Executive Director Achieve Atlanta Atlanta, Georgia LEADERSHIP PROFILE A bold initiative with the transformative premise that every high school graduate should have post-secondary educational options. --founding board member, Achieve Atlanta THE OPPORTUNITY Achieve Atlanta is a big idea with a straightforward goal: Increase dramatically the number of Atlanta Public School students graduating from college. Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is benefiting from new leadership, new energy and new expectations from the broader community. At the same time, a collection of foundation executives, educators and civic leaders from various sectors have come together to launch Achieve Atlanta, a long-term initiative conceived specifically to address college access and completion by APS students. The hard fact driving the Achieve Atlanta vision: Only 14% of today s APS ninth graders will graduate from college within six years of their presumed APS graduation date. 1 There are numerous reasons for this shortfall, and many worthwhile programs and institutions including APS itself are committed to addressing them. 1 Today, APS graduates about 59% of the ninth graders who began their studies four years previously. Of that 59%, the most recent statistics show that about 55% enroll in college. Just 45% of those enrollees 14% of the original ninth graders will actually graduate within six years.
Page 2 of 7 The current cycle of low expectations, academic underperformance and lack of student exposure to post-secondary options is self-reinforcing. Achieve Atlanta intends to attack that cycle by focusing specifically on college access and persistency providing the systems, support, collaboration and advocacy for individual students to ensure that a substantially higher percentage of APS graduates actually enroll in and graduate from appropriate post-secondary academic institutions. Backed by an eight-figure grant from the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, Achieve Atlanta begins with the enthusiastic support of APS s new leadership and a coalition of some of Atlanta s best and brightest from across the spectrum. To realize its goals, the organization will invest in strategies that: Support an enhanced core of college advisors throughout APS to help ensure individual students are prepared for and matched with postsecondary academic institutions Promote persistence and tenacity in those students college experience through intensive, even intrusive advising that supports them academically, socially and emotionally throughout their time in school Provide students with the financial assistance and counseling to help keep them in college through graduation Mobilize broad support for students academic achievement, reflecting the transformative impact enhanced education will have on their futures and the community s. By combining clear objectives, compelling leadership and significant funding, Achieve Atlanta expects to be a catalyzing force for long-term student success. The initial plan anticipates support for a systemwide college achievement strategy across Atlantic Public Schools matched with an enhanced core of college advisors within the post-secondary institutions attended by APS graduates. Longer-term, Achieve Atlanta s organizers foresee a day when every APS student has a plan for and a path to post-secondary education. Achieve Atlanta is not intended to be a holistic program addressing every challenge of urban education; rather, it will focus specifically on college access and persistency, building on others work in college readiness. Over time, the impact on individual students will expand in a self-reinforcing cycle to invigorate the entire community.
Page 3 of 7 Achieve Atlanta seeks an inaugural Executive Director to drive the initiative from concept to execution, serving as champion, ambassador, collaborator and chief executive in building the story, the staff, the strategy and the systems to guide the detailed work to follow. THE ORGANIZATION Achieve Atlanta is an independent 501(c)(3) organization governed by a small but highly influential Board of Directors drawn from a crosssection of Atlanta leaders and institutions committed to improved college access and educational attainment. Substantial initial funding has been committed by the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation. The clear expectation is that Whitehead s support will be ongoing, as material progress is demonstrated against benchmarks to be established. All agree that the potential impact from enhanced academic achievement by a larger percentage of APS students could be enormous. Achieve Atlanta will be grounded in best practices, the most current research and hard performance data. A small, dedicated staff will be supported as necessary by consultants and subject-matter experts. A data management team will track programs and interventions to ensure the mission and its constituents profit from the best information available. THE MANDATE Among the many challenges facing urban education are the real graduation rates, the true readiness of graduates to undertake post-secondary studies, and the rate at which those students actually persist in their studies to completion. The historically low graduation rates within Atlanta Public Schools have received much attention, as, happily, have recent improvements in those rates. Less well known is just how few APS students actually receive academic degrees and certifications after high school. In recent years, as noted above, less than 15% of students who start as APS ninth graders will receive a college degree.
