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Job Opportunity: Spark Seeks Managing Director in Chicago

Dear Friends, I got this in an email about a job opportunity from a friend of mine and thought some of you might be interested. While I don’t typically use my site to post job opportunities or for promotional reasons, I do like to use it to help non profits and other social ventures, especially ones that I have some connection to. In this case, that organization is Spark, a noprofit dedicated to educational reform.

Spark is an organization that helps 7th & 8th graders find apprenticeships in their dream job which helps them think about their career and relationship to education.  A good friend of mine sent me a note about the organization and recently passed the word that Spark is seeing a new Managing Director in Chicago. Specifically, the organization is seeking an entrepreneurial leader to help launch the Chicago office in 2011

Take a look at the rest of the post if you are interested and feel free to pass along the attached job description to others you think may be interested. See below for a few notes on the organization and role. And click here to see the full job description.

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Background:
Spark is an award winning, growing youth apprenticeship program. Spark works to reduce the high-school dropout rate with a unique apprenticeship program, focused on at-risk middle-school students. In partnership with district and charter schools, Spark creates one-on-one apprenticeships in real workplaces, where youth explore careers and develop the skills and motivation to succeed academically. Funded by a number of major foundations, including the Packard Foundation, Cowell Foundation, as well as leading companies like Genentech and Gap, Spark is demonstrating a powerful new approach to addressing the high-school dropout crisis, one that draws in new resources by turning workplaces into learning places.

Responsibilities:
Provide leadership to ensure overall success in Chicago:
• Build, manage and develop an exceptional local team to accomplish three core goals: (1) successfully manage relationships with Spark’s schools partners, including training and ongoing support, (2) build a sustainable Chicago fundraising base, and (3) cultivate a network of corporate/organizational partners for apprenticeship placements. The Chicago team will grow to 3-6 full-time staff by end of 2011.
• Develop and leverage a Chicago Executive Board and a Chicago Advisory Board to support fundraising initiatives, guide strategic planning, enhance local networks of supporters, and contribute to overall external communications and publicity for Spark in Chicago. By the time of this hire, we expect to have 2-4 Chicago Executive Board members and 6-8 Chicago Advisory Board members already confirmed and active in Chicago.

Lead Chicago Fundraising & Financial Management
• Create and lead a local fundraising strategy for Chicago, in collaboration with Spark’s Development Director and Development team in San Francisco, ensuring that Chicago programs meet a 2011 fundraising goal of approximately $250,000, drawing from foundations, corporate sponsors, and individual donors.
• Effectively utilize and manage the local site budget to implement the program and sustain the Chicago office.

Oversee Successful Programming & School Partnerships
• Work closely with Spark’s national team to support implementation and growth of Spark’s Chicago apprenticeship program, focusing on training school partners and supporting their implementation of the program.
• Leverage and build alliances in the private, government, and non-profit sector to establish a network of individuals in diverse fields to draw upon in Apprenticeship matching.
• Work in partnership with initial school partners to develop and grow Spark’s programs, beginning with 2 locations in Fall 2011 and expanding in 2012. Develop a strong system of communication with school partners to support their successful management of program operations.
• Cultivate new middle school, after school, and summer program providers to meet established program growth goals.
• Facilitate the compilation of evaluation data, including students’ academic performance data.

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