About Alliance for Decision Education
The Alliance for Decision Education (“the Alliance”) is a national nonprofit organization driving a revolutionary shift in the way we think about education, leading the growing call for Decision Education to be part of every student’s learning experience. Its mission is to improve lives by empowering students with essential skills and dispositions for making better decisions. The decisions they make shape their lives and those of the people around them. Therefore, there is no more important set of skills that can be taught to today’s youth than how to improve the decisions they make.
Backed by experts in the decision sciences, business, and education, including several Nobel laureates, the Alliance believes that better decisions lead to better lives and a better society.
The Alliance is committed to an inclusive, supportive, and collaborative culture and was recently named one of the 2024 Best Nonprofits to Work For by the NonProfit Times. Their team is made up of diverse, dedicated, and driven educators, researchers, subject matter experts, and other professionals who have come together from different backgrounds for a common purpose. It is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. The Alliance for Decision Education was founded in 2014 as the How I Decide Foundation through the vision and generous support of two accomplished decision-makers, Annie Duke and Eric Brooks. Both realized that the skills they were leveraging every day with highly successful results were rarely taught to K-12 students, creating a meaningful gap between children’s potential and their reality. They founded the Alliance to close that gap. Over the next four years, the organization built effective and engaging Decision Education programs that reached tens of thousands of teachers and students and had measurable and positive results. That success ignited a drive to scale the work of How I Decide to a national level to benefit millions of students. To achieve this, How I Decide became the Alliance for Decision Education in 2018, refocusing and committing to becoming a field builder and catalyst, sparking and growing support for Decision Education to be implemented in schools nationwide.
Toward that end, the Alliance is actively building:
- Policy commitments at the state, federal, and local level
- Public awareness
- Innovative pilot programs
- Standards and frameworks for curricula and pedagogy
- Professional development and support for teachers and administrators
- Research and evidence on the efficacy of Decision Education
- Partnerships with like-minded leaders and organizations
- Opportunities for growing funding
- An ongoing commitment to identifying, coordinating, and amplifying all of those related efforts
Learn more about the Alliance at https://alliancefordecisioneducation.org/.
The Opportunity
The Alliance is seeking a dynamic and strategic Executive Director to lead the organization at a pivotal moment of growth and opportunity. Dedicated to empowering students with the essential skills and dispositions for making better decisions, the Alliance is committed to building, catalyzing, and promoting the field of Decision Education to improve lives. The Executive Director will further develop and execute the strategic plan in partnership with the Board of Directors ("the Board"), Chief Operating Officer ("COO"), and leadership team, ensuring alignment with the organization’s mission while positioning the Alliance as a leader in the field.
As the public face of the organization, the Executive Director will lead external efforts, including cultivating relationships with diverse stakeholders, fundraising, advancing our policy efforts, and fostering strategic partnerships. With a focus on innovation, collaboration, and impact, the Executive Director will amplify the importance of Decision Education, expand the Alliance’s reach, and deepen its influence.
At this exciting juncture, the Alliance has implemented transformative shifts in strategy, staffing, and operations to enhance its ability to deliver on its mission. Currently, the organization comprises a dedicated team of 35 employees and projects approximately $7.2M in unrestricted revenues in 2024.
Additionally, the Alliance’s Research Grants and Awards program was bolstered by $12.5M in restricted funding in 2022, reflecting the organization’s growing stature and capacity to drive systemic change. The new Executive Director will inherit a robust foundation and the opportunity to further advance the Alliance’s mission in innovative and meaningful ways.
Candidate Profile
We recognize that there is a spectrum of lived and professional experience that will set candidates up for success in this role. While no one candidate will have every experience outlined in the position description, ideal candidates will display the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:
Leadership, Vision, and Strategy
- Lead the Alliance in a way that reflects and advances its mission, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and impact.
- Partner with the COO to set and execute the vision for the organization, in collaboration with the Board.
- Champion the field of Decision Education, driving efforts to build, catalyze, and promote its development while uniting key stakeholders in a shared movement.
- Serve as a thought leader for Decision Education, leveraging expertise and partnerships to shape the organization’s direction and elevate its profile nationally and globally.
- Partner with the COO to update and implement a strategic plan, in collaboration with the Board and leadership team, to ensure the Alliance can successfully fulfill its mission and goals.
Fundraising and Relationship Management
- Cultivate and nurture relationships with a diverse array of external stakeholders, including major donors, prospects, policymakers, and others to advance the Alliance’s mission and financial sustainability.
