Chief Impact Officer

Research shows the profound impact mentoring relationships have on young people from achievement to wellness to belonging and purpose.  Yet more than one in three young people — an estimated 16 million — cannot identify a mentor outside their family, including an estimated nine million young people facing multiple risk factors whose opportunities, from educational attainment to workforce engagement, will be negatively affected by this relationship gap.

MENTOR is the unifying champion for expanding the quality and quantity of youth mentoring relationships in the United States.  MENTOR helps to catalyze and lead the national effective mentoring conversation, resulting in investment, expansion, and impactful mentoring for more young people. Since the founding of MENTOR more than 30 years ago, the number of structured youth mentoring relationships in the United States has increased from an estimated 300,000 to 4.5 million. MENTOR’s example and expertise has also contributed to a growing international movement including the recent launch of partner MENTOR Canada and the Global Mentoring Collaborative.

MENTOR’s work is grounded in four core pillars: prioritizing quality, ensuring local field leadership, expanding the movement, and influencing systems.  MENTOR scales impact, efficiencies, and innovation and ensures responsiveness by developing and supporting a network of local Affiliates with shared branding and common purpose.  These Affiliates are independent, non-partisan, public-private organizations that galvanize local or statewide mentoring movements. They provide the leadership and infrastructure necessary to support the expansion of quality mentoring relationships. MENTOR Affiliates also serve a unique role as a clearinghouse for training, resources, public awareness and advocacy, providing the critical link between MENTOR’s national efforts and local organizations that foster and support quality mentoring relationships.

MENTOR’s work has evolved to include operating the National Mentoring Resource Center with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, growing the Affiliate network’s geographic footprint, expanding attendance at the National Mentoring Summit year over year, launching innovative consulting frameworks to support the workforce development and education systems, and attracting six and seven figure gifts from institutional and individual funders like Bank of America, Citi Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Mackenzie Scott, Nike, NFL, Starbucks, Schultz Family Foundation and others.

EXPANDING OUR IMPACT

Since 2014, the organization’s budget has more than doubled and its staff has tripled in size.  Today, MENTOR is poised to advance the next phase of its strategy through merging two core departments--the Program and Affiliate teams-- into one Impact team.  This will enable MENTOR to live out a core belief:  our network is most effective when we foster meaningful partnerships, leverage complementary strengths, and harness diverse perspectives towards impactful programs, partnerships and products.  As MENTOR continues to expand across the United States and beyond, we seek an innovative, strategic, experienced leader to serve as founding Chief Impact Officer (CIO).  As a key advocate and spokesperson for the power of mentoring, the CIO will lead a team of 16 high performing individuals, forge relationships with critical national partners and expand the voice and reach of the movement to center, prioritize, and deliver on the critical relationships all young people need to thrive and strive.

RESPONSIBILITIES 

As Chief Impact Officer (CIO) you will play a pivotal leadership role in setting the organization’s programmatic north star and leading a diverse and mission-oriented team toward that vision. The CIO will lead a team that unites the program and Affiliate teams to develop shared goals, strategies and innovations for broad investment and impact in the areas of training and technical assistance, product design and delivery, field research and evaluation, strategic partnerships and Affiliate support and expansion.  As the mentoring field navigates the ever-growing virtual environment, the CIO will also leverage innovative strategies to facilitate online delivery models to advance learning and support youth mentoring nationwide.

The CIO will be skilled at cultivating strategic relationships both internally and externally.   Ideal candidates will have a demonstrated ability to connect, build bridges and work collaboratively.  The CIO will model proactive strategic thinking and have a track record of building and articulating a compelling vision in a way that generates buy-in across a diverse set of stakeholders.  The CIO leads a dynamic team who share a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging as core to their work. The CIO will directly manage MENTOR’s Program and Affiliate teams, serve as a member of the Executive Leadership team and report to the CEO.

You will be successful in this role if you are a skilled people manager who can grow and lead a healthy and high preforming team while also modeling a high level of personal accountability, see the interconnectedness between quality programming and operational excellence, practice cultural responsiveness, engage in bold thinking, adapt and pivot to new opportunities and have the ability to manage large portfolios of complex and ambitious projects.

