Senior Vice President, Executive Director

Application Instructions

Click Apply to submit your online application. Please attach a resume and thoughtful cover letter on the "My Experience" page in the "Resume/CV" field.

Active City Year Staff members must login to Workday to apply internally.

Number of Positions: 1

Work Location: 100% On-Site

Position Overview

ABOUT CITY YEAR DENVER
City Year was founded in 1988, with the idea to unite young people, ages 18-25, from diverse ethnic, educational, and socio-economic backgrounds to engage in a year of full-time service in under-resourced schools. City Year Denver was established in 2011 and is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2026. Today, City Year Staff and AmeriCorps members serve 6 schools across the city of Denver serving as tutors and mentors and implementing City Year’s Whole School, Whole Child program. Our research-based programs focus on the early warning indicators which can predict a student's likelihood to graduate high school. City Year Denver supports students through timely support and targeted interventions to students across areas of attendance and engagement in school, course performance in English Language Arts (ELA) and math, and supporting the enhancement of the culture and climate of the school communities they serve in.
City Year Denver is an innovation hub for the national City Year network. The site has implemented talent pathways in education and behavioral health and is demonstrating how national service and workforce development can be combined to enhance impact for students and add value to the experience of AmeriCorps members..

Job Description

City Year is seeking an innovative, entrepreneurial, and people-focused leader to serve as the Executive Director (ED) of City Year Denver. This position is an outstanding opportunity to play an integral role in advocating for and advancing public education in Denver. This seasoned executive is responsible for ensuring the site meets its impact, revenue, district partnership, and external relations goals. City Year Denver stands to further its position in the community, and a key to the site’s success is a leader and collaborator who is a natural coalition-builder, people developer, and influencer who leads with both tenacity and humility.

Reporting to the Market President, this dynamic, visionary change agent leads 9 staff members and 45 AmeriCorps members serving in 6 school partnerships. Additionally, the Executive Director works closely with City Year Denver’s local board, comprised of civic leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors. The Executive Director is accountable for a current annual revenue budget of approximately $4MM while simultaneously securing the resources necessary to ensure the sustainability, growth, and scale of the site.

Serving as the primary champion of City Year's impact locally, the Executive Director leads efforts to keep students in school and on track while also ensuring the site's sustainability and continuity. The Executive Director represents City Year Inc. and City Year Denver within the greater Denver community by mobilizing powerful coalitions to catalyze greater educational opportunities for students.

Additionally, the Executive Director is a Senior Vice President for City Year Inc.'s national organization and, therefore, strengthens the connection between City Year's national initiatives and Denver’s local work. As Senior Vice President, the Executive Director also participates within the City Year global network to advance the mission by managing working relationships with staff at City Year's national office and helping to lead and set organizational strategy through network-wide project teams.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Executive Director is responsible for leading and managing site staff and AmeriCorps members to ensure operational success and growth by generating resources and building support from the public and private sectors. This executive serves as a vital link between the local Denver market, the City Year Market Group, and the City Year national office. Site supervision includes the functional areas of student impact and school partnerships, revenue generation, expense management, management and retention of AmeriCorps members and staff, and site board development and relations.

Our Executive Directors embody our core values and must have a firm belief that education has the power to help all students reach their full potential and a passion for increasing critical student outcomes such as student engagement and attendance, academic success, and preparing students for graduation and success after high school. To successfully execute the job’s core responsibilities, a successful Executive Director must demonstrate the following behaviors:

• Build and forge partnerships and coalitions with diverse stakeholders to advance the cause of educational equity
• Mobilize internal and external stakeholders towards a bold vision of how they can impact the lives of young people
• Build and empower teams to fully own their functions while driving accountability and personal responsibility for their success
• Build community and foster a caring and supportive environment with a sense of connection and belonging
• Demonstrate curiosity and humility as a life-long learner who seeks out diverse perspectives and opportunities for self-improvement
• Possess a deep sense of personal accountability to ensure the success of both City Year Denver locally and City Year, Inc. nationally
• Connect with and inspire diverse teams of AmeriCorps Members between the ages of 17 and 25

Through these lenses, the Executive Director will focus on the following primary areas of responsibility:

People and Culture: Lead, coach, and develop 9 full-time staff members contributing to high levels of satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Establish a dynamic culture that embodies our core values of inclusivity and teamwork. Further develop site human resources structures to ensure excellent and equitable hiring, performance support, and career advancement practices.

AmeriCorps Member Experience: Ensure the site delivers a transformational experience for all City Year AmeriCorps members by supporting members in feeling prepared and confident in their service and promoting member persistence from initial confirmation of acceptance to completion of service. 

