College Access Foundation of California is currently seeking to hire a Program Officer.
About the Foundation
College Access Foundation of California was founded in 2005 to help low-income and under-represented students in California reach and succeed in college. The Foundation awards grants to community-based college advising and academic preparation programs, which use the funds to offer college scholarships to the students they serve. The Foundation recognizes that financial aid is crucial for low-income students but believes that financial aid is more effective when coupled with the advice and support that our grantee programs offer.
With an endowment of over $350 million, the Foundation is one of the largest independent college scholarship providers in California. Since its founding, the Foundation has awarded over $43 million in grants to over 100 organizations, which in turn have awarded nearly 20,000 scholarships to low-income California students. In 2010, the Foundation expects to award $13.5 million in new and renewal grants during several competitive funding cycles.
The Foundation is committed to thoughtful, strategic grantmaking, informed by data collection and analysis. We require grantees to compile and submit demographic, economic and academic data on all scholarship recipients and we track the educational progress of those recipients to assess the impact of our financial support. We are also cultivating a learning community of grantees and other stakeholders to share and promote best practices.
For more information on College Access Foundation of California, visit www.collegeaccessfoundation.org
Position Responsibilities
The Program Officer will serve as a member of the team responsible for framing the Foundation’s grantmaking agenda, implementing grantmaking programs, collecting and analyzing data, and communicating results to key audiences.
The Program Officer will report to the Vice President for Programs and will work collaboratively with colleagues inside and outside the Foundation. Specific responsibilities include:
- Respond to inquiries about the Foundation’s goals, priorities, and grantmaking strategy
- Solicit and review grant proposals during several annual grant cycles
- Critically assess grant application materials, including written narratives, financial statements and other supporting documents
- Conduct telephone follow-up, site visits and other due diligence
- Prepare grant recommendations for review by the Foundation President and Vice President and consideration by the Board of Directors
- Maintain ongoing relationships with grantees to offer advice and technical assistance
- Review and analyze written reports from grantees and data on scholarship recipients
- Support efforts to cultivate a learning community of grantees and widely disseminate outcomes and best practices
- Plan, design and manage Foundation-sponsored conferences and events
- Contribute to the Foundation’s strategic planning and program priority-setting efforts
- Raise awareness about the Foundation and its grantmaking priorities among educators, non-profit professionals, public officials and other community leaders
- Explore other areas of potential interest and manage special projects as assigned
- Develop and maintain his/her own professional and personal skills
Profile of the Successful Candidate
The successful candidate will bring at least five years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the educational, non-profit or foundation sectors in California. He/she should also be familiar with issues affecting college access and educational opportunity for low-income and first generation students.
Specifically, we expect that the successful candidate will have:
- A graduate or professional degree
- An ability to synthesize information from multiple sources, recognize key issues, critically assess options and reach conclusions
- Strong oral and written communications skills, including an ability to quickly produce clear, cogent written reports and confidently answer questions from decision makers
- Proven ability to design, manage and evaluate programs and initiatives
- Excellent time management and task prioritizing skills
- An engaging personality and comfort interacting with people from many different backgrounds
- A strong sense of purpose and an awareness of the important role that philanthropy can play to advance educational opportunity
- An ability and willingness to travel in the state of California
- A sense of humor and the ability to contribute to a collegial, respectful, and supportive office environment
Start Date
We seek to have the right individual in place by February 2010.
Compensation
This permanent, full-time position offers competitive compensation and excellent benefits.
To ApplyPlease submit your credentials and a letter of interest in complete confidence to: jobs@collegeaccessfoundation.orgReview of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. No calls, please.