Director of District Partnerships

About Our Organization:

Youth Guidance creates and implements school-based programs that enable at-risk children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education and, ultimately, succeed in school and in life. Founded in 1924, Youth Guidance is a leading provider of outcomes-driven programs, directly serving approximately 14,000 youth in over 100 schools this year. Youth Guidance’s Counseling & Prevention Programs include Becoming a Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW). The organization also provides Community & Afterschool Programming and Youth Workforce Development services. For more information, visit http://www.youth-guidance.org.

Position Summary: The Director of District Partnerships is responsible for cultivating, establishing and managing District partnerships and funding agreements to successfully launch EVOLVE in 2 additional Districts in SY24-25. Over the next 2 years, Youth Guidance will test EVOLVE as an innovative approach to scaling social emotional learning Circles.  Through EVOLVE, Youth Guidance will train 3-5 school staff per school to facilitate EVOLVE Circles while also providing lighter touch training to all school staff on creating healing-centered schools. The Director of District Partnerships will be a key leader of this effort, working collaboratively with the EVOLVE Director to identify and develop Districts willing and able to implement EVOLVE and pay a fee-for-service to sustain YG’s EVOLVE training offering. The Director will travel as needed (10%) to identify potential district partners and build relationships with public and philanthropic sector leaders to develop champions for EVOLVE in prospective districts.

Essential Duties

• Builds and manages relationships with prospective and current EVOLVE partner districts.
• Learns and adjusts for feedback received from prospective Districts, to identify over the 3 year year action plan an effective strategy for scaling EVOLVE district-wide.
• The Director leads the development of fee-for-service contracts with Districts to sustain EVOLVE in new Districts.
• The Director represents Youth Guidance as a member of the leadership team at external meetings with potential Districts, as well as those Districts’ respective government and philanthropic partners.
• The Director is a key leader in facilitating cross-functional internal collaboration with program, finance, human resources and evaluation departments of the organization to achieve its EVOLVE goals with partner districts.
• Proactive relationship-builder and highly responsive to key school district partners.
• Facile in communicating with multiple stakeholders in other locations
• Prioritizes major opportunities and engages collaboratively with program, finance and evaluation departments to seize on opportunities to bring EVOLVE to new school districts
• Leads Youth Guidance’s grantseeking efforts for Evolve. Completes all stages of EVOLVE funding proposal development including outreach to grant-makers; the development of letters of inquiry; online applications; and formal proposals with the appropriate organization approvals obtained. Coordinates with other YG fundraising activities as needed.
• The Director leads the development of travel itineraries to maximize the impact of trips to prospective partner districts, made in conjunction with the EVOLVE Director, and hosts site visits by potential partners to see Youth Guidance’s programming in Chicago.

Education/Experience/Training

• Master’s degree in public policy, public administration, or social work strongly preferred. Bachelor’s degree in related field required
• Minimum of five (5) years of development and government funding experience and a demonstrated track record in developing partnerships with school districts.
• Strong computer skills (Microsoft Office, Publisher)
• Raisers’ Edge experience strongly preferred

Skills and Abilities

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Ability to present a positive image, develop relationships and communicate mission effectively with diverse stakeholders

• Highly organized, with proven ability to handle multiple tasks, handle pressure and meet deadlines

• Strategic approach to advancement of mission, with a keen eye for ensuring alignment of external activities with Youth Guidance’s mission and growth plan.

• The ability to work well both independently and cross-functionally

• Commitment to cultural sensitivity and respect for differences

• Commitment to the continuous improvement of service quality and the organization’s mission

• Demonstrates Youth Guidance Core Competencies

  • Equity mindset: Understands and is committed to goals of equity; consistently brings an equity mindset to the organization’s work and workplace
  • Growth mindset: Views growth as important for personal and professional development; seeks out opportunities to expand skills, even if change is required; demonstrates curiosity and eagerness to learn
  • Mission driven: Demonstrates commitment to the mission of the organization as a whole and alignment with organizational values

  Demonstrates Youth Guidance Leadership Competencies

  • External representation and relationship building: An ability to form and maintain strong, trusting relationships with diverse stakeholders.
  • Manages with data: Understands data; analyzes data and identifies insights and implications
  • Strategic thinking and resource management: Considers the future of the organization proactively and responsively; weighs diverse inputs to inform strategies; identifies innovative opportunities when relevant; makes and communicates decisions that effectively balance tradeoffs.
  • Team-building: Builds strong relationships with teams and colleagues; fosters effective collaborative efforts.

Physical  Demands

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to frequently talk and hear.
• The employee frequently is required to sit and stand for sustained periods of time; walk; use hands and fingers to handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms.
• The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds.

Work Environment

• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines. Frequent overnight travel required (10%).
• COVID-19 vaccination is required

DEI Statement

At Youth Guidance, we understand that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are fundamental to realizing our vision of bright and successful futures for all young people. We celebrate the diversity of youth and recognize them as empowered leaders, problem-solvers, and experts of their own experiences. At the same time, we acknowledge that many systems and institutions meant to support youth are inequitable and unjust.

As such, we are committed to advancing DE&I through our words and our actions, both internally and externally, by:

• Strengthening cultural competence as well as policies, practices, and organizational structures that foster belonging and leverage the unique backgrounds and talents of staff;
• Offering youth-centered programs that are accessible and responsive to people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, sexual identity, gender identity and expression, language, and cultural and religious beliefs and practices;
• Influencing systems that youth, their families and communities are impacted by, such as schools, organizational networks, governmental bodies, researchers, and the funding community, to apply approaches that embrace DEI in addressing the needs and supporting the aspirations of young people.