About REACH Prep 

REACH Prep is a not-for-profit organization providing access for underserved, high-achieving students to transformational educational experiences that empower them to graduate from top colleges and emerge as the next generation of leaders. Founded in 1994, REACH Prep originally served highly motivated middle school Black and Latina girls with access to more challenging educational experiences. The organization expanded its services to boys in 2000. Today, REACH Prep provides exceptional educational opportunities to 250 students each year in Fairfield and Westchester Counties and the Bronx starting in 4^th grade with continuous support through college enabled with skills, confidence, and knowledge to have a lasting impact. 

Role

The Board of Directors of REACH Prep is seeking an experienced executive who is passionate about the mission of REACH Prep and has a proven track record of donor cultivation. The CEO will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for REACH Prep’s programs, staff, and execution of its mission. The CEO will collaborate with the Board of Directors, the passionate and committed staff, partner school leaders, and community collaborators in continuing REACH Prep’s track record as a leader in providing transformational educational experiences to its Scholars. The CEO must be a visionary and inspiring leader who will build upon REACH Prep’s success, maximize impact, and increase the visibility of its exemplary services and programming.

The next CEO should be a thought leader in non-profit financial sustainability, with the ability to clearly communicate, connect, and inspire a broad array of stakeholders, and the expertise to manage superior execution of an overall strategy for the program. The successful CEO candidate must be equally adept at identifying and capitalizing on opportunities to scale impact as well as maintaining and/or enhancing already high-level programming and strategic growth. The CEO will be responsible for driving substantial revenue generation efforts tapping new opportunities and setting the day-to-day tone of REACH Prep by managing, guiding, and further developing a high-performing team of professionals. 

The ideal candidate is an authentic, inspiring, visionary leader who manages with empathy and vulnerability and brings stellar relationship-building, ambitious innovative ideas, and a deep commitment to the mission. This candidate knows how to build and steward deep relationships and inspire passion for the work of REACH Prep with existing and new donors, corporations, and foundations. The next CEO will work to diversify and strengthen the already committed and dedicated board while expanding the impact of REACH Prep’s leadership in education access.

Responsibilities 

Vision and Strategy 

• Provide strategic vision and leadership for REACH Prep in service of its mission, with a focus on how the organization can achieve ambitious but specific goals. 
• Together with the executive team, build and maximize operational efficiencies, and implement streamlined systems to build a high-performance operation that well supports the program infrastructure and positions it for growth. 
• Collaborate with the Board and senior staff in developing the next strategic plan that explores opportunities for donor expansion, potential new pipelines for more students, and additional resources.  

Institutional Advancement 

• Strengthen, develop, and steward relationships with existing funders, new potential funding sources, government agencies, foundations, and corporate partners. 
• Formulate and execute comprehensive marketing, branding, and development strategies that will ensure consistency throughout the organization and build upon REACH Prep’s local and national reputation. 
• Improve fundraising effectiveness through analytics, both through data-driven storytelling to demonstrate impact, and data-driven decision making to guide fundraising efforts. 

Governance and Financial Oversight 

• Communicate regularly and openly with the Executive Committee of the Board about the execution of mission and strategy.
• Deploy board members appropriately to assist and guide on areas of expertise and build strong board committees to engage new and diverse board members.
• Use strong business acumen in developing and managing resources. 

Leadership and Management

• Establish key pillars of strategic implementation while delegating plan execution to staff 
• Build investment pathways to hire, develop, and promote talented team members to facilitate the achievement of their full potential 
• Serve as the external and internal leader of REACH Prep by effectively communicating the mission and vision to a broad array of stakeholders including the Scholars served by REACH Prep’s program, donors, government officials, and families. 
• Continue to prioritize REACH Prep as an equitable, anti-racist, collaborative, respectful, and supportive environment for all employees, Scholars and their families, Board members, and supporters.

Qualifications 

The CEO must be a seasoned leader with a minimum of ten years of development, admissions, finance, and/or communications experience in the nonprofit or education space and at least three years in a senior leadership role. A bachelor’s degree is required; a master’s or additional advanced degree is preferred.

The CEO will have the following experience and skill: 

• Deep knowledge of the educational access field and the tri-state area independent schools 

• Eagerness and mindset towards active donor development and growth 

• Demonstrated success in fundraising 

• Visionary approach, eager to tackle big problems, and delegate responsibilities to staff 

• Skilled relationship builder across stakeholder groups 

• Demonstrated commitment to underserved populations 

• Ability to galvanize excitement from the outside world 

• Experience building culture and internal infrastructure to support a mission 

• Equity mindset that welcomes and encourages a diversity of opinions and viewpoints 

• Able to work collaboratively with individuals across the ideological spectrum 

• Experience scaling impact of organizations 

• Success building/growing economically sustainable organizations 

• Effective communication skills 

• Experience serving as the face of an organization and raising awareness for its work

Key Competencies 

• Drives Vision & Purpose – Painting a compelling picture of the vision and strategy that motivates others to action.
• Strategic Mindset – Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
• Collaborates – Using a combination of feedback and reflection to gain insight into personal strengths and weaknesses.
• Drives Results – Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
• Ensures Accountability – Holding self and others accountable to meet commitments.
• Builds Effective Team – Building strong teams with a strong identity that apply their diverse skills and perspectives to achieve common goals.

This position description is based upon material provided by REACH Prep, an equal opportunity employer.

Jennifer Fleischer

Senior Talent Consultant

jfleischer@drgsearch.com

Raven Stubbs

Talent Consultant

rstubbs@drgsearch.com

To apply for this position please visit www.DRGsearch.com