Career Center

Education is Freedom is looking for a strategic and innovative President & Chief Executive Officer strongly committed to the organization’s mission of accelerating economic mobility through robust postsecondary advising and financial support for students living in the 6th largest county in the nation in terms of children living in poverty. While the President & Chief Executive Officer will initially oversee the management of a ~50-person organization reflecting an operating budget of ~$5M, it is envisioned that this position will steadily evolve, as other regional school districts are added, to be responsible for the strategic leadership of one of the largest “to and through” advising and support entities in the nation, employing up to 150 full-time employees or more. 

This role provides a highly impactful opportunity to affect and impact regional economic mobility within one of the most populous counties in the nation. Today, Dallas County (which educates 10% of Texas’ students and 1% of the nation’s children) is seeing just 17% of its beginning 8th graders achieve a postsecondary credential by the age of 24. That number declines to only 12% when looking at the 71% of the county’s public school students who are considered by the federal government to be economically-disadvantaged.

However, the recent passage of numerous catalytic statewide and local policies (including up to $130M of annual college and career outcomes funding rewarding successful readiness and post-secondary enrollment of Dallas County students via Texas’ 2019 passage of HB3, of which ~$90M is currently unclaimed), combined with the contemplated evolution of EIF into a potential countywide entity responsible for annually supporting up to 30,000 high school seniors in their postsecondary journey, represent substantial opportunity for transformative change. This is especially true given (i) the region’s collective launch of a Dallas County Promise effort, providing last dollar scholarships to 92 different high schools across 11 different school districts and charter networks and (ii) the region’s status as a consistent national leader in job growth and the associated economic opportunity of living wage jobs readily available to a better prepared and supported educational pipeline. 

By leading a sufficiently capitalized “to and through” comprehensive advising and support entity, coupled with strong school district and higher education relationships and critical fundraising supports, this President & Chief Executive Officer position reflects an unprecedented opportunity for substantial regional impact translating into the creation of tens of millions of increased lifetime earnings for the students positively supported. 

Primary Roles & Responsibilities:

• Transform lives by leading a team capable of inspiring students to pursue college and career options that lead to economic security and prosperity
• Partner with EIF’s Board of Directors to develop, refine and execute on the organization’s strategic plan offering best-in-class college and career guidance to students through earning a postsecondary credential
• Implement fundraising strategies that will sustain and grow EIF’s programs; maintain and deepen relationships with existing donors and cultivate new relationships from both public and private sources
• Serve as the primary ambassador and advocate for EIF within the broader Texas community; develop and nurture relationships with key government officials, donors, and external constituencies to broaden the coalition of stakeholders invested in increasing the number of Dallas County young people earning a livable wage
• Build and deepen relationships with school district, postsecondary institution, and workforce development leadership to glean insights of successes and gaps across the student experience
• Lead a motivated, committed senior leadership team; lead the recruitment, development, and mentoring of team members; continually provide opportunities for staff professional development
• Continually build and foster an inclusive environment and a culture of accountability, trust, and transparency; prioritize and lead diversity, equity, and inclusion work across the enterprise
• Maintain and develop effective systems across the organization to optimize and streamline financial processes, performance management, and information technology
• Safeguard, verify, and maintain the accountability of EIF’s assets and oversee the formulation of the annual budget
• Partner effectively with EIF’s leadership team and manage the budget and resources to ensure that the strategy and plans are delivered; continually review and enhance the operations of the organization