Position: Director of Promise City Partnerships
Reports to: Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)
Salary: $110,000 – $135,000 commensurate with experience
Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA)
Building on its 46-year history, MEDA is advancing innovative approaches to community wealth, place, and power building. Rooted in the Mission and focused on San Francisco, MEDA’s mission is to strengthen low- and moderate-income Latino families by promoting economic equity and social justice through asset building and community development.
MEDA employs an ecosystem approach to economic development that includes direct service programs that serve over 8,000 individuals each year through integrated Financial Capability, Free Tax & ITIN preparation, Business Development, Housing Opportunities, and Workforce Development. This also includes community real estate development and preservation, lending through our Fondo Adelante Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), organizing and advocacy including our 501c4, and collective impact as the backbone organization of the cradle-to-career Mission Promise Neighborhood network. MEDA shares its model locally, regionally, and nationally. The creation of this position marks a formal pivot to scaling its model city-wide.
The COVID-19 pandemic had devastating public health and economic impacts on San Francisco’s Latino community. It also magnified and exacerbated the immediate needs of San Francisco’s Latino community and long-standing structural inequities that have led to a persistent housing crisis and financial instability. MEDA and San Francisco’s Latino leaders worked in alignment with the City to respond to the Latino community’s COVID-related needs at scale. The collective impact infrastructure that MEDA had already developed with the City, schools, partner agencies, and residents in response to the housing and income inequality crisis made much of this work possible. Many lessons came out of this work that can help communities across the country “build back better.” The new Equitable Recovery Institute at MEDA is a resource to meet the local, regional, state, and federal needs for an equitable economic recovery.
Program Description
Using the lessons learned from the success of its Mission Promise Neighborhood collective impact initiative, MEDA’s Equitable Recovery Institute shares best practices with other community-based organizations and works in coalition with groups working to reverse legacies of discrimination and achieve equitable recovery through cradle-to-career, place-based investments. Through this work, MEDA is intentional about being an ally and working in coalition with allies across historically low-income and immigrant communities, and communities of color.
Blue Meridian Partners has funded 3 FTE for the Equitable Recovery Institute to share the Promise Neighborhood model across San Francisco, supporting community planning processes that seek to advance San Francisco as a “Promise City”, scaling the Promise Neighborhood approach to three new communities in alignment with the Mayor’s Recovery Plan for Children and Families.
Once fully established, the Equitable Recovery Institute will be a guidepost in the Bayview, Chinatown, and District 11 communities in San Francisco, providing technical assistance on cradle-to-career collaboration, Results Based Accountability, affordable housing and resident engagement, small business lending, asset building, policy, and community power building to 45 BIPOC-led organizations. The Institute will also partner directly with the school district and City to achieve maximum alignment of systems to meet community needs.
Position Overview
The core assignments of the Promise City Partnerships Director as follows:
- Work with lead agencies in Bayview (YCD) and Chinatown (CYC) to implement Promise Neighborhood planning processes over two years.
- Work with agencies in District 11 to revive the Promise Neighborhood planning process with MEDA as the lead agency.
- Work with School District, DCYF, OECE and other City agencies to align the Promise Neighborhood planning processes to the Mayor’s Recovery Plan for Children and Families.
- Align the above work with StriveTogether’s theory of action, creating a timeline and deliverables for all three community planning processes.
The Director will report to the Chief Strategy Officer and have the support of a Program Associate. The Director will also be able to tap the MEDA Evaluation and Policy Teams, and external consultants for additional needs. The Director will at times have the support of Geoffrey Canada and his team at the William Julius Wilson Institute. The Director will generally help MEDA achieve the milestones in the Blue Meridian Partners grant and help position MEDA and San Francisco for a larger Blue Meridian investment in two years. The Director will frequently work directly with the Directors of MPN, ABP, Fondo Adelante, CRE, Policy and Evaluation.
Desired Skills and Experience
- A commitment to MEDA’s mission and values, sharing a deep empathy with and compassion for the children and families being served.
- Leadership experience in the nonprofit, public, or private sector focusing on underserved communities.
- Deep knowledge of place-based, cradle-to-career programs, including Promise Neighborhoods.
- Deep knowledge of Results Based Accountability and Collective Impact frameworks.
- Ability to balance long-term strategic vision with daily operational issues.
- A collaborative management style with the ability to attract and nurture local and regional relationships.
- Ability to build consensus with an inclusive style.
- Skilled at creating trusted relationships with staff, partners, and community and regional organizations supporting children and families.
- Enthusiasm, with high energy; strong communicator and problem solver, with the skill to listen, learn, and share information with a focus on customer service; comfortable working with a sophisticated team.
- Experience overseeing the development, operation, and evaluation of programs; skilled at using best practices and data feedback to support innovative program models.
- Gravitas, with the confidence to ask for help when needed.
- Sense of humor and an ability to maintain balance and perspective.
- High emotional intelligence.
Qualifications
- Graduate degree required in education, public administration, or related field.
- 7 years in a leadership/management position overseeing complex, multi-stakeholder projects with education focus.
- 5 or more years of experience in managing complex projects/budgets.
- Bilingual English/Spanish required.
TO APPLY:
Please click on the following link and complete the application form.
https://medasf.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=115
