Senior Director, AI Strategy & System Alignment

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The mission of Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) is to improve the lives of all people in our community by investing in their health, wealth, living, and learning. CFT works to accomplish this by growing community giving, expanding community impact, and advancing community equity. With a vision of building thriving communities for all, CFT works locally and across the state with many individuals, families, companies, foundations, and nonprofits through a variety of charitable funds and strategic grantmaking initiatives.

CFT professionally manages more than 1,300 charitable funds and has awarded more than $2.5 billion in grants since its founding in 1953.

Educate Texas (EDTX), an initiative of Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), exists to help solve the most significant challenges facing public education. Our vision is for all Texans to have the education they need to earn a thriving, living wage, pursue a purposeful career, and realize their dreams for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Educate Texas is seeking a visionary and strategic leader to serve as the Senior Director of AI Strategy & Systems Alignment. This role will lead the development and execution of Educate Texas’s AI initiative, driving statewide impact across K-12 and community college systems. The Senior Director will shape strategic direction, build and manage a high-performing team, secure funding, implement the initiative, and ensure alignment with broader Educate Texas programs.

This is a unique opportunity to position Texas as a national leader in thoughtful and effective AI integration in education for all our students. This position is based in Dallas. The successful candidate must reside locally or be willing to relocate. Travel is expected both in/out of state.

Strategic Leadership

• Launch and iterate the strategic vision for the AI initiative in alignment with Educate Texas’s new Strategic Plan (which is currently being finalized)
• Collaborate in building out a budget and workplan that supports this work and ensures its alignment within Educate Texas and its viability and relevance outside the organization
• Finalize and lead the implementation roadmap, including foundational efforts and scaling strategies
• Collaborate with other Senior Directors to identify opportunities to integrate AI into existing Educate Texas programs and priorities

Team Building & Management

• Hire, develop and manage a small team to support program execution
• Cultivate a collaborative, mission-driven culture focused on innovation and impact
• Support and engage in fundraising efforts to secure long-term funding for this work
• Work closely with the Strategic Partnerships team and Senior Directors to build and maintain strong partnerships with universities, districts, policymakers, and funders
• Collaborate with internal and external partners on a communications strategy that elevates the work and importance of the AI initiative and complements the broader work of Educate Texas
• Represent Educate Texas in national and state-level convenings and coalitions

Program Design & Execution

• Oversee work to seed AI-enabled initiatives with districts and community colleges that can serve as examples to others
• Guide the development of Texas-specific AI guidance and professional learning frameworks
• Promote ethical, equitable, and effective use of AI in education
• Manage the DFW and other regional networks
• Develop and implement processes and systems for encouraging collaboration and communication within regional networks

Communications & Advocacy and External Engagement

• Position Educate Texas as a trusted voice in AI education through media, conferences, and publications
• Collaborate with policy teams to influence state and federal AI education policy
• Cultivate and manage the AI Advisory Board; identify new members as needed and consider the development of other supportive networks
• Identify partners, initiatives, funding opportunities, and convenings that EDTX should be engaged with

• Minimum of…