- Collaborate with the Development Department and Board to develop and implement strategies that diversify funding sources and revenue streams, ensuring the organization’s long-term financial health.
- Serve as the primary spokesperson for the Alliance, effectively representing the organization to its constituents, the media, and the general public.
Board Relations and Governance
- Partner with the Board to enhance fundraising efforts, leveraging their networks and expertise to secure diverse revenue streams.
- Serve as the liaison between the Board of Directors and the organization, ensuring transparent and timely communication to support informed decision-making.
- Provide the Board with comprehensive updates on organizational performance, opportunities, and challenges, equipping them with the necessary information to fulfill their governance responsibilities.
Team Leadership
- Lead with transparency and integrity, cultivating trust across the organization and encouraging open communication.
- Engage with a high-performing team of smart, emotionally intelligent individuals who align with the organization’s mission, demonstrating initiative, critical thinking, and shared purpose.
- Build strong relationships with staff, demonstrating empathy, respect, and authenticity to inspire trust and collaboration
- Recognize and value individual contributions, while fostering a supportive environment where all voices are heard and appreciated.
In addition, strong candidates will offer:
- Alignment with the Alliance’s three core values:
- Rationality - truth-seeking, curiosity, active open-mindedness, and intellectual humility
- Education - genuine growth mindset and prioritizes learning and professional development for the team
- Humanism - self-awareness, empathetic, and empowering leader and manager. Passion for working with people with diverse ways of thinking and backgrounds and cares deeply for others
- Conscientiousness and accountability
- High integrity
- Ability to represent and promote the Alliance and the field of Decision Education in a variety of public contexts, including talks, presentations, events, and media opportunities
- Exceptional abilities to cultivate relationships and fundraise
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to allow for easy collaboration with the Board of Directors, Advisory Council, and various stakeholders
- Strategic thinking and creative problem-solving abilities
- Understanding of what it takes to innovate and motivate a team to achieve organizational goals and really make a difference
- Understanding of how to measure success with a critical eye
- Passion about the importance of Decision Education
Skills and Experience
- Required: Previous experience as an Executive Director, CEO, or other senior leadership position; fundraising experience and skills; quantitative and analytic mindset and experience.
- Preferred: Leadership experience with non-profit organizations; entrepreneurial mindset; experience in K-12 education and/or ed tech.
- Nice to Have: Knowledge or experience in Decision Science, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, behavioral economics, or similar fields; experience with public policy, ideally in the education space; prior experience building movements or fields (or other similar work raising awareness and aligning, coordinating and amplifying the efforts of like-minded organizations and individuals towards a common vision or goal); experience with STEM, SEL, or other educational movements is particularly relevant.
Compensation & Benefits
Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The salary for this role is most frequently in the range of $275,000 - $350,000 with a comprehensive benefits package, including generous Paid Time Off (PTO), Parental Leave, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and employer-paid medical, vision, dental, life, and disability insurance. Employees may also contribute to a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), as well as a 401(k) plan with a dollar-for-dollar match up to 5%.
The Alliance operates on a hybrid work schedule in which local employees are expected to work from the office (Bala Cynwyd, PA) every Tuesday and Thursday during standard work hours. Local employees generally have the flexibility to work remotely or from the office on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The Executive Director is expected to follow this local employee schedule. All employees, both local and remote, receive equipment, supplies, and additional resources to help them do their best work.
Contact
Koya Partners l Diversified Search Group has been exclusively retained for this engagement, which is being led by Alicia Salerno. Submit a compelling cover letter and resume by filling out our Talent Profile. All inquiries are strictly confidential.
Koya Partners l Diversified Search Group is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email [email protected]. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
The Alliance for Decision Education is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
About Koya Partners
Koya Partners, a Diversified Search Group company, is the nation’s premier search firm dedicated to mission-driven leadership. Since its founding in 2004, Koya has had an exclusive focus on mission-driven clients and was founded on the belief that the right leader can transform an organization and have a deep and measurable impact on our world. Koya works with nonprofits & NGOs, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.
Diversified Search Group is consistently recognized by Forbes on its top 10 list of “America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms” and is an industry leader in recruiting transformational leaders for a changing world. The firm is deliberately different in its approach, with best-in-class teams who have decades of experience in cultivating inclusive leaders, understanding the dimensions of diversity, and building equitable teams.
Learn more about Koya Partners l Diversified Search Group via the firm's website.