Employment: Executive Director
Summary
The Latin American Youth Center (LAYC)
YouthBuild Public Charter School, a cutting-edge
educational facility blending the widely acclaimed
YouthBuild national service program with a
service-oriented and non-traditional academic
curriculum, seeks nominations and applications for
their next Executive Director. LAYC YouthBuild
Public Charter School (LAYC YouthBuild PCS) is one
of the only bilingual alternative high school in
Washington, D.C. and offers students ages 16-24 who
have either dropped out or have been expelled from
traditional schools, but who have decided to make
positive changes in their lives, the ability to earn
both their GED and the practical skills necessary
for success in the real world. Reporting to the
board of directors and leading a talented staff of
16, the next Executive Director will guide LAYC
YouthBuild PCS through an exciting time as the
school seeks to expand its curriculum to offer
traditional high school diplomas, to expand its
physical location and enrollment capacity, and to
complete its first Middle States accreditation
cycle. The Executive Director will be a committed
advocate for both the school and its students and
will be responsible for all aspects of the school’s
operations. This will include working closely with
the Principal and the Business Manager to guide
strategic planning, operations maintenance,
academics, and marketing. S/he will also be an
effective and seasoned fundraiser carrying LAYC
YouthBuild PCS’s mission and stories of students’
success into new communities of supporters. The
ideal candidate will have 7-10 years relevant
leadership experience in the nonprofit community and
will demonstrate a passion for, familiarity with,
and commitment to working with youth to improve
their lives and their futures through active
scholarship and service.
History and Mission
The LAYC YouthBuild Public Charter School opened
in 2005 as an outgrowth of an effective program
begun ten years earlier by the Latin American Youth
Center in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. Its
founding philosophy was to provide an environment of
unrelenting respect and support for the most
troubled young people in the District in which the
development of academic and life skills intertwined.
For LAYC YouthBuid PCS this meant offering its
curriculum in both Spanish and English, providing
students the extensive support services necessary
for improved academic and personal performance,
incorporating real-world skill training into the
curriculum, and holding students accountable for
both their performance and the maintenance of a
healthy, productive learning environment that is
free of the negative behaviors prevalent in other
troubled youth communities.
Today, LAYC YouthBuild PCS enjoys a reputation as
one of the most successful charter schools in the
capital area. Selection for school attendance is
highly competitive, the student graduation rate is
upwards of 69%, and LAYC YouthBuild PCS students
have gone on to successful professional and academic
careers. Because it is bilingual, LAYC Youthbuild
PCS is also able to draw students from all wards of
the city and to integrate cultural learning and a
celebration of diversity into all aspects of the
school experience. On average, the student
population is 40% Latino and 60% African American.
Thirty percent of the student population speaks
limited or no English.
In addition to its rigorous academic curriculum,
LAYC YouthBuild PCS helps students acquire practical
skills following the LAYC YouthBuild national
program model. Students learn both the construction
trade and the importance of active citizenship by
building housing for homeless or for low-income
families. Through this hands-on work, the students
transform themselves, their communities, and their
employment prospects.
LAYC YouthBuild PCS maintains its excellence as a
small, bilingual alternative school by providing
extremely modest class sizes and extensive support
services to its students. The average class size is
8-10 students, and the school pays its students a
stipend for attendance at the school as a way to
defray the costs of being in school instead of at
work. LAYC YouthBuild PCS also insists on investing
in students who are prepared to invest in
themselves: Students are held to rigorous drug and
violence free standards of behavior. This attention
to students’ environment both while at LAYC
YouthBuild PCS and at home helps to ensure students
who have not succeeded in traditional learning
environments can prosper and develop the skills to
maintain their prosperity for years to come.
LAYC YouthBuild PCS’s ambitions and successes have
not gone unnoticed. The school has been recognized
for its excellence as an alternative high school
through funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation and through recognition by the Catalogue
for Philanthropy as one of the best small
non-profits in the Washington region. The Washington
Post has also featured LAYC YouthBuild PCS as a
cutting-edge program changing lives for D.C. youth.
The new Executive Director will have the opportunity
to build on these successes as s/he meets the
challenges and opportunities of the coming years.
Challenges and Opportunities for the Executive
Director
With each new success, LAYC YouthBuild PCS has
aimed to sharpen its focus and to expand the
effectiveness and depth of its creative programming.
The next Executive Director will come to LAYC
YouthBuild PCS at an exciting time in the school’s
evolution as it deepens its current curriculum to
include a high school diploma offering, expands its
physical space through a build out scheduled for
Fall 2008, increases student enrollment, and
approaches its first Two-Year Middle States
accreditation cycle in Spring 2009. The next
Executive Director will work closely with key
members of the LAYC YouthBuild PCS community
including the board of trustees, the Business
Manager, the Principal, the academic staff, the
support staff, and the students to ensure this next
phase of the school’s development is as successful
and exciting as its first. The responsibilities of
the Executive Director will include, but are not
limited to:
Leadership and Management:
The Executive Director is accountable for the
school’s performance in all areas. S/he will
supervise, evaluate, and provide guidance and
mentorship to the Principal and Business Manager and
will be an inspiration and role model to all other
staff members and students. S/he must ensure the
implementation and success of long-term initiatives
such as the Middle States accreditation process
while assisting the Principal in handling any
short-term challenges that may arise.
