VP, 35th Anniversary Summit

ROLE TITLE: VP, 35th Anniversary Summit (Full time; role ends June, 2026)

POSITION REPORTS TO: Jemina Bernard, President & Chief Operating Officer

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Application will close on August 2, 2024

LOCATION: Flexible

What You’ll Do

In early 2026, Teach For America will convene :10,000 alumni, corps members, staff, students and partners to rally our community around the need and possibility for bold, systems-change and community-level progress and to inspire each other to lead in new ways - together - in order to achieve it. In planning the 35th Anniversary Summit, you will draw lessons from previous anniversary summits, but this event will be different. It will serve as a catalyst for a new era of our work, one with an increased priority on working within diverse, community-led coalitions in order to ensure vastly improved outcomes for children in communities across the country. It will particularly recognize the importance of sustaining ourselves in this hard work over the long haul through a focus on connection, inspiration and learning.

As Vice President, 35th Anniversary Summit, you will lead the design, planning and execution of this incredibly critical and pivotal event. In doing so, you will have the chance to consult a diverse group of leading thinkers, researchers and experts; collaborate with leaders from within and outside of our community; and build and empower a team of event design and operations staff. Ultimately, you will help set a new course for our work, ensuring that :10,000 members of our community leave feeling even more hopeful and urgent in their pursuit of One Day and inspired to think and act in new ways to make much greater progress in the decade ahead.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

The VP, 35th Anniversary Summit (35AS) will be responsible for:

• Leading stakeholder involvement in the planning for the 35AS, including alumni, students, corps members, organizational leaders, staff, and external constituents (30%)
• Hiring, managing and empowering a diverse, 2-person team of event and operations experts to ensure the event achieves its purpose and goals (35%)
• Overseeing (and in some cases performing) project management to ensure all aspects of the 35AS are moving forward successfully, and there is tight coordination with other organizational initiatives and activities as needed (10%)
• Designing and implementing an effective budget strategy that optimizes opportunities for earned revenue to ensure the event is affordable and delivers a strong return on investment (10%)
• Managing conference planning vendors and other partners to ensure a well-integrated operation leading to and during the 30AS (10%)
• Informing longer-term alumni engagement strategy based on lessons learned (5%)
  
  
  

A WEEK IN THE LIFE

Over the course of any week, the VP, 35th Anniversary Summit will spend time:

• Meeting with TFA’s CEO, COO & President, other TFA leaders and groups of alumni to align around the vision for the summit and progress toward meeting that vision
• Convening diverse groups of stakeholders for design sprints
• Designing a financial aid system to advance equitable access for potential participants
• Negotiating with potential vendors
• Meeting with members of our development team to create earned revenue strategies
• Hiring, coaching and developing team members to achieve the goals of the summit
  
  
  

Your Experience

MUST HAVES

Your areas of knowledge and expertise that matter most for this role (minimum qualifications):

• Exceptional management skills including experience successfully leading diverse, inclusive teams to set and achieve ambitious goals in the context of complex, multi-layered projects
• Knowledge of the education and education policy landscape, including the influential leaders and thinking currently shaping it
• Exceptional strategic skills necessary for setting vision and direction for an event of this scale
• Entrepreneurial and self-starter mindset
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, including an ability to invest, influence and align senior leaders and stakeholders with diverse interests and ideas
• An ability to lead (and thrive) in environments of change, ambiguity and uncertainty, demonstrating the sound judgment, flexibility, resourcefulness and maturity necessary
• Deep belief in our mission and core values and demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging; an ability to spot the potential for racial disparities and propose solutions that advance racial equity; a commitment to continually developing in these areas
  
  
  

WORK DEMANDS

• Ability to travel for team meetings, design sessions and other organizational engagements 2-3 times per quarter
• Ability to travel for extended periods of time, including over weekends, and as the Summit nears
• Ability to work long hours on the weeks and days leading to the Summit and during critical sprints of planning and execution
  
  
  

BONUS (preferred But Not Required Qualifications)

• Be an alumnus of Teach For America
• Have previous experience with any or all of the following: human-centered design practices, collective leadership approaches, large-scale event planning.
  
  
  

YOUR FUTURE TEAM

The Office of the CEO and the President / Chief Operating Officer is a small, highly collaborative team that supports Teach For America’s two outstanding leaders (CEO, Elisa Villanueva Beard, and President & COO, Jemina Bernard) in their efforts to pursue and accomplish our organizational vision, mission, and goals. We build a nuanced understanding of our executives’ priorities and work closely with others - internally and externally - to enable shared success, and we are action-oriented: we get things done. We strive to understand the diverse perspectives within our community of corps members, alumni, staff, partners, and supporters; to be models of our core values and commitment to diversity, equity, inclusiveness and belonging; and to keep students and families at the forefront of our decision making.

Your Compensation

The applicable salary range for each U.S.-based role is based on where the employee works and is aligned to one of 3 tiers according to a cost of labor index in that geographic area. Starting pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of job-related factors, which may include education, training, experience, location, business needs, or market demands. The expected salary ranges for this role are set forth below. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Tier A: 120,500 - 192,700

Tier B: 131,300 - 210,000

Tier C: 142, 200 - 221,800

You can view which tier applies to where you plan to work here. If your location is not listed, please click here for additional total rewards information.