Executive Director

Company Overview:

Improve Your Tomorrow (IYT) was founded in 2013 with the mission to increase the number of young men of color (YMOC) to attend and graduate from colleges and universities. We envision a world where men of color are over represented in higher education, underrepresented in the criminal justice system, and leaders in their communities. By embodying our core values of Character, Service, Teamwork, and Liberation we work to combat academic inequities and build a college-to-community pipeline.

Position Overview:

Reporting to the CEO, the Executive Director is responsible for the leadership and management of IYT Mississippi. This individual will set the vision and direction for the program in Mississippi and will effectively lead their team to disrupt the college opportunity gap for young men of color. This individual will be responsible for fundraising and relationship management with key stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities include:

Leadership & Management Ensure ongoing local programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, program implementation, member recruitment, and compliance systems; articulate timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals.

Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing, talented team to deliver the programs in a way that is highly efficient and effective; ensure you have the human capital necessary to execute against goals to deliver on the mission and vision.

Monitor activity in state legislatures and state agencies regarding educational issues. Communicate to external stakeholders, government agencies, advocates, and legislative bodies.

Review and respond to program evaluation reports, engaging in a continuous improvement cycle to maximize impact for individuals served by the program.

Manage and engage a strong local advisory board to advise how the programs can best be adopted within the local community, political, and educational landscape.

Nurture external relationships to support the  a part of the organization's Executive Leadership Team, providing strategic leadership for the organization's good.

Fundraising Secure school partnerships contracts by working with local school districts to establish and grow IYT across the state.

Work with the Senior Director of Development to develop a fundraising plan and corresponding fundraising targets; this position is responsible for achieving fundraising targets annually.

Work with the local advisory board to motivate key influencers to raise the funds necessary to meet the annual and long-term revenue goals by leveraging stewardship strategies.

Develop a plan to increase private sector revenue through the identification, cultivation, and management of relationships with corporations, foundations, family foundations to build a sustainable private revenue mix.

Responsible for managing all aspects of philanthropic and/or state funds necessary to operate the program(s) each year successfully, including identifying and cultivating potential funders, submitting LOIs, writing grant applications, timely grant reporting, and fulfillment of grant requirements.

Use external presence and nurture relationships and/or partnerships to garner new opportunities. Collaborate with the Chief Executive Officer regarding external relations and partnerships. Direct and oversee stakeholder visits to partner sites.

Work in collaboration with the marketing department to deepen and refine all aspects of communications - from web presence to external relations with the goal of creating a stronger brand.

Program Management Provide leadership and direction to ensure team members provide exemplary customer service to partner sites and Mentor Fellows while effectively managing the program with a high degree of program fidelity.

Ensure fidelity to the program model, as defined by the national office.

Provide strategic leadership and accountability to member recruitment and retention to achieve 100% enrollment and 85% retention. Collaborate with the marketing department to outline and execute a member recruitment marketing plan (e.g. digital ads, earned media,…