Page 4 of 7 Achieve Atlanta was created by a coalition of local leaders in education, philanthropy, business and civic engagement who came together to address the twin issues of college access and student persistency. By combining focus, funding and proactive leadership, Achieve Atlanta expects to help drive a significant increase in the college graduation rates of APS alumni, thereby enhancing individual students ability to realize their own potential. The ripple effect for them and the larger community could be huge. Achieve Atlanta is meant to be both datadriven and studentfocused. Working through existing community partners and institutions and through resources to be created or strengthened, Achieve Atlanta will be the catalyst for implementation and strategic alignment of best practices, systems and programs overseen by others. The organization s efforts will be undergirded by sound data and rigorous evaluation to assess ongoing impact. THE RESPONSIBILITIES The Executive Director will be tasked to make Achieve Atlanta s objectives a reality, overseeing all operational, financial and relationship-management aspects of the new entity. Although much work has been done to date, Achieve Atlanta is today a vision, and the Executive Director s first responsibility will be to lead the move from concept to execution, molding today s deliberations into a cohesive, implementable and impactful strategy. More particularly, the Executive Director will be expected to ensure the following: Leadership and management. In consultation with the Board, the Executive Director must develop and implement a sustainable strategy consistent with the founding vision. The mission is blessed with true resonance across a wide array of stakeholders and partners, but there are not yet any definitive work plans or even full-time employees. 2 The 2 A number of individuals and several consultants are spending a significant amount of their time on Achieve Atlanta initiatives at present, but none as yet is an employee of the new organization.
Page 5 of 7 Executive Director will not only build and lead the new staff, but s/he will be expected to model the commitment to impact and team-based collaboration that has informed the work thus far. Financial management. The Executive Director will be responsible for developing Achieve Atlanta s annual budget, in consultation with the Board, ensuring optimum resource utilization and sound financial stewardship. Consistent with the commitment to the effective use of data in program development and evaluation, the E.D. must ensure appropriate use of technology for impact and efficiency. Relationship management & community engagement. Achieve Atlanta cannot succeed by itself, and thus it will be critical for the organization to be viewed widely as an effective partner. As the initiative s public face, the Executive Director must cultivate effective working relationships with a diverse set of stakeholders, including students, families and an array of leaders in education, business and the nonprofit, philanthropic, civic and faith-based sectors. In short, fundraising may not be a necessary part of the mandate, but collaboration and relationship-building will be absolutely central to success. Communications. As primary spokesperson for Achieve Atlanta, the Executive Director must champion awareness of issues pertaining to college readiness, access and graduation and promote the organization s contribution to a better future for APS students. He/she must ensure effective mechanisms and messaging to communicate Achieve Atlanta s activities and successes to a variety of audiences.
Page 6 of 7 THE RELATIONSHIPS The Executive Director will report to Board of Directors, Achieve Atlanta, an independent 501(c)(3) And manage A small staff (to be developed) within Achieve Atlanta Consultants and subject-matter experts as needed Core of volunteers While promoting collaborative relationships with such stakeholders as Atlanta Public School board, staff and individual school leaders and college counselors APS students and their families Post-secondary partner institutions College Access Advisory Council and the Metro Chamber s Regional Education Partnership Grantmaking foundations and corporations committed to college access and persistency Direct service providers Strategic partners (e.g., National College Advising Corps) Other community entities with long-term vested interests in student success THE CANDIDATE The ideal candidate to lead Achieve Atlanta will be an effective, thoughtful executive with the proven ability to drive the founding vision from start-up to impact, ensuring that all students are provided with the support and resources to help them frame and achieve post-secondary and career goals. The best candidates will be strategic thinkers who combine the attitude of a servant leader with the heft of demonstrated leadership success in environments requiring effective collaboration between and among funders, students, parents, educational institutions and a variety of program partners. Among the assets of most interest to the search committee will be the following: Practical experience in the development of truly impactful programs or initiatives within both start-up and institutional environments
Page 7 of 7 Managerial success grounded in best practices and the most current research, especially in initiatives or organizations that have made significant progress in spite of traditional expectations or entrenched outcomes The proven ability to create and leverage broad-based momentum within and for an organization dependent on buy-in and support from an unusually diverse group of partners An exceptional reputation among peers for influence, critical thinking and problem-solving A solutions-driven management approach supported by experience and hard data A record of creating and supporting staffs of exceptional competence Focus and tenacity in pursuit of challenging goals Respect for the ways in which families and other support networks can support students aspirations and opportunities to achieve. To be the most compelling, a candidate to lead Achieve Atlanta must have an intimate understanding of the student/family context and a genuine passion for education and educational attainment. The search committee has few preconceptions about the precise career path of greatest appeal, but it will be very interested in a prospect s own journey to success and just how that journey might inform the Executive Director s leadership style and effectiveness in the role. For potential consideration or to suggest a prospect, please AchieveAtlanta@BoardWalkConsulting.com or call Sam Pettway or Crystal Stephens at 404-BoardWalk (404-262-7392).