School Partnership Manager

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third-largest school district in the United States, serving over 340,000 students in 600+ schools and employing nearly 36,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments - student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

Children First Fund (CFF) is the foundation and external partnership arm of CPS, which works to match Chicago's resources with the schools and communities where they are needed most. Through CFF, everyone in Chicagofrom the philanthropic and business communities to higher education, healthcare and cultural institutions to individualshas the opportunity to make a profound and positive impact on the lives of our students.

Position Overview

Reporting to and in partnership with the Director of External Partnerships, the School Partnerships Manager will develop, implement and manage the day-to-day activities of the CFF's direct to school strategy. This includes overseeing the CFF School Partnership Program , partner activations, school-based grants and distribution of gifts and experiences.

The ideal candidate will be a master project manager with the ability to forge deep relationships with school administrators and funders/partners alike, think creatively about funder/partner engagement, and develop effective and compelling communications for external funders/partners.

Typical Duties/Responsibilities :

• Oversee the CFF School Partnership Program initiative to engage more funders in direct giving and partnership with CPS schools (note: the School Partnership Program currently includes 20 schools with potential to scale.)
• Develop and manage an ongoing process with school leadership to collect data to better assess school needs and understand where external partners and philanthropy could be of the highest impact
• Develop and manage a tracking platform that highlights real-time needs, gaps and opportunities across CPS to ensure resources are applied strategically and equitably
• Develop and implement individual school funding and partnership plans with school leadership, which could include, but are not limited to: online fundraising support, identification of short- or long-term funders and external partners, and cause-marketing campaign development
• Support CFF colleagues with a full lifecycle of fundraising including prospecting, cultivation, and stewardship
• Synthesize schools' external funding and partnerships needs into compelling storytelling via presentations, proposals and marketing packages
• Manage partner activation and donations at the school level (e.g. corporate employee engagement events, donation of in-kind resources)
• Research and evaluate new inbound opportunities, and match thoughtfully and equitably to school needs
• Identify new, creative ways to engage corporate partners and their employees (e.g. contests, citywide events)
• Support and provide oversight to schools in tracking and managing philanthropic grant expenditures, and provide guidance in stewarding funds properly for CFF school-level philanthropic grants
• Communicate grant deliverables for select CFF school-level grants with school teams/leaders and support in completing deliverables
• Develop and execute trainings to build school-based staff's confidence and skill with raising philanthropic funds and stewarding partners
• Collaborate closely with CPS central office departments to support logistic coordination of experiences, grant-funded programs at schools, and in-kind donations including working with CPS warehouse and facilities, etc.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, The School Partnerships Manager must possess the following qualifications:

Type of Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree required

Type of Experience Required:

• A minimum of 5 years experience preferably in project management, partnership management, fundraising or corporate social responsibility

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong project management, multi-tasking and problem solving
• Relationship-building with various stakeholders
• Fundraising and donor communications
• Excellent communication and customer service
• Ability to think creatively, strategically and operationally
• (Preferred but not required) Experience working in schools or education systems
• Enthusiastic, self-motivated and committed to excellence
• Self-starter who can anticipate problems and develop preemptive solutions
• Ability to be flexible and to adapt to a continually shifting environment
• Passionate about making a material impact in the lives of students

Residency Requirement:

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and must maintain residency throughout their employment with the district.

JobCode: 504748

Position # 573660

Posted by Tymesia N. Mason

Department: External Affairs & Partnership