The Context

Atlanta leads the nation in income inequality and has one of the lowest rates of social mobility in the entire country. In fact, recent research suggests that a child living in poverty in Atlanta has about a four percent chance of moving out of poverty and into a higher income bracket in his or her lifetime.

Despite these odds, Atlanta’s students have dreams for their futures and their families. In 2015, Achieve Atlanta (AATL) was launched by a group of local leaders determined to support these dreams. Coming together initially with the goal of dramatically increasing the number of Atlanta Public School (APS) students who earn a degree. Achieve Atlanta today, inspired by the power of strategic, coordinated action, and using data as the spark for change, has expanded its vision for the future to include eliminating the degree attainment gap in the city, and making Atlanta a place where race and income no longer predict postsecondary success or upward mobility.

The Work                                                                                                               

In pursuit of its vision, Achieve Atlanta’s mission is to help APS students access, afford, and earn postsecondary credentials. To do this, Achieve Atlanta:

• partners with college advising providers with proven results to serve APS students while they are in high school;
• establishes strategic formal relationships with postsecondary institutions that can successfully serve APS graduates, especially those who are first generation or come from underrepresented populations;
• is progressing along a plan to mobilize broad community support by leveraging data to accelerate collaborations that further college access, persistence, and completion in Atlanta; and
• provides Achieve Atlanta Scholarships to students to reduce financial barriers to college enrollment and completion.

The Results:

After a few short years, it’s clear that Achieve Atlanta’s endeavors are yielding significant gains; driving an increase in college enrollment, creating greater access to financial aid and scholarships, securing meaningful commitments from partners, identifying and removing barriers to persistence, and supporting APS to institutionalize a culture that raises awareness of and encourages the pursuit of postsecondary education, thereby enhancing individual students’ ability to realize their own potential.

The Opportunity:

Achieve Atlanta is seeking a Director, College Access to support the design and delivery of the organization’s college access program. This is a new position and Achieve Atlanta is seeking a strategic and dynamic individual who believes deeply in the power of partnership to drive change and is interested in building on the success of the college access program thus far. The Director of College Access will help shape how the organization engages with traditional, charter, and alternative high schools across APS and nonprofit partners to support increasing the number of APS graduates who seamlessly enroll in postsecondary education. The Director will also be charged with accelerating our district partnership model by building school-level expertise to inform changes to current programs and processes and help strengthen continuous improvement practices with College Access Teams at each high school.

Primary Responsibilities:

College Access Program Design and Management

• Manage day-to-day relationships with APS and nonprofits and vendors with whom Achieve Atlanta collaborates;
• Coordinate with partners to implement initiatives that promote and enhance postsecondary access and success for APS students;
• Manage accountability standards, goal-setting and progress monitoring process with partners;
• Recommend new strategies and interventions both internally and externally to support APS’ students on their paths to seamless college enrollment; and

High School Liaison

• Serve as Achieve Atlanta’s school-level liaison which includes building relationships with high school counselors, College Advising Corps advisers, OneGoal teachers, assistant principals and others collaborating to support students to successfully matriculate to college;
• Help APS high school College Access Teams* implement college-going priorities, use data to track progress, collaborate across roles, and navigate school/district/organizational challenges;
• Design and deliver professional development/training opportunities for school and partner staff on college access topics as well as critical skills such as continuous improvement protocols, effective collaboration, understanding and using data, etc.;
• Identify and develop resources for College Access Teams, students, families and partners; and
• Manage College Access Team shared drive, developing opportunities for knowledge sharing and codification.

*College Access Teams (CATs): all the individuals within APS high schools with some responsibility for college-going supports including school counselors, College Advising Corps advisers, OneGoal Program Directors, graduation coaches, and an assistant principal. Achieve Atlanta supports CATs to implement a coordinated college access program within their schools.

Internal and External Relationship Management

• Build and nurture relationships with external stakeholders including APS district staff, nonprofit partners, and local and national college access/success professionals.
• Partner with Achieve Atlanta’s data team and external partners to identify and monitor leading and lagging indicators, establish annual targets, and report on these indicators both internally and externally;
• Support the planning and execution of Achieve Atlanta events with APS and nonprofit partners; and
• Collaborate with Achieve Atlanta’s College Success and Affordability teams to design and implement programs and processes for APS students and Achieve Atlanta Scholars.

The Profile

The Director, College Access must be a positive, energetic, and proactive strategic thinker who is thoroughly committed to Achieve Atlanta’s vision and mission. Further, we seek a mature contributor with experience in managing people and programs related to college advising or school counseling within a school, district or nonprofit. The successful candidate will also have:   

• At least 5 years of experience managing partnerships that resulted in increased program effectiveness and the accomplishment of shared objectives;
• Experience working with public school districts, schools and/or nonprofit organizations partnering with districts or schools.
• Experience in K-12 education, higher education and/or youth development.  
• Strong communication skills including an ability to communicate effectively with multiple stakeholders;
• Experience effectively resolving intricate partnership dilemmas and navigating complex systems with multiple organizations;
• Experience using data to track progress and comfortability with spreadsheets and data dashboards;
• Advanced proficiency with using Microsoft Word and PowerPoint to take complex information and make it concise, impactful and easy for stakeholders to interpret;
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to summarize findings and determine the appropriate mode of communication depending on the situation and audience;
• Exceptional critical thinking and problem-solving skills; and
• Exceptional attention to detail.

S/he also will demonstrate the following competencies and characteristics:

• Investment in and passion for Achieve Atlanta’s mission and core values;
• Demonstrated cultural competence, humility, and awareness of how power, privilege, and his/her identities impact how s/he engages with others;
• Ability to work across lines of difference, and influence through relationships rather than positional authority;
• Flexibility to change course and integrate feedback to achieve more successful outcomes;
• Empathetic, and acknowledges and honors all people’s humanity;
• Sense of urgency;
• Humble approach to working and learning; and
• An insatiable desire to transform student achievement across Atlanta and a deep passion for social justice.

Finally, while no one person will possess all the qualities below, the ideal candidate will also possess some combination of the following professional and personal characteristics:

• Experience in college access and success and/or college guidance efforts with under-represented youth;
• Experience within a start-up/entrepreneurial environment;
• High emotional intelligence and political savviness; and
• Comfort with change and ambiguity and the ability to set direction in the midst of it.

Organizational Culture

Achieve Atlanta is a values-driven organization and we ground our work in the following core values:

• Unwavering Belief: An unshakeable belief in our students is the inspiration and fuel for everything we do.
• Champion for Students: Our belief in students is backed by action. With their dreams as the foundation for our work, we break down systemic barriers, earn trust, and build capacity so that ultimately, students can be their own champions.
• Expectation of Excellence: Excellence requires effort, tenacity, responsibility, and integrity that lead to high-quality work. It is the standard we set for ourselves and the model we demonstrate to students and our community of stakeholders.
• Intentional Collaboration: We cannot achieve our vision alone. We deliberately build partnerships that work toward common goals and create sustainable growth and change.
• Continuous Innovation: We are relentlessly curious and encourage thoughtful risk-taking. We must be nimble enough to pursue promising ideas, yet humble enough to learn from the outcomes.

Salary and Benefits

This is a full-time position with a competitive salary and benefits. Achieve Atlanta has a flexible work environment and is currently implementing a remote work model due to COVID-19.

Achieve Atlanta is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of qualifications. Achieve Atlanta policy prohibits unlawful discrimination in any employment decision based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, race, religious creed, color, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, age, sexual orientation or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law or ordinance or regulation.