Vice President of Platform of Hope

Our Mission

The Platform of Hope (Platform of Hope) is a strategic alliance led by a Steering Committee of six collaborating nonprofit partners—Capital Area Asset Builders, For Love of Children, Jubilee Housing, Jubilee Jumpstart, Mary’s Center, and Sitar Arts Center to help stem the displacement of the diverse families living in the community, and to ensure that people of all backgrounds and income levels are valued, supported, and able to live their fullest lives in our neighborhood. The pilot initiative provides holistic and self-directed support for cohorts of individuals experiencing economic vulnerability in the rapidly gentrifying Adams Morgan neighborhood of northwest Washington, D.C.

Our Guiding Principles

Grounded in our shared aspiration for the community and belief in the innate potential of all individuals and families, three key guiding principles govern the work of the Strategic Alliance:

  1. We confront inequity. We commit to acknowledging, understanding, and confronting persistent racial inequity, as well as other persistent systems of exclusion and inaccessibility.
  2. We listen to families. We will center our work around the voices of the Platform of Hope families, considering their interests, desires, strategies, and solutions and ensuring that our collective work is connected to the needs and hopes of our community.
  3. We are open and responsive. We will be open, transparent, and reflective about the effectiveness of our work, and willing to adjust our program goals, services, approach, and target outcomes in response to what we learn.

The Opportunity

To lead this important work, The Platform of Hope is seeking a passionate and entrepreneurial VP of Platform of Hope. The VP of Platform of Hope will be a visionary, dynamic leader who can grow and lead the backbone of the Platform of Hope, facilitate the collective success of this regional effort, and serve as a public ambassador for the initiative. More specifically, the VP of Platform of Hope will also drive the Platform of Hope’s internal and external functions, including strategy, communications, community engagement, and data functions.

Responsibilities

The VP of Platform of Hope will manage staff and systems and be accountable for nurturing the efficiency and effectiveness of both, providing high-level strategic thinking and facilitation of the Platform of Hope effort. Key responsibilities include:

Resource Development:

  • Identifying potential funding sources to support the Platform of Hope’s goals and priorities;
  • Providing support and guidance to partner organizations in aligning resources to the Platform of Hope agenda;
  • Tracking all Platform of Hope funding, including funds from partner organizations;
  • Developing relationships with potential funders and participating in relevant networks.

Leadership:

  • Provide visionary, adaptive leadership, modeling the Platform of Hope’s guiding values at all times and fostering a culture that reflects them;
  • Developing, coaching, and mentoring the Platform of Hope team members;
  • Establishing, facilitating, and executing effective and open communication with staff, particularly related to internal decisions and strategy;
  • Developing systems to share organizational decisions with the Steering Committee and staff members;
  • Maintaining understanding of current implementation challenges and developing comprehensive solutions to address them;
  • Insuring that programming continues to develop in alignment with Design Thinking modality and practice, where participant interests and carry primary authority;
  • Acting as a neutral arbiter and helping resolve disputes or disagreements in direction among workgroups and Steering Committee;
  • Providing support to Steering Committee and sub-committees to facilitate meetings, assisting in preparation of meeting materials, etc.;
  • Build the Backbone’s identity as a respected, neutral convener among a broad spectrum of local stakeholders;
  • Ensuring the project meets its mission, vision, and objectives through the program;
  • Providing regular reports on progress against goals and indicators;
  • Building and maintaining relationships with Executive VP of Platform of Hopes, Steering Committee, and Sub-Committees.

Communications:

  • Communicating the objectives of the Platform of Hope to the community and potential Allied and Supporting Partners;
  • Facilitating communication between the Platform of Hope Allied and Supporting Partners by hosting regular conference calls, in-person meetings, or coordinating regular email updates to ensure alignment of activity;
  • Creating or managing creation of regular summary reports of the Platform of Hope progress for Steering Committee and external audiences;
  • The following duties may be done in coordination with a communications consultant or staff:
    • Developing communications materials as the Platform of Hope evolves, potentially including summary documents, brochures, FAQs, and other items;
    • Developing web and social media strategy;
    • Creating press strategy, including drafting press releases, coordinating with media outlets.

Managing Internal Systems:

  • Selecting, contracting with, and overseeing work of consultants as appropriate (e.g., data management, grant writing, etc.);
  • Monitoring and reporting on operational issues, opportunities, and achievements within agreed formats and timelines;
  • Identifying improvements in use of data-driven decision-making and ensuring that data is collected, integrated, and communicated effectively across the organization.

The Candidate

First and foremost, the VP of Platform of Hope must be committed to the mission and overarching goals of the Platform of Hope.

Additionally, the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

  • At least 5-10 years of relevant work experience, including at least 3 years managing teams in a fast-paced and high-growth nonprofit, social enterprise, or business start-up environment;
  • At least five years of fundraising experience and demonstrated success in cultivating fundraiser relationships;
  • The executive presence to inspire confidence and passion in both internal and external audiences;
  • Advanced strategy and planning skills, including an ability to think strategically on both organizational and systemic levels over multi-year horizons;
  • Strong data acumen and ability to oversee complex shared-measurement systems;
  • Strong facilitation and presentation skills before multiple types of audiences;
  • Experience with complex project management and stakeholder management;
  • Existing relationships with, or ability to build relationships with, a cross-sectoral range of stakeholders in the local or regional area, including senior executives;
  • A track record of leading, inspiring, and developing high-performance teams;
  • Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build authentic relationships with a diverse set of high profile stakeholders;
  • Comfort with ambiguity and ability to thrive in a fluid, entrepreneurial environment; willingness to “roll up one’s sleeves” and extend beyond formal responsibilities based on the needs of the work.

Desired Qualifications:

  • Advanced degree in business, education, policy, or related field;
  • Experience in a start-up environment;
  • Familiarity with the local area and focus of the initiative;
  • Spanish language ability preferred, but not required.

Reporting Relationships

Initially, the VP of Platform of Hope will be an employee of Jubilee Housing, the fiscal agent for the initiative. The VP of Platform of Hope will report to the Platform of Hope Steering Committee, and will have one direct report—the Family Care Lead who is already working on the program. A third position, Program Coordinator, will be hired at the end of the summer. The current organizational chart, as well as titles, are subject to change as the Platform of Hope team is likely to evolve over time. The VP of Platform of Hope will ultimately be responsible for recruiting and hiring top talent, building, and managing a highly functioning team.

Salary and Benefits

Salary is commensurate with experience.

Benefits include health, vision, and dental insurance, STD, LTD, and Life insurances, paid vacation, sick leave, holidays, transportation stipend and a matched contribution retirement plan.

To Apply

Please email your resume, a cover letter, and include why you would be an ideal candidate for this position, and how you learned of this position to jobs@jubileehousing.org.  Please reference the job title “VP of Platform o Hope” in the subject line.