As a key focus of their work, the CIO will be responsible for the following:

Organizational Leadership

●      Serve as thought partner to the CEO and work closely as a member of a four-person executive team and broader senior leadership teams to refine overall organizational strategy and goals, ensuring MENTOR’s vision is realized through innovation, clear prioritization and high impact operational execution

●      Serve as a culture carrier, modeling and supporting MENTOR’s core values, with an intentional focus on the organization's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging

●      Serve as a liaison to the national board of directors on departmental goals and progress, co-leading and supporting relevant Board Committees with team leaders.

●      Work to advance a “One MENTOR” approach to ensure the Affiliates and national teams work collaboratively to advance a shared vision of quality mentoring for young people through shared leadership and joint decision making

Build and Lead A Unified Impact Team:

●      Oversee the creation and implementation of an annual operational plan for MENTOR’s programmatic and Affiliate work, assist the team in the creation of individual and group work-plans and manage to outcomes

●      Demonstrate consistent quality; set timelines and determine resources needed to achieve team goals and work collaboratively with staff to lead and improve program activities, cross functional teamwork and organizational learning 

●      Ensure that leading-edge research, field-based evidence, community insights and Affiliate input drives the design and implementation of all of MENTOR’s programs and products

●      Lead Affiliate team to build systems of support to strengthen the health of current Affiliates, develop sustainable new Affiliates, and elevate innovations that increase impact at the local level

●      Partner with regional Affiliate leaders on key impact objectives and organizational initiatives aimed at strengthening the capacity of Affiliates to expand the mentoring movement within their regions

External Engagement & Partnerships

●      Provide a strong leadership presence in the field by representing MENTOR at conferences, high-level working groups, national, state and local coalitions, and representing MENTOR’s work to partners, funders, and policymakers

●      Develop goals, deliverables, and action plans for current and prospective partners and ensure all programmatic deliverables and commitments to clients, partners, funders and other partners are met

QUALIFICATIONS

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. This said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below.

●      Progressive senior-level leadership experience with a proven track record of successfully leading, managing, and growing a performance- and outcomes-based team, preferably within the educational, nonprofit or philanthropic sectors

●      Commitment to and experience with implementing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging best practices and engaging in continuous learning

●      Experience working within an affiliate model or demonstrated leadership in driving towards a national vision while amplifying the importance and contributions of local leaders and organizations

●      Demonstrated commitment to ensuring that young people are at the forefront of addressing systemic issues

●      Experience in youth development, education, workforce development or related fields

●      Self-motivated and thrives in a lean, fast-paced, highly collaborative, and entrepreneurial environment; demonstrates the integrity, wisdom, persistence, and humor necessary to address the realities of a growing, dynamic, organization

●      A management style that combines respectful collaboration with disciplined productivity; demonstrated maturity and tact to collaborate effectively with colleagues, Board Members, external partners and team members to solve problems

●      Track record of effectively leading and integrating teams; ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth

●      Excellent strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills with the ability to adapt and overcome challenges        

●      Ability to build sustainable and productive partnerships with nonprofits, philanthropic partners, academic institutions, and city and state government. Comfortable and capable of speaking to these constituents and other stakeholders (both nationally and locally) about the power and potential of MENTOR’s model

●      Ability to compel others to action as a key storyteller of our path to impact, priorities for growth and ongoing contributions to the communities and young people we serve            

COMPENSATION, BENEFITS AND LOCATION

MENTOR offers a comprehensive benefits package. The salary for this position starts at $170,000 and is commensurable with lived and professional experience. This role is remote, with a preference for Greater Boston.   MENTOR is planning for an eventual hybrid office model in which employees have flexibility regarding in person and remote work.  Full benefits include health care, 403B, vacation, and life and short- and long-term disability insurance. The summary overview of the benefits could be found here.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply to this position, please have an updated resume ready and a thoughtfully written cover letter to the attention of MENTOR Executive Search Committee. For confidential inquiries or for assistance in completing the application, please contact us via email at search@positivelypartners.org and a member of our team will follow up. 

 TIMELINE AND HIRING PROCESS

We will review and respond to all applications received.  While subject to change, candidates elected to advance throughout the process can expect two interviews with Positively Partners, an interview with members of the Executive Committee and for finalists, an interview day with the CEO, key stakeholders and staff, including a holistic reference check process.  Expected start date is winter 2021. 

MENTOR is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to sustaining a diverse community with a work environment that is welcoming, respectful, and encouraging to all. We foster a culture of inclusion that celebrates and cultivates diversity along multiple dimensions, including race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, out of home care, age, national origin, socioeconomic status, religion, ability, culture, and experience.