Chief Program Officer

About DC SCORES

Who We Are:

DC SCORES is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that builds neighborhood teams that give kids in need the skills and confidence to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom, and in life. Our core programming centers around an innovative, team-based, school-based model that integrates poetry/spoken word, soccer, and service-learning into a cohesive whole-child program, which we deliver through free afterschool programs and summer camps.

DC SCORES is not just a routine afterschool program; we are a cross-sector local leader. To ensure maximum opportunities for the youth we serve, DC SCORES actively engages in partnerships with other entities and communities that care about positive youth development, including: the DC arts, athletics, and youth advocacy communities; OSSE, DCPS, and DC Public Charter School administrators and principals; schoolteachers; and elected and appointed government officials. 

DC SCORES strives to be an anti-racist organization. We are committed to applying an intersectional approach to equity and advancing the many dimensions of equity in everything we do.  With this lens, we are preparing for steady growth over the next five years to meet growing needs in Washington, DC. We have worked with over 25,000 children since our founding in 1994, currently serve nearly 3,000/year, and have a goal of serving 5,000 children/year by 2025. 

DC SCORES has been replicated in 11 cities and is part of a collaborative affiliate network, America SCORES, which also is working intentionally to center racial equity throughout the network. More info: www.dcscores.org. 

What We Do:

Our primary focus is on serving children who attend Title I schools. We work hard to maintain a 50/50 ratio of girls and boys in our programs. We currently partner with, and provide programming for, more than 60 public and public charter schools in the District. We do not charge a program fee. All of our programming is 100% free for children and families. 

DC SCORES currently has 7 program streams: 

1. Elementary and Middle School SCORES: DC SCORES’ largest (and original) programming consists of 24 weeks of 5-days-a-week after school programming spread across 2 seasons (fall and spring) for 3rd-8th graders.  ES/MS SCORES takes place on school campuses after school.  ES/MS SCORES is not individual or a la carte; every child who joins an ES or MS SCORES team is expected to engage in all aspects of programming with that team. Teams practice and play soccer together AND write/perform original poetry/spoken word together AND design/carry out service projects together, coached by adults from within that team’s school building.  DC SCORES operates full-fledged soccer leagues that ES/MS SCORES teams compete in (including two tournaments/year) and citywide youth poetry slams that ES/MS SCORES teams compete in.
2. Middle School Soccer Leagues:  DC SCORES runs full-fledged middle school soccer leagues (boys, girls, and co-ed) for the city that includes MS SCORES teams and DC middle schools that do not have DC SCORES programming. Each MS league includes a Charter school and DCPS division. Fall season league play concludes with each league competing for Charter and DCPS division championships typically held at Audi Field. DC SCORES partners with the DC State Athletic Association (DCSAA) for the final State Championship of the season for the leagues - where the Charter School champions play the DCPS champions for the State Cup. During the spring season, all league play culminates with a one day MS championship tournament. 
3. Junior SCORES: Junior SCORES consists of 20-24 weeks of 3-days-a-week after school programming spread across 2 seasons (fall and spring) for 1st-2nd graders.  Junior SCORES takes place on elementary school campuses after school. Like ES/MS SCORES,  Junior SCORES is a team-based experience. Teams practice soccer and compete in DC SCORES’ Junior SCORES league (including two tournaments/year) and engage in arts-based, healing-centered enrichment that develops social emotional learning capacities.
4. Youth W.O.R.D. Project: The Youth W.O.R.D. Project (Write, Own, Refine, Develop) is an enhanced poetry experience that cultivates young writers through four pillars: Write your story! Youth engage the power of language to create poetry and spoken word that is reflective of culture and lived experiences. Own your voice! Through performance training and showcasing opportunities, youth embrace the power of their voice and self expression. Refine your craft! Techniques such as editing and workshopping are employed to fine tune young poet's written and performance skillset. Develop self! Programming centers and uplifts the development of young people into well rounded writers, performers, people, and professional artists.
5. Alumni Programming:  This is a catch-all category for activities and supports that DC SCORES provides its alumni (high schoolers and older).  These include: an annual Alumni Soccer Tournament held during DCPS spring break; hiring and training alumni to be Summer Camp Counselors through DC’s Marion Barry Summer Youth Employment Program; high school boys and girls soccer teams that compete in area rec soccer leagues; a partnership with the Open Goal Project to support talented soccer players; office internships; one-off resume and school application mentoring; and more.  
6. Winter SCORES: This 6-7 week season takes place 4 days-a-week at a subset of grant-funded elementary and middle schools each year.  Two days/week each SCORES team practices indoor soccer together; the other two days/week each SCORES team engages in hands-on nutrition learning together.  The season culminates with both an indoor soccer tournament and a Chopped Junior cooking competition.
7. Summer SCORES:  DC SCORES runs a variety of summer camps for rising 1st-8th graders.  Camp programming and locations vary by year, but most recently have included one or more soccer clinic-style camps, an intensive writing workshop camp, and multiple “traditional” 5-week afternoon camps (following morning summer school) that include daily soccer drills and scrimmages, weekly swim outings, weekly field trips, and a unique arts theme each week led by local artists or arts-education organizations.

