Job Opening

About Us

Hope Street Group is a new generation of leaders dedicated to building an Opportunity Economy, where anyone who works hard and invests in themselves has the opportunity to succeed and our nation prospers as result. We convene leaders from business, government, and civil society to develop action plans that expand economic opportunity. We have built Policy 2.0, our customized online platform that brings new talent and tools to traditionally partisan debates. It enables reform-minded professionals, policymakers, and practitioners to collaborate on policy ideas and realize them in partnership with decision-makers. We know our model works. Our recommendations were incorporated into both 2008 presidential campaigns, and our principles appeared prominently in the reform assurances of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

Over the past few years, Hope Street Group’s Bipartisan Working Group in education has focused on developing solutions around reforming our P-12 education system with a smart federal catalyst role. Recognizing the impact of quality teachers on student achievement, we are currently concentrating our efforts on teacher effectiveness and elevating the teaching profession to drive broader reform of our P-12 education system. This summer we recruited several dozen educators, business professionals, policy analysts and academic researchers from twenty states and thirty-five cities to determine collaboratively the essential elements of an effective teacher evaluation system. Through Policy 2.0, we intend to build a robust and unique teacher community in policy and advocacy to help drive the adoption of these essential elements by ten major systems by 2012. These project outcomes represent one of the primary priorities of our organization’s endeavors over the next two years and will be a model from which to build out similar projects in education and other policy areas.

As a rapidly growing, entrepreneurial organization whose aim is to achieve extraordinary things, we are seeking an extraordinary leader to drive the next phase of Hope Street Group’s P-12 education agenda. This role provides an excellent opportunity for the right candidate to engage with a diverse, cross sector network of leaders, be at the vanguard of open innovation, and become a key player in ongoing national and local policy debates.

Position Summary

The Education Director is responsible for overseeing the education policy strategy and deliverables of the organization. This position is at the creative center of the organization; responsible for generating quality, fact-based content that responds to the dynamic policy and political environment and stimulates the Hope Street Group community. The Director works very closely with the Chief Organizing Officer to connect our growing grassroots movement with our broad national leader network to drive implementation of Hope Street Group’s education policies. The Director is constantly building his/her network to expand Hope Street Group’s standing within the broader policy community and drive greater participation in the Policy 2.0 process.

Responsibilities

As Education Director, your responsibilities include:

• Serve as in-house education specialist and provide leadership to achieve Hope Street Group’s P-12 education agenda;
• Support the expansion of our virtual community
• Liaise with key policymakers and education experts to build the organizations’ brand, reputation, and network;
• Work with community managers to disseminate policy reports and research to diverse audiences through innovative and traditional means including, working with members of the media, speaking at public events, drafting op-eds, blog postings, and briefings with educational and policy leaders;
• Manage and empower policy associates, fellows, and contributors as appropriate;
• Design research and policy projects for online Policy Teams, including developing research questions, synthesizing existing literature and building discussion frameworks;
• Host and develop programs for policy events;
• Engage with Hope Street Group’s development staff to identify and secure funding opportunities to support the organizations work;
• Contribute to Hope Street Group’s overall goals and objectives as needed.

The Director’s ultimate goal will be to implement innovative education reform strategies and ideas, leading to a direct impact on education policy and practice.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have:

• BA in related field, MPP, or MPA preferred;
• Extensive strategic and tactical experience (10 -15+ years) in education policy
• Innovative thinker with a demonstrated ability to analyze, synthesize, communicate, and mobilize around complex public policy issues
• Deep desire to understand the attributes of our multiple audiences and create tailored content for the Hope Street Group Community;
• Willingness to learn and use Web 2.0 tools
• Be comfortable working in a fast-paced, deadline oriented, dynamic environment with multiple ongoing responsibilities, and very high expectations for quality of work.
• Collaborative team player, great listener and ability to work with diverse groups of people;
• Possess exemplary writing skills
• Passion for public service and Hope Street Group mission that will drive interest and commitment to our collaborative public policy model;
• Located in the DC metropolitan area and willingness to travel as needed.

Work Environment

• Hope Street Group is a virtual organization. We conduct staff and contributor business from locations across the United States and expect applicants to maintain their own workspaces and report to regular staff conference calls.
• Hope Street Group is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, citizenship status, or sexual orientation. We are unable to sponsor work visas for this project.

Compensation

This is a full time position. Hope Street Group offers a competitive salary based on experience with vacation, sick days, health care, dental, and optional 403(b) plan.

To Apply

Submit a cover letter, resume, writing sample, references and salary requirements.

Please clcik below to apply.