iMentor builds mentoring relationships that empower first-generation college students to graduate high school, succeed in college, and achieve their ambitions. We partner with high schools and match every student in the schools with a mentor. Volunteer mentors commit a minimum of three years to working with a single student, developing a strong personal relationship, building the skills and mindsets necessary for post-secondary success, and providing support through all aspects of the college process. We provide mentoring pairs with a research-based curriculum to guide their interactions and a full-time case manager who is responsible for the success of the relationships. iMentor has a 19-year track record of significantly improving college outcomes for first-generation college students. To-date, iMentor has supported over 29,000 mentoring relationships and plans to create an additional 30,000 mentoring relationships in 33 communities across the country during the next 5 years. Students in our program are 29% more likely to enroll in college and are graduating college at double the rate of their peers.
iMentor has been recognized through funding from many of the leading education funders in the country, including the Ballmer Group, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Robin Hood Foundation, the Bezos Family Foundation, New Profit Inc., and the Kresge Foundation. iMentor is one of the nation’s most innovative and quickly growing college success organizations. As a team, we are collaborative, fun, bring passion and joy to our work, and deeply believe in human potential. iMentor was recently named one of the Best Nonprofits to Work For by The Nonprofit Times.
Read more about our work and values at: www.imentor.org.
The Potential of Our Mentor Community
As part of our 2023 strategic plan, iMentor has prioritized investing in the development and mobilization of its mentor community. This work is designed to address two urgent needs. First, iMentor must find more sustainable and scalable ways to fuel our continued growth. Second, iMentor has made a commitment to address issues of inequity that impact our community. iMentor’s dynamic community of mentors is at the epicenter of both of these priorities. Properly engaged and mobilized, we believe our tens of thousands of volunteer mentors and mentor alumni will dedicate themselves to advancing iMentor’s mission by utilizing their network, their financial resources, and their commitment to issues of equity.
The potential of the iMentor community is an enormous asset for the organization. Through their experience in our program, mentors have a nuanced understanding of what it takes to be a great mentor, positioning them to effectively recruit individuals from their network that can serve as powerful supports for students. Grassroots funding from our mentor community has already shown the potential to be a sustainable and scalable way to support our growth. And by dedicating themselves to their own learning and reflection, our mentor community can serve as powerful advocates around issues of equity and education. Success in mobilizing our mentor community means unlocking the true potential of tens of thousands of individuals and the collective power of this group to change the trajectory of iMentor’s work.
Position Overview
iMentor is seeking a Managing Director of Mentor Community to design and lead a national strategy for building and engaging iMentor’s mentor and alumni community. The MDMC will have the unique opportunity to leverage this community in service of iMentor’s sustainability and growth, and to rally this community behind issues of equity that are critical to those we serve. The MDMC will be responsible for designing a national strategy and curating strategies from our regions, while providing the support and oversight necessary to ensure regional teams execute effectively on these plans. In recognition of their key role in iMentor’s success, the MDMC will serve as a member of iMentor’s National Leadership Team.
This role will oversee six verticals of work:
Community definition: Creating a distinct identity, branding, and messaging that makes mentors feel that they are a part of a powerful community, while clearly articulating the benefits and responsibilities of belonging to this community.
Mentor-driven mentor recruitment: Developing the strategies and systems necessary to leverage existing mentors to recruit new mentors, with a special focus on diversity of our mentor pool and efficacy.
Financial support: Develop the strategies and partnerships necessary for financial support from our mentor community to be a significant and predictable part of iMentor’s financial model. This includes both mentors making financial contributions to the organization and mentors raising money on behalf of iMentor.
Community engagement: Creating opportunities to celebrate the community, to bring people together, to engage mentors in person and on social media, and reinforce a sense of collective identity and connection.
Community education and activation: Devising a set of strategies that positions us to develop mentors into lifelong advocates for equity in education by deepening their understanding of key issues, creating strategic partnerships with other organizations that can amplify mentor impact, and rallying the mentor community to dedicate more time, money, and voice to causes that affect our students.
Learning agenda & continual improvement: Evaluating the impact of this work and using that learning to drive innovation and improvement continuously over time.
If the MDMC is successful, by 2023, iMentor will have a collection of refined mentor community strategies generating predictable results in diverse communities across the country. These strategies will achieve the following outcomes:
· The vast majority of mentors will feel like they are a part of a community and that participation in this community benefits them personally and professionally
· The majority of new mentors will come from our mentor community
· Financial support from our mentor community will be a significant and stable component of our financial model
· Mentors will be more educated on issues of equity and education and more likely to be active around these issues
· A significant percentage of our alumni mentors will stay active in the mentor community after they are done serving as mentors in our program
Reporting to the CEO, the ideal candidate will have experience developing strategies for community building at a national scale, be skilled in branding and messaging, be adept at leading diversity and equity work, and have a fluency in grassroots fundraising and giving efforts.
Responsibilities
· Strategy Development – Generate strategies for key verticals of work, refine and approve regional strategy proposals, and lead the organization in national and regional strategy for mentor community engagement.
· Messaging Development & Dissemination – Defining and branding our mentor and alumni community, working in partnership with national and regional teams to reach every mentor with strategic messaging.
· Partnership Development – Develop strategic partnerships to support and amplify this work
· Learning and Improvement – Iterating, evaluating impact, and improving this work continuously over time.
· Performance Management – Monitor and manage progress towards goals; provide coaching and support to regional teams.
·
Convene and Coordinate regional staff –
Facilitating communities of practice for regional mentor community staff
members and providing oversight and coordination of execution among regions.
Qualifications
· Demonstrated success leading strategy to turn passive supporters into active, long-term, engaged supporters/donors/volunteers, with an emphasis on candidates who have experience building communities and engaging alumni
· Experience creating multi-tiered strategy to deliver results where no strategy existed previously, in a large national organization
· Communications (messaging, branding, social media) strategy experience
· Fundraising experience, with a special emphasis on grassroots fundraising
· Experience leading around and developing strategy for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts
· Expert at managing by influence and aligning external and internal stakeholders
· Experience with volunteer management or engagement
· A natural appetite for being out in the community talking to people, building connections, and engaging with mentors
· Demonstrated alignment with iMentor's mission, values, and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
· Views differences between individuals (race, gender, age, cultural heritage, physical ability, education, beliefs, and lifestyle) as an asset and demonstrates an appreciation of the diversity across the iMentor community
· Bachelor’s degree required
· Our organization works in partnership with district public schools across the country. In doing so we must meet all compliance requirements of those districts.
Compensation & Benefits
· Salary commensurate with experience
· Up to 100% employer funded comprehensive medical and dental coverage
· 18 days paid annual vacation and 13 paid holidays, and most iMentor functions closed between Christmas and New Year’s Day
· 401K match up to 4%
· Significant opportunities for professional development and growth
How to Apply
Visit http://www.imentor.org/jobs to submit a resume and detailed cover letter describing your interest in and qualifications for this position. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Sorry, due to the high-volume of applicants for this and other positions here at iMentor, no phone, email, mail, or fax inquiries will receive a response.
iMentor is an Equal Opportunity Employer