Director, Equitable Culture & Climate

The Director, Equitable Culture & Climate at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to enhance scholar culture and equity initiatives across 25 schools. This role involves team leadership, functional strategy development, and professional development for staff, focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The position requires collaboration with senior leadership and aims to create an inclusive environment where all scholars feel valued.
The Director, Equitable Culture & Climate is a forward-thinking and dynamic change agent who is responsible for the development of the vision, goals, and strategy for Alliance's scholar culture and equity initiatives in collaboration with Alliance staff and senior leadership. Reporting to Alliance’s Vice President, Scholar Culture, Belonging, and Equity, the Director, Equitable Culture & Climate will own the implementation of Alliance’s Culture of Learning strategy with a specific DEI lens to increase organizational capacity to embed DEI practices throughout scholar culture systems and experiences. This role is a heavy contributor to overall strategy and execution of Leader of Scholar Culture/Dean development. This is an ideal opportunity for someone who has a vision for and is passionate about creating an organizational culture that values and promotes intentional scholar culture founded on diversity, equity, and inclusion and ensures all scholars feel they are seen, heard, and valued.



ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Team Leadership and Management

Directly manages and coaches the Equitable Culture and Climate Team, including Instructional Specialists, supporting a total of 25 (all) Alliance schools toward achieving ambitious goals and outcomes in a timely manner

Facilitates regular check-ins with direct reports, providing feedback and development for progress to goal attainment

Conducts regular outcome-driven team work planning, meetings, and progress monitoring practices

Establishes and maintains the team’s portfolio model of direct school support

Provides guidance and ongoing development experiences to team members toward a shared vision of a strong, equitable culture and climate



Functional Strategy Leadership

Establishes functional-area vision, goals, and strategy in partnership with supervisor, including building scholar culture systems and strategic culture leadership to combat chronic absenteeism

Co-leads Culture of Learning network strategy and guides the contribution of self and team in Implementation Teams aimed at providing direct-to-schools individualized support

Develops and refines systems for dean development, including walkthrough and coaching cycles, in partnership with internal and external partners to ensure alignment to Culture of Learning priorities

Identifies needs and leads the creation of systems, tools, and work plans that help facilitate the timely execution of functional strategy across schools

Coordinates cross-functional collaboration to achieve goals and milestones that build infrastructure for equitable scholar culture and climate

Plans and executes signature events and initiatives that foster inclusive school environments and celebrate cultural diversity, including scholar-centered celebrations, community engagement events, and DEI-related programming



Professional Development Design and Delivery

Is a contributor to and co-designer of an outcome-driven learning arc for Leaders of Scholar Culture (LOSCs)/Deans, including structured cycles of practice, observation, and feedback in partnership with Teach Like a Champion

Provide targeted coaching and modeling, including through structured walkthrough cycles, to help LOSCs/Deans grow in their ability to coach teachers and staff on scholar culture and engagement

In partnership with home office teams, strategizes intentional shared spaces of learning and collaboration related to Equitable Scholar Culture and Climate

Serves as a mentor to Specialists, school leaders, and Home Office staff to build equitable culture champions

Leads the design and facilitation of professional development experiences, including those focused on identity and belonging to build the capacity of educators and leaders in implementing equitable and inclusive practices across the network.



Goals, Data, and Progress Monitoring

Regularly monitors progress to goals, creates and implements plans of action, and communicates roadblocks in a timely manner to key decision makers and recommenders

Supports the continued implementation of Alliance's anti-racist, pro-Black vision and strategy by utilizing network-wide progress-monitoring tools and providing actionable feedback to school leadership teams

Maintains and iterates upon the internal data collection system related to scholar culture supports

Uses data to inform strategic and operational decision-making

Coordinates the collection and input of evaluation data used to measure ongoing program effectiveness of services and program outcome measures



Relationship Building

Establishes strong, productive, and trusting relationships with the administrative team, school personnel, staff, scholars, and community to seek input on needs and address barriers to learning, equity, and inclusion

Values diversity among team members and promotes cooperation and interaction within and across teams

Carries a small caseload of priority schools based on strategic data points



THE IDEAL CANDIDATES WILL HAVE

Commitment to Alliance’s core beliefs, educational philosophy, low-income communities, and communities of color;

Excellent communication and media skills, both verbal and written;

School leadership experience

Teaching experience with a proven track record of strong classroom culture grounded in belonging, warm-demander practices, high expectations, and effective classroom management

Coaching experience in a school or school system setting

Experience designing and leading adult learning cycles (e.g., walkthroughs, coaching cycles) that build instructional and culture leadership capacity

Demonstrated record of effectively leading other adults in creating change

Leadership experience with frameworks for excellent teaching from Teach Like a Champion and Get Better Faster

Reliable transportation to and from school sites and the downtown Los Angeles network home office

Strong data collection, entry, and analysis skills

Entrepreneurial spirit to thrive in a fast-paced and achievement-oriented environment;

Detail-oriented with excellent organization skills

Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build and cultivate relationships with school stakeholders

Value in diversity among team members

Composure in the face of high workload, competing or conflicting demands, ambiguous assignments, interruptions, and distractions

Ability to recognize and respond to unanticipated events and requirements, and is willing to do what is necessary to get the desired result

Willingness to go above and beyond to contribute to the success of a dynamic team committed to a new future for urban education;

Understanding of the nuances of urban school environments and school culture;

Experience managing multiple projects with strong administrative and organizational skills


KEY QUALIFICATIONS

At least five (5) years of progressive professional work experience leading scholar culture strategy and systems within K-12 public schools

Bachelor’s Degree or higher from an accredited college or university

At least 3 years of working in a leadership position in a public school or school system



WORK LOCATION

This position is a hybrid role, which will include a combination of working from home, our network office, and travel to school sites. The successful candidate will be given a $400 work-from-home set-up allowance and receive a monthly stipend of $100.



BENEFITS

In alignment with our commitment to equity for our scholars, Alliance is committed to equity and transparency for our team and offers competitive salaries commensurate with experience as well as generous retirement and health benefits. This position is exempt.