Vice President of Communities

Vice President of Communities

Reports to: CEO

Job Summary

The Vice President of Communities of Investment is responsible for implementing the Thread Community Model using a hub-based engagement approach for high school students and city-wide engagement for post high school students to knit together young people, volunteers and collaborators in authentic relationships that lead to more just outcomes for young people. In addition, the Vice President of Communities is responsible for developing and implementing a Baltimore-based, multi-year growth plan to expand student, volunteer and collaborator enrollment. The Vice President of Communities is also responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with community partners including City Schools, colleges and universities, corporations, and local government; and both local and national thought partners that provide robust support to Thread’s community. 

Key Responsibilities

Executive Team

• Authentically engage in relationships with colleagues, especially across lines of difference, modeling, teaching and coaching the Thread Core Competencies: (a) Show all the way up; (b) Fail forward; (c) Treat relationships as wealth; and (d) Learn from all voices.
• Vice President of Communities promotes working collaboratively within the entirety of the Thread community and providing insight and support to the finance and development teams, including budget management and creation.
• The VP of Investment is also a lead advisor on strategic organizational priorities and initiatives, making regular recommendations to the Thread Executive Team.  
• Share your journey of personal and professional growth with young people, volunteers, collaborators and staff.
• Actively practice communicating the explicit connection between driving towards outcomes and organizational imperatives and diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Demonstrate the willingness and resilience to engage in an agile and flexible way.
• Engender and promote a culture of mutual respect and restoration and healing.
• Acknowledge in words and behavior that each individual and role bring a unique vantage point and support team members in leveraging that unique vantage point to gain greater visibility that leads to shared understanding and optimized and iterative problem solving. 
• Ensure all data derived from community engagement efforts are reported to the CEO and Executive Team. 
• Serve as staff lead for relevant Board committee, leading committee meeting preparation, co-facilitating committee meetings and preparing Board meeting documents.

Lead, Coach, and Coordinate the Investment Lane

• Lead the Investment Lane, responsible for enrolling, engaging and retaining young people and volunteers in the Thread Community
• Ensure ongoing programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and execution of the Thread Logic Model.
• Manage team leads: Partnerships and Volunteer Recruitment, High School Communities.
• Attract, develop, and retain high-performing staff members
• Oversee, develop, and work through direct reports to empower, motivate, and mentor the entire Investment Lane, serving as a thought partner, strategist, and coach, ensuring continual learning and development as well as progress toward hitting key metrics
• Leads the strategy, planning and execution of student recruitment, engagement and retention by facilitating the Thread Engagement Process to build relationships across lines of difference and achieve their goals
• Design programming to leverage the capacity of staff, volunteers, and young people to build meaningful relationships while working towards collective  goals.
• Provide Directors, Managers and Coordinators with tools, skills, feedback and ongoing development through regular coaching, ensuring they are well-prepared to lead teams of staff members and/or volunteers
• Build positive, long-term relationships within and across Lanes with staff
• Instill a sense of accountability among staff members by modeling transparency and oversight of individual and organization performance standards 
• Provide leadership to optimize communication and cohesiveness of the staff team

Student, Volunteer & Collaborator  Recruitment

• Identify, enroll and onboard new students based upon eligibility criteria and random selection 
• Identify and engage potential collaborators and organizations that can provide Thread

with resources that the community needs (jobs, support in certain areas of expertise, etc.)

• Support and steward Thread’s Baltimore-based key external relationships, including with educational, non-profit and community partners
• In partnership with Executive Team, ensure high-quality, focused recruitment strategies that align, inform, and inspire Thread’s stakeholders;
• Surface emergent needs from the community in order to guide Involvement & CEO to recruit partnerships/collaborators
• Ensure the development, analysis, and articulation of clear metrics for organizational success, as well as the successful implementation of evaluation mechanisms

Year 1-5 School Student, Volunteer & Collaborator  Engagement and Retention

• Create strategies to ensure that assigned high school (HS) young people set and complete academic/professional goals from enrollment through their 5th year 
• Design programming to leverage the capacity of staff, volunteers, and young people to build meaningful relationships while working towards collective  goals.
• Create processes to identify ongoing community needs and barriers through quantitative and qualitative data collection in collaboration with counterpart staff. 
• Analyze students’ academic and professional data, and design strategies to create pathways to successful outcomes 
• Plan and execute key student transition periods, including new student enrollment and the transition from high school to post-high school. 
• Develop, manage, and assist with additional programs and projects as needed to achieve organizational outcomes. 
• Facilitate volunteer onboarding and other skill development training
• Surface emergent needs from the community in order to guide Involvement & CEO to recruit partnerships/collaborators

Year 6-10 Young People, Volunteer & Collaborator Engagement and Retention

• Create strategies to ensure that assigned post high school (HS) young people set and complete life and educational goals from years 6 through 10. 
• Coordinate with Director to provide resources to assist PHS participants to obtain relevant career certifications
• Ensure Director is achieving performance goals for PHS students in creating individual goals and strategies to achieve them while developing students’ self advocacy and empowerment muscles.
• Responsible for the Director creating pathways to careers, continued education, workforce development enrollment, etc. 
• Develop, manage, and assist with additional programs and projects as needed to achieve organizational outcomes. 
• Surface emergent needs from the community in order to guide Involvement & CEO to recruit partnerships/collaborators

Qualifications/Skills

Required

• Bachelor’s degree or relevant work experience required; Master’s degree preferred

• Demonstrated passion for Thread’s mission and commitment to the Baltimore community

• 10+ years of management experience, ideally including three years of senior level leadership experience

• Strategic thinking skills that support the capacity to understand and lead in a complex, dynamic environment that involves negotiating partnership and power sharing

• A decision-making style that is both inclusive and resolute

• A highly relational leadership orientation that inspires commitment, cohesion and a collaborative, high-functioning culture 

• Experience supporting leaders to manage and hold their teams accountable to a shared set of goals and outcomes

• Ability to communicate a programmatic vision, operational demands and conditions for success to a diverse audience of stakeholders and drive associated outcomes

• Commitment to giving and receiving low-inference, constructive feedback that reflects a growth mindset and supports accountability and continuous improvement

• Financial management skills, including budget preparation, analysis, decision making and reporting

• Demonstrated experience developing community-centered, trusting, productive working relationships with people from a wide array of backgrounds, in the spirit of partnership and collective impact

• Track record of bringing a racial equity lens and understanding of intersectional identities to the work; demonstrating cultural competence and deep understanding of how systems of oppression have affected and continue to impact our young people and Baltimore City

• Strong analytical skills and experience utilizing qualitative and quantitative data to drive performance

• Superb verbal and written communication skills and strong public speaking capabilities

• Solid organizational abilities, including planning, delegating, program development and task facilitation

• Ability to work cross-functionally