Description

Position: Director of School & Family Engagement, ACE Texas

About ACE Scholarships

ACE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, founded in 2000 in Denver, Colorado, to provide low-income children with equal access to quality K-12 private schools through partial scholarship support. Over the past 23 years, ACE has provided more than 80,000 scholarships worth over $212 million. This school year, ACE is serving over 14,000 children in Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming, and is actively pursuing other expansion opportunities with the support of a national funding partner. For more information visit the ACE website at www.acescholarships.org. 

Our Mission is to provide children of lower-income families with scholarships to private schools in grades K-12 and to advocate for expanded school choice.

Our Vision: That every child has equal access to a quality education. 

Our Founding Principles: 

1) The American public education system is flawed

2) Free enterprise and democracy work

3) Parents know the best education environment for their kids

4) Private schools offer great value and have open seats

5) All people are created equal and deserve an equal chance to pursue the American Dream

Our Values:

ACE Founding Principles: Our founding principles are the foundation of ACE and our North Star. We honor ACE’s founders by remaining committed to these principles, and we passionately advocate for the Mission and Vision these principles support. 

Accountability: We embrace personal responsibility by taking ownership of our work and focusing on results. We expect both to give and to receive honest feedback. 

Innovation: We know ideas matter. We prefer the risks and rewards the come with creativity, to the certainty that attends stagnation. 

Adaptability: We position ourselves to take advantage of opportunities, embracing strategic and operational change when it makes our work more impactful.

Optimism: We believe our best days are ahead, and we embrace a forward-thinking mindset. We will make mistakes, but we will remain cheerful in the face of adversity and give people the benefit of the doubt. 

Kindness: We value everyone on our team, respect differences and trust one another. This requires courage and strength, as it involves celebrating and giving our undivided attention to others. 

Position Overview

The Director of School and Family Engagement is responsible for the implementation of programs and projects that engage ACE students, families and partner schools to be Ambassadors for Education Freedom and School Choice in the state of Texas. The School and Family Engagement Coordinator wil be charged with managing relationships with k-12 student, their families, school administrators, and collaborate with ACE colleagues, including by not limited to ACE Texas team and national scholarship program, ESA program, policy, development and marketing and communications teams. 

Primary Job Duties & Responsibilities:

Student, Family, and School Engagement:

• Develop and maintain relationships with K-12 ACE students and families, school administrators, teachers and faculty.
• Identify stories of students and families that exemplify and affirm the ACE principles of school choice, educational freedom, and exceptional educational achievement
• Develop and maintain relationships with students and families in other forms of alternative education including homeschooling, microschools, etc. 
• Conduct virtual and in-person meetings, informational webinars, interviews
• Drive engagement for participation, advocacy and ambassadorship for educational freedom and school choice policy initiatives in the state of Texas. 

Inner Organization Collaboration:

• Working closely with ACE Texas team, Scholarship Program Team, Education Savings Account Program Team, Policy, and Development teams. 
• Provide ACE Development Team and Policy Team with potential student, family, school speakers for ACE events to be vetted and coached by the ACE Communications Director.
• Collect, retain and ensure the marketing and communications team has access to student stories.
• Updating and maintaining database of records

Required Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills & Abilities: 

• Alignment with the mission of ACE Founders Principles, School Choice and Educational Freedom. 
• Demonstrates excellent people skills to build relationships with students, families, and schools
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, to work collaboratively with ACE colleagues, families and other constituents.
• Demonstrated ability to strategize, implement programs and activities, along with a talent for motivating volunteers.
• Demonstrates strong writing, planning and organizational skills.
• Flexibility and initiative, as well as the ability to work independently, combined with the skills to thrive in a team environment to achieve institutional goals.
• High professional and ethical standards for handling confidential information.
• Ability to organize and complete multiple tasks simultaneously with close attention to detail and prioritization to meet deadlines.
• Extensive experience working with different data base programs.
• Ability to travel and work evenings and weekends as needed.
• Transparent and high integrity leadership
• Self-motivated individual with strong interpersonal and intrapersonal skills

Location and Reporting: 

• Position will be remotely based in Texas 
• Reports to President of ACE Texas. No management of direct reports. 

Travel: 

• 25-30% in-state travel, attending events, participating in school and family engagement