Arizona School Board Engagement Director

THE ROLE

Your role stands at the intersection of local school boards and the fight to change the odds for underserved children and families. The School Board Engagement Director is responsible for developing and executing an effective plan to achieve school district-level impact aligned with Stand for Children’s statewide annual impact goals while building relationships and capacity to support future progress.

The School Board Engagement Director’s primary responsibilities are to act as a liaison between Stand for Children and local school board members, identify potential local school board candidates aligned with Stand’s mission and values, support the election of aligned candidates across a range of strategically selected districts, and educate elected school board members about effective local school board policies practices, and help build supportive working relationships with school district staff.

The School Board Engagement Director will also work with affiliate leadership to identify key moments, barriers, opportunities, and challenges to overcome in the election and support of local school board candidates. They will meet regularly with the communications staff to develop collateral and collaborate on an engagement calendar with diverse points of entry to meet people where they are and support targeted growth and strategic engagement.

The School Board Engagement Director role is based in Phoenix, AZ, and will report to the Arizona Associate Executive Director. 

THE ORGANIZATION

Stand for Children is a unique catalyst for education equity and racial justice to create a brighter future for us all. 

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide individual coaching to current school board members, including: 
• Key education policy and legislative issues that can benefit or harm students in their district. 
• Board governance and best practices.  
• How to lead impacting board decisions.  
• How to create a supportive environment for school district staff that supports public education and establishes a district culture grounded in equity, collaboration, and belonging.
• Effective communication strategies including earned media, digital, and social communications.  
• Manage school district election priorities including school board races, school bonds, and/or school millages, including:
• Identify high-leverage school boards/districts across the state where student impacts can be maximized.  
• Run coordinated or independent expenditure campaigns in targeted districts to ensure pro-equity/education champion candidates are elected to school boards. 
• Engage and advise board members on school mills and bonds and provide campaign support where appropriate. 
• Ensure candidates receive access to high-quality campaign training and coaching. 
• Develop and/or support candidate recruitment pipelines for targeted school districts.
• Create and develop relationships with school board members across the state to maintain alignment on education issues and values. 
• Where applicable, identify and partner with aligned organizations to provide training and coaching of board members; candidate recruitment and training for school board elections; board governance, and best practices. 

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 4+ years of relevant experience, including managing local/school board campaigns; serving previously as an elected school board member or in a school district leadership position; legislative, policy, or advocacy campaigns. 
• Demonstrated ability to utilize political and landscape analysis to identify strategic targets, areas for opportunities, or areas of potential challenge. 
• Demonstrated ability to build rapport, trust, and long-term relationships with a diverse community of stakeholders.  
• Campaign management experience at the school district level. 
• Demonstrated understanding of school board governance.