Program Development, Implementation, and Growth:
The Executive Director will work with the
Principal, the school’s chief academic officer, to
implement the High School Diploma Curriculum which
will be offered beginning in the 2008-09 school year
concurrent with the existing GED component of the
school. S/he will guide an increase in the school’s
enrollment from its current 65 to its cap of 100
students over the coming two school years. Finally,
s/he will lead the school through the accreditation
process with the Middle States Association of
Colleges and Schools. This is a two-year process
which will begin in the next school year and must be
completed by school year 2009-10.
Overall Operations and Finance:
The Executive Director is responsible for all
aspects of the school’s operations. This includes
ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local
laws and regulations, monitoring an annual budget of
$1.5 million, and maintaining a clean audit each
year.
S/he will develop and ensure the passage of the
annual budget, will monitor expenditures to ensure
spending targets are not exceeded and income targets
are being met, and will oversee compliance with all
relevant regulations and the annual audit. As an
added and temporary challenge, s/he will oversee the
build out and subsequent move to the school’s
expanded facility which is anticipated to be
completed in January, 2009.
Fundraising and Development:
The Executive Director will be responsible for
meeting the annual fundraising target of $625,000 to
ensure long-term financial stability. These funds go
toward keeping class sizes small and paying the
student stipend vital to the financial viability of
education as an option for the school’s young
people. Effective fundraising will include the
maintenance of both federal and private foundation
grants and the solicitation of support from private
and corporate donors. The new Executive Director
will also work with the Board of Trustees to close
any remaining funding gap in service to the build
out of the new facility.
Partnership Building and External Affairs:
The Executive Director will be a champion for
the school in the local community and in the
national YouthBuild and philanthropic network. S/he
will develop and maintain relationships with local
political and corporate leaders, local media,
members and staff of the D.C. Public Charter School
Board, and school staff, students, and family
members. S/he will attend charter school network
meetings, testify at city council hearings, and meet
with local officials, bringing to each and all an
in-depth understanding of the unique and important
role LAYC YouthBuild PCS plays in the public
education system.
Board Development, Diversification, and
Expansion:
The Executive Director reports to the Board of
Trustees and must work closely with its members to
continuously support and encourage their leadership
efforts, leverage their abilities, and bring on new
members who complement the board’s existing
expertise.
Qualifications
The next Executive Director must have a profound
respect for young people and believe that they come
first in all activities of LAYC YouthBuild PCS.
The next Executive Director will come to LAYC
YouthBuild PCS with the desire to change lives, the
tenacity to never give up, and the unfailing belief
in and respect for the intelligence of young people.
. S/he will be a visionary, a mentor, an
inspiration, and a role model. The ideal candidate
will bring experience in education and youth
development and will understand working with at-risk
youth sufficiently enough to handle any and all
challenges with grace, maturity and aplomb. Finally,
the next Executive Director will bring impeccable
strategic thinking skills to the challenge of
envisioning a future for LAYC YouthBuild PCS that is
ambitious and creatively leverages the financial
reality of a nonprofit budget.
While no one person will embody all of the qualities
enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess
many of the following professional and personal
characteristics:
- A minimum seven years experience managing an organization of similar complexity.
- A management style that is collaborative, energetic, and respectful of the important relationships with community partners, funders, and other opinion leaders. The ability to set the tone for an organizational culture that combines respectful collaboration with a disciplined attention to productivity and capitalizes on every opportunity to develop staff. The ability to be a dynamic and compelling ambassador to all audiences including staff, funders, board members, government officials, public agencies, students, and parents.
- Demonstrable success and passion for fundraising in the nonprofit sector. Understanding of the art of donor cultivation and maintenance. Success soliciting support from a variety of sources including individual donors, government agencies, foundations, and the private sector.
- Experience dealing with challenged youth communities including adjudicated youth, teenage parents, and youth with behavioral problems. A role model for the respect and tolerance expected of all in the YouthBuild PCS community.
- Skill and savvy working with a volunteer Board of Trustees and leveraging staff and board talent and time. The ability to work closely with and support the expertise of the staff with open communication and effective management techniques. Ability to identify and recruit able staff, and to motivate, mentor, and inspire an effective, professional, and volunteer workforce.
- A Bachelor’s degree, and ideally a Master’s degree, in education, non-profit management, business, youth development, social work, or a related field.
- Keen intellect along with the initiative, integrity, and flexibility necessary to address the practicalities of a nonprofit enterprise. The humility to honor the impressive work done to date and the courage, vision, and creativity to lead LAYC YouthBuild PCS to new levels of promise. A good sense of humor with the ability to actively listen and create a healthy work environment is a must.
- Spanish /English bilingual strongly preferred.
Applications and Nominations
More information about LAYC YouthBuild PCS may
be found at:
www.ybpcs.org
Nominations and applications are due by May 16,
2008. Due to the pace of this search, candidates are
encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
Applications including a cover letter describing
your interest and qualifications, your resume (in
Word format), salary history and where you learned
of the position should be sent to:
ybpcs-ed@nonprofitprofessionals.com.
In order to expedite the internal sorting and
reviewing process, please type your name (Last,
First) as the only contents in the subject line of
your e-mail.
The LAYC YouthBuild Public Charter School is an
equal opportunity employer.