Student Impact: In partnership with senior site staff and regional support staff, the ED will ensure high quality and commitment to the nationally developed Whole School, Whole Child service delivery model implemented by City Year AmeriCorps members in partner elementary, middle, and high schools.

Private Sector Fundraising, Cultivation, and Stewardship: Serve as the chief fundraiser leading site staff and local advisory board to motivate key influencers to generate the resources necessary to meet annual and long-term goals leveraging national revenue and stewardship strategies. Develop a strategy to maintain a healthy, diversified, and growing revenue mix from private and public sources. Identify, cultivate, solicit, and manage strategic relationships with corporations, foundations, family foundations, and individuals to build a sustainable private revenue portfolio resulting in annual revenues reaching toward or surpassing $1.4MM.

School/District Investments: Sustain transformational partnerships with existing district and school leadership and, when necessary, cultivate new transformational partnerships with future school partners.

Financial Management: Ensure City Year Denver raises three percent more than it spends annually by managing a fiscally-sound budget, forecasting, expense management, and cash flow for a current site expense budget of $4MM.

Board Member Engagement: Recruit, develop, and manage a diverse, dynamic, and deeply engaged local advisory board to build and execute a multi-year site strategic plan focused on deepening the evidence of our impact with students and in schools, facilitating a rewarding AmeriCorps Member experience, local fundraising efforts, community engagement, and brand awareness while also contributing to the success of the national organization. Ensure cultivation and engagement of future board leadership.

Government Relations and Public Policy: Engage local and national elected officials – Governor, Mayor, City Council, local and state school board representatives, State Legislature, and members of U.S. Congress - to support funding and policies for City Year and the national service movement. Maintain an effective and collaborative relationship with AmeriCorps state commission; oversee the preparation of AmeriCorps grant applications and progress reports and meet performance and compliance requirements associated therein.

AmeriCorps Member Recruitment: Collaborate with City Year’s national recruitment and admissions team to ensure site recruits, selects, and admits AmeriCorps members within the regional framework, meeting quality, quantity, and inclusivity goals. Partner with site staff and local partners to ensure a strong cohort returns annually for a second year of service.

Alumni Engagement: Ensure local alumni engagement to leverage alumni to support AmeriCorps members in service and continue their lifetime of service.

Marketing and Communications: Lead the site in increasing visibility and brand awareness of City Year’s work in local and national media, social media, and marketing channels by developing and leveraging local relationships.

In Denver, the top priorities include:

• Leading the City Year Denver Staff and AmeriCorps members through modeling a deep commitment to collaboration, the cause of educational equity, and producing impactful results.
• Advance the site by investing in people, culture, community, and partnerships while prioritizing inclusive and equitable systems, policies, processes, and practices.
• Coordinate the annual recruitment and admission of 50 City Year AmeriCorps Members through a partnership with the National Recruitment and Admissions team and local partners.
• Ensuring financial sustainability by growing the current community of champions and financial investors to meet existing revenue goals promoting the longevity of our work in Denver.
• Supporting local site board and recruiting diverse talent to the board to support future financial sustainability and growth while increasing brand awareness and recognition of City Year in the local community.
• Maintaining and deepening strategic community partnerships with organizations

QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong ability and experience in the behaviors listed above
• Commitment to educational equity and belief in the potential of all students
• Demonstrated success managing effective and engaged teams, including managing through multiple layers of leadership
• Proven skills in influencing and motivating stakeholders; track record in fundraising from corporations, foundations, and major gifts and/or sales
• Ability to connect programs to funding, creatively generating other resources, and building collaborative and strategic partnerships
• Strong communication, listening, and public speaking skills needed to represent City Year's mission and vision powerfully
• Ability to attend evening and weekend events; ability to travel to in-person meetings in various cities quarterly (when safe to do so)

• Significant local non-profit, volunteer, or multi-sector experience preferred
• An established cross-sector, local network a plus
• Knowledge of Denver Public Schools and Denver’s educational landscape preferred
• Content knowledge of K-12 education, youth development, and/or community or national service a strong plus

TO APPLY

The initial deadline to apply is March 2, 2026 and applications will be accepted on a rolling basis after this date. The search process will move promptly, and candidates will be evaluated according to the order of submission. Please submit your cover letter and resume via the online application.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

The salary range for this position is $150,000-$155,000. Full-time employees are entitled to compensation commensurate with experience. Benefits for full-time employees include health insurance with Flexible Spending Account (FSA), paid vacation (PTO), holidays, parental leave, 401K, and more.

Benefits