf/word format with your name clearly
labelled) and a short cover letter via the online applicant portal.

Any nominations or inquiries may also be directly to the Korn Ferry team via
email at [email protected].

**
Korn Ferry shall provide equal employment opportunity to all qualified
candidates, and will refer candidates without regard to race, color, religion,
national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally
protected basis.