Hiring Manager: Evan Stone, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Location: DC or E4E chapter locations preferred (New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL; St. Paul, MN; Boston, MA; New Haven, CT), but remote applicants are considered as well. 
Role Tier:  Vice President 
Position: Full-Time, Temporary
Duration: This position is a fixed-term role, lasting one year from the employee’s first day.

The Opportunity 

We are seeking a seasoned, high-impact leader for the role of Vice President of Network Development to steward a dynamic, coordinated network of leaders working fast, hard, and smart to ensure the education community has the rapid response, connectivity, and strategies needed to counter attacks on public education and make us stronger and better in the long run. 

In close partnership with senior stakeholders, node leaders, and allied organizations, the Vice President will bring a strategic blend of systems thinking, political acumen, and operational excellence to support both rapid-response efforts and long-term coalition building. This high-impact role bridges policy, strategy, and communications, grounded in a collaborative leadership approach that prioritizes alignment, trust, and connectivity across the network—all in service of standing up for students and strengthening public education.

Scope: What is the nature of the role?

This is a one-year, time-bound position that will report jointly to two organizations:

• 50% of the role will be dedicated to Educators for Excellence, supporting a specific education network and national education initiative.
• 50% of the role will be dedicated to Athena Strategy Partners, supporting the larger infrastructure, coordination, and strategic direction of the broader network of networks. 

Core Competencies

Skilled Communicator:  You are a highly skilled communicator who can translate complexity into clarity across a range of audiences—from grassroots advocates to institutional leaders. You elevate shared understanding and create compelling narratives that drive engagement and action.

Connector & Coalition Builder: Your deep relationships across the national education landscape allow you to bridge sectors, build trust, and foster durable partnerships. You strengthen connectivity across the network, enabling coordination and shared purpose.

Strategic Policy Expertise & Systems Thinking:  You have expertise in education policy and a nuanced understanding of the cross-sector systems that influence policy, funding, and staffing across the education landscape. You synthesize emerging developments to inform network strategy, holding the big picture while navigating complex, cross-sector dynamics.

Political Judgment & Opportunity Activation: You recognize inflection points and move swiftly to cohere messaging, mobilize stakeholders, and operationalize action—whether in response to external threats or to advance proactive agendas.

Independent Leader & Strategic Operator: You operate with a high degree of initiative and accountability while remaining deeply collaborative. You move ideas from concept to execution, and thrive in navigating ambiguity, trade-offs, and complexity. 

Educational Equity Lens: You are deeply committed to advancing educational equity and can apply an equity-centered perspective to strategy, communications, and partnership-building, ensuring equitable outcomes in all aspects of your work.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning and Network Direction

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Steering Committee, shaping governance and decision-making processes to reflect the network’s collective vision.
• Lead strategic planning for a key education coalition node, guiding its long-term arc and ensuring alignment with broader field-wide priorities.

Network Coordination and Alignment

• Drive integrated planning and collaboration across coalition partners and nodes, minimizing duplication and maximizing collective impact
• Build infrastructure and processes that facilitate efficient communication, shared learning, and aligned execution across the network.

Coalition Leadership and Execution

• Lead a key node within the network: set priorities, facilitate bi-weekly meetings, and provide coaching and support to node participants to ensure strategic momentum and outcomes orientation.
• Cultivate a culture of trust, inclusion, and collaboration that anchors the node as a high-functioning, forward-moving team.

Communication and Knowledge Infrastructure

• Develop and manage systems for internal knowledge sharing and external updates, ensuring timely, transparent flow of critical information across the network and an updated storage drive
• Translate strategic and policy developments into actionable insights and accessible materials for diverse audiences.

Fundraising and Financial Tracking

• Partner with senior leaders on fundraising tracking and execution 
• Maintain clear oversight of budgets, tracking progress against goals and supporting resource optimization.

Maintaining a Digital Website

• Oversee the strategy and content development of the coalition’s digital presence, ensuring it reflects real-time priorities, values, and impact.

Learning, Evaluation, and Best Practice Codification

• Capture and share lessons learned from across the network, developing and disseminating best practices in coalition management and strategy.
• Provide consultative support to other nodes or partners as needed for coalition best practices.

Project Management

• Lead and manage key projects from planning through completion, ensuring they are executed on time and aligned with network goals, driving toward clear, measurable success.

Meeting Management

•  Oversee the planning of node-wide meetings, including developing agendas, identifying speakers, and managing all pre- and post-meeting communications.

Working Group Operations

• Launch and support working groups as needed, handling logistics, scheduling, facilitation, and internal coordination. Collaborate with group leads to monitor progress, maintain momentum, and ensure accountability for outcomes. Integrate learnings and outputs from working groups into the broader node strategy.

Qualifications and Requirements:

Transportation: Some travel to DC, NYC, and other places is required  

Experience: 8+ years of professional experience, including experience in at least two of the following:

• Executive leadership
• Project management 
• Strategic planning
• Campaign management
• Strategic communications
• Coalition management

Technical Skills:

• Familiarity with G-Suite required
• Familiarity with K-12 Education required
• Familiarity with coalition building, network management, or the Department of Education is required
• Familiarity with Mailchimp or other email tools is preferred 
• Familiarity with websites is preferred but not necessary 

Core Values: What beliefs do you embody? How do you approach your work?

