Director, Washington State Initiative

Company: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Location: Seattle
Posted on: April 8, 2021

Job Description:

Role Title: Director, Washington State Initiative Division: U.S. Program Group: Washington State Initiative Location: Seattle, WA Travel Requirements: Up to 35% The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will collaborate with--Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group (NPAG) in the search for a candidate to take up this exciting and challenging appointment. Should you wish to apply for this position, we kindly ask you to submit your CV for consideration via NPAG: recruitcrm.io/apply/24960657 . Your application will be reviewed by NPAG. For general inquiries and/or nominations, please email: bmgf-dwsi@npag.com . **External a pplications received through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Careers site will not be reviewed** The US Program and The Washington State Initiative The U.S. Program (USP) focuses on equitable education and economic equity. By working to expand access to life-changing opportunities with a primary focus on education, the foundation seeks to ensure that all students -especially Black and Latinx students, and students experiencing poverty - have an opportunity--to earn a degree or certificate that prepares them for a successful career and fulfilling life. The foundation understands that education alone is not enough as factors outside of schools and classrooms have an enormous impact on a student's success. Through support to public officials and community groups, the foundation works to better understand and advance economic mobility, leading to permanent ladders out of poverty for families and communities, such that race, ethnicity, and income are no longer predictors of outcomes. USP's goal is to help break the intergenerational cycle of poverty that prevents families and communities from accessing opportunities to reach their full potential by improving education systems and ensuring that race, ethnicity, and income are no longer predictors of outcomes. The U.S. Program works on seven key drivers toward our goal: Ensure early childhood learning systems provide high-quality early learning experiences for young children. Support schools in the K12 system in their work to improve student outcomes. Transform colleges and universities to increase student success and eliminate opportunity and attainment gaps. Create equitable access to quality education to employment pathways that enable students to obtain credentials of value and gain the professional skills, agency, and social capital to thrive in the workplace. Partner with stakeholders to ensure more effective collaborations to increase mobility from poverty, including a focus on data and evidence to close knowledge gaps and help leaders from various sectors work together to achieve even greater impact. Support improvements that will provide practitioners and policymakers with the education to workforce data and information they need to answer critical questions about student progress and to implement evidence-based reforms that equitably improve education outcomes. In the foundation's home state of Washington, improve education from preschool through college, and strengthen community engagement, in order to ensure that every child has a chance to reach their full potential. Across our work in education, there are three keystones that anchor our strategies. These keystones are: Accelerate the development and delivery of high-quality, next generation instructional systems and digital learning resources that deliver equitable impact, with a focus on comprehensive instructional systems in early learning, math in K-12, and gateway courses in postsecondary. Enhance student transition supports that leverage technology and data to better enable counselors and advisors to engage students, increase students' own sense of agency, and ensure equity in our priority students' access to pathways that lead to economic mobility. Advance innovation in high school-to-postsecondary systems and models that lead to more accessible, affordable, high-quality pathways that support students in attaining a postsecondary credential with labor market value. These keystones reflect our belief in the power of evidence, data, technology, and innovation as essential and high potential inputs to support educators and system leaders to deliver equitable impact for students.
-- Group Summary The newly focused Washington State Initiative (WSI) will reimagine how the power of the entire foundation's work--its learning, its relationships, and its resources-can be brought to bear in support of Washington's communities. Washington is a diverse state with a population of over 7.6 million people, 29 federally recognized tribes, 41 legislative districts, and 39 counties that represent urban, rural and suburban communities. Leveraging the national programming and subject matter expertise of USP, the WSI will support its home state in advancing equitable education and economic equity, as well as lift up learning from the community to inform the foundation's work. In compliment, WSI also works closely with the foundation's responsive grant making team to support the philanthropic initiatives of the family and the region. This is an exciting opportunity for an innovative and sophisticated leader who pairs a passion for Washington state with the visionary potential philanthropy can have when committed to learning and partnering with communities. Position Summary The Director, Washington State Initiative will work closely with the President and Directors in the U.S. Program and the talented WSI team, the new Director of the Washington State Initiative will attend to the following areas: Vision and Leadership
The Washington State Initiative can and must benefit from the knowledge and resources across the breadth of the foundation's work in the United States. The new Director will renew the foundation's community relationships across the state, listening and engaging local experiences to inform place based as well as broader national funding strategies, and meaningfully leverage the foundation's learning and assets for local impact. The Director will regularly engage with USP leadership to inform and align strategy and build connectivity between national and its place-based work. The Director will be committed to organizational effectiveness at all levels, be accountable for assessing measurable, equitable impact, and serve as a trusted advisor to the Co-Chairs, CEO, and President, U.S. Program in the foundation's continued evolution and impact in Washington state. Community Engagement and Partner Management