Throughout COVID-19, DC SCORES has been providing virtual or hybrid versions of all of the above programs except the Middle School Soccer Leagues.

Many students who join DC SCORES stay not for a season, but for a lifetime.  Moreover, a typical DC SCORES poet-athlete participates in not only one program stream, but in many -- often in the same year (e.g. in the same year a student could participate in ES SCORES, Youth W.O.R.D. Project, Winter SCORES, and Summer SCORES). DC SCORES’ poet-athletes also participate in America SCORES’ National Poetry Slams and frequently are invited to perform at public events and corporate gatherings around DC. 

About the position:

The Chief Program Officer position is perfect for a vision-forward, action-oriented, experienced educator who wants to creatively impact and support kids and teachers across the District. The CPO will play a critical role in establishing and implementing DC SCORES’ plan to grow to serve 5,000 kids by 2025.  Among other things, the CPO will craft and lead a vision for integrating our many program streams into an operationally coherent whole; for maintaining consistently high-quality programming; and for centering stakeholder voice in DC SCORES’ program operations and offerings.

By virtue of DC SCORES’ highly-networked role in the broader community, the CPO will be in a unique position to break down traditional barriers that hold back DC kids. The CPO will be DC SCORES’ lead in its relationships with school principals.  The CPO also will work closely with schoolteachers, youth, and families from DCPS and DC Charter Schools in wards 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 and ensure their needs and voices inform organizational and programmatic strategy and actions. 

Like other senior DC SCORES staff, the CPO will be expected to work all major program and fundraising events, including those after hours and on weekends.  Like all program staff, the CPO will be expected to staff soccer game days during each soccer season.  The position requires some physical labor (e.g. setting up soccer goals on a game day, carrying boxes of jerseys to schools, carrying printed collateral at events). The CPO reports directly to the Executive Director, works very closely with the Chief Operations Officer, the Chief Development Officer, and the Board of Directors  The CPO manages the Program Team, and is a member of the senior management team.

Responsibilities

The main focus of this position is to proactively and strategically drive high-quality program expansion while centering stakeholder engagement and voice. 

