POSITION SUMMARY

Teach For All is incubating a new organization, “Rising Generation,” whose mission is to foster the collective action needed to create an environment that inspires and enables the leaders in the next generation of university graduates to make early career choices that put them on a trajectory to tackle the world’s greatest challenges. This effort will both (a) foster global learning and community around this pursuit and (b) contribute to experimentation and action towards this end in the U.S.
Even as the world’s challenges—from global conflict to inequity, polarization to environmental devastation—have become more visible, and despite evidence that many in the next generation are deeply committed to tackling social and economic injustices, we’re not seeing more of the leaders in the rising generation of university graduates making early career choices that put them in close proximity with these issues. While Teach For All’s network continues to tackle the challenges involved in recruiting the next generation to our work, we want to incubate a new organization to help create an environment that enables and inspires many more people to make values-based, intentional early career choices that bring them close to societal challenges so they can make an impact against them and gain the foundational insights and mindsets that will fuel impactful careers. We believe this will benefit Teach For All’s own efforts and many other efforts to tackle major societal issues.
In its initial pilot phase, Rising Generation will focus on several interconnected priorities to tackle this issue in the U.S.:

INFLUENCING YOUNG PEOPLE

We will develop a strategy for influencing young people directly, including by developing a film that can be used as a tool by high schools and career service offices among others. Moreover, we will contribute to the public discussion on this issue in an effort to reach the teachers, parents, and others who influence young people.
Given the scale and ambition of Rising Generation, we are forming a Founding Team of four individuals to work full-time on Rising Generation, together with several other Teach For All staff members who will dedicate a percentage of their time to this. We are looking for entrepreneurial, U.S.-based leaders who bring passion and insight about the importance of this issue, outstanding leadership, strategic, and interpersonal skills, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Each team member will own particular areas of the endeavor and will also have cross-cutting responsibilities, particularly focused on advancing the initiative in their home geographies.
The Head of Public Purpose Pathways will be a key member of the team, responsible for catalyzing and supporting the growth of the ecosystem of opportunities enabling recent college graduates to work in proximity with social challenges and make a difference against them. This is a role that requires entrepreneurial, relationship-building, and motivational skills needed to envision new possibilities; generate public, private, and social sector partnerships to bring them into existence; and inspire and support social entrepreneurs to launch and scale them. The person serving in this role will be a key driver of Rising Generation’s overall success, contributing actively to its overall strategy and development.
Consistent with the ways of working of Teach For All, this Founding Team will be self managing, with members responsible for collaborating with each other. Each team member will have a sponsor committed to their development, and ultimately Teach For All’s CEO will make decisions about the composition of the team. As the initiative grows, the CEO will work with the team to evolve its structure and ways of working as appropriate. The CEO will serve as the technical line manager for this role.

REQUIREMENTS

• Entrepreneurial skills and ability to envision new possibilities, develop strategy, and access resources
• Ability to build strong relationships across lines of difference and communicate effectively
• Strong project management and execution skills
• Experience working with and/or recruiting outstanding graduates at the university level
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in mission-driven and leadership roles
• Extensive skills mobilizing diverse groups of stakeholders across race, age, socioeconomic status, and other diverse lived experiences
• Exemplifies Teach For All’s core values

PUBLIC PURPOSE PATHWAYS

We will expand “public purpose” options and grow the accessibility and scale of existing options which enable recent university graduates to gain significant responsibility for tackling societal issues while engaging in the relationship building and deep learning that comes from working to make an impact in close proximity to these challenges. This involves developing new public, private, and social sector partnerships, and identifying and supporting social entrepreneurs in launching and scaling public service programs.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Head of Public Purpose Pathways will grow the accessibility, scale, and diversity of job options enabling recent graduates to gain proximity to social issues and make a societal impact, with the following specific responsibilities:

• Build relationships with providers of existing options to work for the common good, to understand the landscape and the barriers to scale
• Develop a strategy for increasing accessibility of these options and supporting their growth
• Build partnerships with public sector and social sector leaders who are tackling big societal problems to envision and inspire the creation of new avenues for enabling young people to take part in these efforts
• Support social entrepreneurs to create new options and pathways for recruiting recent graduates to have an impact against big societal issues across sectors, including through leveraging help and support from Teach For America and Teach For All
• Generate new financial enablers for public service careers, including through working with universities and other governments and institutions to offer loan forgiveness for their students, cultivating national philanthropists to offer education awards for public service choices, and engaging local philanthropists in offering financial enablers to incentivize students to pursue public service in their communities
• Contribute to the success of the overall initiative, including by supporting key strategies for the priorities listed above, strengthening the Rising Generation Collective for enabling global learning, and contributing to the effort’s Advisory Board