The Director will lead the WSI with a commitment to community engagement and racial equity in order to advance equitable impact and systems level change. The Director will be an honest broker and trusted partner, communicating the foundation's hopes and intentions and leveraging the WSI team's place-based learnings to shape USP's national program and functional strategies. S/he/they will develop strong relationships internally and externally and ensure clear and consistent communications with grantees, communities, and partners across the state. Finally, the Director will seek to build the capacity and effectiveness of WSI's partners and grantees, model courageous inquiry, demonstrate intellectual integrity, and respect and value diverse perspectives. Data, Policy, and Advocacy
The foundation will continue to play an important role in supporting a base of evidence to inform sustainable change at the policy and systems level. The Director will understand how data, collaboration, and accountability can support impactful state level policy, advocacy, and communications initiatives. Driven by a commitment to continuous improvement and data-informed practice, the Director will develop, manage, and utilize research and evaluation to inform effective policy, practice, innovation, and investments, in partnership with the WSI team. Management and Team Building
The Director will provide vision and direction for building and nurturing the WSI team and foster an environment of collaboration, learning, and synergy with colleagues across the foundation. S/he/they will prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion by creating an inclusive work environment where team members can bring their whole selves to benefit and contribute to the team's impact and where exclusionary policies and practices are challenged. The Director will build a culture that values a commitment to excellence, rigor, continuous improvement, clarity, open dialogue, consensus building, and action. Qualifications of the ideal candidate Core Knowledge Deep understanding of Washington state, its people, geographies, diversity, and history. Familiarity with the complex issues at play regionally that impact equitable education and economic mobility, particularly for people of color. Ability to work at the systems level with a clear focus on place. Savvy to translate and adapt strategy to a specific place and share those learnings across an organization. Listening and learning posture paired with a commitment to effective community engagement, and collaboration. Track record of work in driving impact in improving equitable educational and economic outcomes for students, particularly for students of color, and those experiencing poverty and the resolve needed to deliver equitable impact. Knowledge of the broader interconnected systems/landscapes and complexity in education and economic mobility, including policy, innovation/markets, and research & development. Strategic Leadership Ability to balance disciplined execution against strategic priorities with the flexibility to pursue opportunities that emerge as the sector evolves, including the ability to synthesize large amounts of data and information to clear priorities that achieve results in a fast-paced environment. Facility to reconcile multiple diverse viewpoints and to negotiate across internal and external partners. Dexterity to translate between audiences to understand commonality, shared language, and common goals. Expertise and skill in strategy development, programs design, fostering innovation, and delivering results - with an ability to manage complexity and focus on strong implementation. Knowledge of strategies and philanthropic tools to drive systemic reform and the sophisticated approach to leverage program, policy, communications, and advocacy tactics in an integrated manner and manage risks with skill. An investor mindset and the ability to connect broader organizational strategy to specific investments and outcomes for senior leadership of the foundation. Management & Organizational Leadership Ability to mobilize and align a team around a shared vision, establish clear priorities, goals, and outcomes, and manage the strategic allocation of resources, all with a clear path for measurable impact over the short term, intermediate term, and long term. Demonstrated capability in developing talent and nurturing teams during periods of change to effectively achieve clear, yet complex goals and objectives. Sophisticated relationship building skills to negotiate and mediate complex relationships in a matrixed environment. Facility in using informal influence and non-positional leadership to accomplish work, demonstrating the ability to build trust and collaboration. Team leader and player who effectively motivates and coaches other team members and places high value on interpersonal relationship building internally and externally. Exemplary written and verbal communication skills; ability to effectively facilitate, manage, and summarize divergent points of view to advance the thinking of the group, synthesize and extract meaning from complex bodies of work, and effectively communicate key takeaways for diverse audiences. Education and Experience Advanced degree with 15+ years of experience in a relevant field of education or economic mobility Personal and professional commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and understanding of how those show up in philanthropy As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We're committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve-in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs-and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices. All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve the mission of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to: * Race * Color * Age * Sex * Sexual Orientation * Disability * Gender Identity * National Origin * Genetic Information * Marital Status * Prior Protected Activity Posted 11 Days Ago Full time B015525 About Us Guided by the belief that all lives have equal value, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation pride ourselves in being 'impatient optimists' whose purpose is to work to reduce inequity. Our vision is to ensure a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life. We have four missions to:

• Ensure more children and young people survive and thrive;
• Empower the poorest, especially women and girls, to transform their lives;
• Combat infectious diseases that particularly affect the poorest; and
• Inspire people to take action to change the world. Key to enabling these missions is our commitment to science and innovation, collaboration and partnership, measurement and rigor, as well as optimism and risk taking. Based in Seattle, the foundation has a worldwide staff of 1,500 people and is led by CEO Mark Suzman and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. We have offices in the United States, Europe, India, China and Africa.

Keywords: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle , Director, Washington State Initiative, Executive , Seattle, Washington