Strategic Program Leadership

• Develop a cohesive plan for growing all programming, in particular Junior SCORES, Elementary School SCORES, Middle School SCORES, and alumni programming
• Connect all programmatic offerings to the mission of DC SCORES
• Ensure programmatic offerings build upon each other strategically
• Ensure the growth plan vision and implementation align with DC SCORES’ values and efforts to become an anti-racist organization
• Manage the program team to success and grow the program team to sustain programmatic expansion
• Develop a new program team org structure for 5 year growth that emphasizes collaboration, clear structure, and problem-solving
• Oversee Program Management & Operations 
• Oversee Measurement, Evaluation, & Compliance
• Develop a Strategic Program Communications Plan
• Ensure programmatic plans, expectations, and outcomes are clearly and sufficiently communicated to coaches, families, poet-athletes, school principals, and school district leaders, in coordination with DC SCORES communications staff
• Develop the annual program calendar
• Manage the Program Budget
• Lead the development of the program budget each spring
• Monitor and manage the program budget
• Ensure all programmatic grant requirements are adhered to and/or met

Curricula Development & Support

• Analyze and update all program curricula through the following lenses: racial equity, social justice, positive youth development, and social and emotional learning, trauma-informed/healing-centered care, and alignment with relevant national standards
• Oversee Coach Training & Professional Development
• Set the vision for preseason and mid-season coach trainings to ensure such trainings prepare coaches to implement consistently high-quality programming
• Develop coach training content, as needed
• Build out a digital infrastructure to support coach training and professional development
• Source opportunities for coaches to continue grow their skills in youth development, soccer, poetry/spoken word, and service-learning

Own and Strengthen Select Stakeholder Relationships

• Testify at DC City Council hearings about DC SCORES’ impact, scope, and purpose
• Build relationships with peers across the Out-of-School-Time (OST) community to increase DC SCORES’ knowledge of what is happening in the field and help DC SCORES drive the DC OST sector forward
• Ensure all partner school principals feel supported by and positive about DC SCORES  
• Meet, at minimum annually, with the principal at every DC SCORES partner school 
• Develop and strengthen relationships with those principals to better understand their needs and the unique culture and operations at each school
• Solicit regular programmatic stakeholder feedback, and incorporate it in program and organizational strategy, operations, and growth
• Manage the Coach Community Council
• Manage the Family Community Council
• Manage the Youth Community Council
• Provide strategic guidance on the design and analysis of qualitative program assessments

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will:

• be excited about DC SCORES’ mission and programs and its growth plans
• be a go-getting self-starter and visionary doer who loves to both think and do big
• be flexible, inclusive, solutions-oriented, relationship-oriented, and eager to learn
• be a creative, problem-solver
• be a successful team player, and also highly self-driven and capable of working alone
• demonstrate excellent judgment and discretion
• be well-organized, process-oriented, and extremely conscientious about follow-through
• be cool, calm, and collected in fast-paced, high-stress event environments
• be proactive and have an ownership mentality towards their work
• be available to work evening and weekend hours periodically (with notice)

Bachelor’s degree or comparable in-depth hands-on experience required. Masters degree or comparable in-depth hands-on experience preferred. Minimum 10-15 years experience in high-impact, hands-on classroom instruction, school administration, and/or in the non-profit workspace required. Soccer, service-learning, or spoken word / poetry knowledge or passion a plus. Deep roots in Washington, D.C. a strong plus. Spanish fluency is a strong plus. 

DC SCORES is an organization that values teamwork, leadership, and commitment – these traits permeate all aspects of what we do and how we do it. Ultimately, we seek individuals who are fun, driven, passionate about our work, and uphold our values.

Compensation

The compensation package includes a starting salary in the range of $70,000 to $90,000 commensurate with experience, a small professional development budget, great health benefits, a 403b plan, and roughly a month of personal leave, including personal days to take at your discretion and approximately 2.5 weeks when the office is closed (select ½ day summer Fridays, 1st week of August, and over the year-end holidays).

To Apply

Please submit a complete application, including cover letter and resume at this link: https://link.dcscores.org/cpo. Applications accepted until position is filled. Target start date: ASAP 

DC SCORES is committed to recruiting and maintaining a diverse staff; individuals from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. DC SCORES does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parenthood, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. 

DC SCORES strives to be an anti-racist organization. We are committed to applying an intersectional approach to equity and advancing the many dimensions of equity in everything we do.