• High Quality Work - We ensure all deliverables meet our standard of excellence.
• Ownership - We take part in finding solutions for the problems we identify.  
• Equity - We look for opportunities to redistribute power in response to inequity.
• Achieve Ambitious Goals - We strive to have a transformational impact on the staff, teachers, and students we serve.
• Initiative - We step up to the plate to ensure no gaps in progress.
• Empowering Feedback - We constantly give observable & actionable feedback in a way that demonstrates belief in our people. 
• Deep Belief in Mission - We believe change is possible, so we equip ourselves to achieve it.

Compensation Policy

Educators for Excellence (E4E) is committed to valuing team members holistically in appreciation of their contribution to the organization’s success and for the good they create for society as part of our mission. While there are many facets of the “Total Rewards” package that come with working at E4E, compensation is a significant factor in a team member’s decision to work here. As such, we strive to attract, retain, and reward top talent by offering competitive salaries and benefits that are equitably and transparently administered. Therefore, we do not engage in salary negotiations - our first offer is always our best offer! 

*Salary bands are based on geographic region:

• $155,00 - $218,000, High Urban areas comparable to NYC, San Francisco
• $138,000 - $196,000, Mid-High Urban areas comparable to Boston, Los Angeles
• $132,000 - $188,000, All other areas

This is a temporary position that is time-bound for one year. 

Within this range, our competitive, non-negotiable salary offer will be based on a candidate’s relevant experience and credentials, role-related competencies assessed through our robust hiring process, and geographic location. 

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

All new employees are required to comply with E4E’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, which requires all staff to be fully vaccinated prior to the start of employment. An employee will be considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the requisite number of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Employees may request an exemption as a reasonable accommodation due to a medical reason or a sincerely held religious belief.

E4E abides by each state’s requirements and acknowledges that they may change over time. If you advance forward to an interview, you will have the opportunity to ask questions about this job requirement.

Benefits & Applying

Educators for Excellence (E4E) believes in providing employees with benefits to support self-care, wellness, and financial stability. We value the whole person and provide benefits such as paid time off, health insurance plans, competitive salaries that include pre-tax benefits, and cell phone reimbursements. See more information about our benefits here.

E4E is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state or federal law or local ordinance. E4E has a zero tolerance for discrimination, racism, xenophobia or misogyny in any form in our workplace. We strive to create a workplace where everyone feels a strong sense of belonging.

Accommodations: We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible interview experience and will ensure that all candidates are provided with reasonable accommodations that allow them to participate in the interview process. To request an accommodation, please email [email protected]

EEOC questionnaire: We place a particular focus on recruiting staff members who share the backgrounds of the communities we serve. We encourage all applicants to complete our EEOC questionnaire as part of your application process (the form will be included in your initial application). Completing the questionnaire will help ensure our People & Equity team is attracting a diverse pool of qualified candidates for each of our open positions. Please note that this information is not included with your application, and our hiring managers do not have access to race and other identifying information at any point in the interviewing or hiring process, including after a hire is made.

About E4E

Our nation’s education system is leaving millions of students—including an overwhelming number of students of color and low-income students—unprepared for college, career, and life. While research shows that classroom teachers are the single most important in-school factor in improving student achievement, their diverse voices are consistently left out of education policy decisions. For far too long, teachers have been treated as subjects of change rather than as agents of change.  

What E4E Does

Our Theory of Change is grounded in two long-term goals that are inextricably linked: better outcomes for our students and the elevation of the quality and prestige of the teaching profession. We achieve these goals by changing policy at the district, state, and federal levels and transforming our teachers’ union to be more student-focused, democratic, diverse, and anti-racist. United around our Declaration of Teachers’ Principles and Beliefs, we are building a powerful movement to lead this change by:

• Organizing educators who share a common vision of equity and excellence in schools,
• Training and supporting teacher leadership, and
• Advocating for teacher-led recommendations at all levels of government, within teachers’ unions, and in the public conversation around education.

E4E envisions an equitable and excellent education system that provides all students the opportunity to succeed and elevates the teaching profession. 

E4E organizes student-focused, anti-racist educators, builds their leadership capabilities and collective power through issue-based advocacy campaigns, and supports them to take on positions of leadership in their schools, districts, and most importantly, in their unions. Through E4E, tens of thousands of educators have signed on to a common vision for elevating the teaching profession and improving student outcomes; thousands of teacher members have successfully advocated for and won equity and excellence focused policy changes in their local communities; and hundreds have trained for and taken on positions of elected and appointed leadership in their schools, districts, and unions. 

E4E must build on this momentum while pivoting to meet the moment of dramatic crisis facing our students and teachers. We will be guided by the urgent goal of shaping policy solutions to help students, particularly low-income students and students of color, recover from a year of interrupted and unfinished learning, health and social emotional crises, and unrelenting racial trauma. We will do this by organizing and uplifting the collective voices of progressive, anti-racist educators who have also faced significant personal and professional challenges. Recognizing that our work is more urgent and important than ever, we are making strategic investments in our leadership team, infrastructure, and program model to further accelerate our efficacy and impact.

E4E remains committed to our Theory of Change and focuses on building power to transform teachers’ unions. Holding significant power and influence at every level of education decision-making, unions must be a driving force for social and racial justice. It is essential that teachers’ unions rise to the dual challenges of radically improving the education system for our students, particularly those who have been impacted by inequitable opportunities, while also elevating the teaching profession and better reflecting the diverse views and interests of their educator members. E4E works to create a more student-focused, anti-racist, democratic teachers’ union that exists as a powerful lever for progress. 

With chapters currently operating in Los Angeles, New York, Connecticut, Chicago, Boston, and Minnesota, our organizing culture is grounded in our passion for impacting educational systems and revolves around an innovative, roll-up-your-sleeves spirit backed by a shared commitment to continuous professional growth.