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WHO WE ARE

Foster America envisions a society in which all children and families thrive. In partnership with communities across the country, we are working towards a future in which resources for children and families are expanded, the child welfare system as we know it today is smaller, and the national model for child and family well-being systems equitably and compassionately serves children and families. Our mission is to transform systems that serve children, youth and families by catalyzing changemakers, amplifying knowledge, and innovating for a more just, equitable future. We aim to bring capacity, knowledge, and resources to power innovations, strengthen families, and transform our country’s approach to child welfare and child protection.

Our work spans three pillars:

• Changemakers: We seek out, support and build a network of talent — both in and beyond the child welfare field — with the determination and imagination to drive transformational change.
• Knowledge: Working within and across communities, we actively listen and learn so we can share and scale knowledge – serving as a hub for ideas, relationship-building, technical know-how and alignment of efforts.
• Innovation: Together, we’re generating and amplifying innovative ideas and equitable solutions that center community and cross-sector engagement, advance financial and policy reform, and build continuous learning — advancing well-being for all children and families.

To learn more about Foster America, please visit https://www.foster-america.org/

THE OPPORTUNITY

Foster America is joining with Youth Villages on an national engagement aimed at transforming the foster care landscape across three states: Mississippi, Kentucky, and Louisiana. This work aims at increasing the availability of in-home prevention services, reducing the number of children in foster care, and decreasing the amount of time that children spend in foster care. Key deliverables for this work include the assessment of data capacity and quality, support of jurisdiction teams to develop and produce baseline analyses, and roadmap reports. 

Foster America is seeking a Site Director who will bring expertise in community co-design, collective impact, and organizing system change efforts. This includes motivating and aligning diverse networks of stakeholders to innovate together, as well as co-creating mutual accountability among agencies, jurisdictions, and Youth Villages. Ensuring internal coordination of the Foster America team and resources is also a crucial function for this position. Additionally, providing reports and information for meetings with the funder, facilitating weekly coordination meetings with Youth Villages and New Allies, and working alongside governmental leaders and technical assistance providers to design and improve the alternative well-being system are essential tasks. Coordinating technical assistance, leading collaboration and analysis, building capacity, and operating with a decision-making process that prioritizes perspectives of those impacted are also key responsibilities.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Bring experience in community co-design, collective impact, participatory governance, and organizing system change efforts. 
• Motivate and align diverse networks of stakeholders and contributors to innovate together. 
• Co-create mutual accountability between agencies, jurisdictions, and Youth Villages to ensure building will, alignment, trust, and coordination among the advocates, intergovernmental partners, and community organizations contributing to the interventions of Youth Villages and New Allies. 
• Ensure internal coordination of the Foster America team and resources to ensure that activities defined within the scope of work or roadmap reports for each jurisdiction are carried out in a timely and efficient manner. 
• Ensure timely completion of all deliverables aligned with the vision of Youth Villages.
• Provide reports and information for meetings with the funder. 
• Facilitate weekly coordination meetings with Youth Villages and New Allies to ensure work is transparent, collaborative, timely, and aligned with the expectations of Youth Villages. 
• Work alongside governmental leaders and other technical assistance providers to design, test, and improve the alternative well-being system. 
• Coordinate technical assistance for the jurisdiction, including fielding requests for  support, finding well-matched assistance, and being the point of contact 
• Coordinate with various Foster America team members to complete necessary engagement activities involving fiscal, race equity, lived expert, data, and other readiness assessments.

• Provide leadership to Foster America Specialists who will work to: 
• Implement Readiness Assessment and System Mapping tools with jurisdiction sites. 
• Lead collaboration and cross-sector analysis in the discovery process, building our knowledge of the state or local context; use tools and protocols to engage in qualitative methods; and facilitate sessions in sites. 
• Participate in the region- and organization-wide initiatives, events, and learning processes such as jurisdictional conferences, listening sessions, and interviews. 
• Directly contribute expertise and develop tools and resources for initiatives. 
• Develop qualitative interview templates and facilitation guides to ensure readiness and a shared understanding of the scope of interviews. 
• Build the capacity of others in New Allies and jurisdictions to engage in stakeholder mapping and analysis of partnerships and approaches that enhance collaboration, contributing to developing and delivering learning sessions and training modules. 
• Operate with a decision-making process that brings the perspectives of those impacted by a decision to the forefront. 
• Complete engagement activities recommended within each roadmap report or assist in the facilitation of such. 
• Ensure ongoing guidance for outcome reports, data collection, evaluation, and any necessary support to improve data-driven decision-making. 

This includes: 

• Co-Design Activities: 
• Develop and facilitate virtual design sessions with jurisdictional leadership to overview baseline structure, content and development.
• Develop and facilitate in-person design sessions for the purpose of defining lead and lag measures for baseline report. 
• Synthesize and analyze session content and incorporate these findings into the development of a baseline report. 
• System Mapping: 
• Conduct system  mapping sessions to define the current and desired future state for identified services. 
• identify opportunities for earlier engagement with families, pain points in the referral process and opportunities for access enhancements. 
• Strategic Roadmap Reports
• Synthesize information gathered through co-design and system mapping sessions into roadmap reports that incorporate readiness assessments and recommendations for systems change aligned with the proof point for New Allies. 
• Complete co-design, mapping, and post-discovery activities outlined in the roadmap report timely and with excellence.
• Define policy, practice and technology opportunities and compile a comprehensive report outlining potential strategies for improvement. 
• Data Analysis & ongoing continuous quality improvement
• Conduct sessions with the jurisdictional data team to assess the strengths and gaps in the current data infrastructure, including processes for data entry, cleaning, coalition, storage, analysis, and reporting. 
• Provide technical assistance to the data team for ongoing production of the outcome report during this initiative.
• Provide technical assistance with the development of a quarterly outcome report. 
• Support the evolution and ongoing alignment of the outcome report with initiative priorities, including the outcome, lead measures and analysis, as jurisdiction changes occur.
  

Requirements

WHO YOU ARE

• A committed change-maker, working to achieve Foster America’s vision, mission, and values. You are motivated and inspired to build a movement to transform the systems that touch the lives of children and families. You thrive in a start-up, fast-paced environment that values relationships, feedback, continuous learning, and a deep commitment to social justice and racial equity. You can communicate a primary understanding of Child Welfare services, accompanying activities and desired outcomes, and a curiosity and ability to grow in this understanding. You demonstrate a working knowledge across the domains listed below with an expertise in one or more of the following areas:
• Race Equity in Child Welfare
• Co-Design Frameworks
• System Mapping Frameworks
• Child Welfare Fiscal and Data Structures
• A leader for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. You use equity-conscious approaches and language, understand the impact of your behaviors, and work to interrupt oppressive structures and power dynamics. You understand subtle and complex diversity and inclusion matters as they relate specifically to groups who are marginalized and understand how identity, power, white conditioning, and privilege impacts your life, others’ lived experience, and our structures and institutions. You are able to effectively interact with and respect diverse personalities, to build strong, positive working relationships across members of the Foster America Team. Ability to seamlessly Incorporate the vision and viewpoints of others and exercise the ability to compromise and be adaptable.
• A great storyteller and skilled communicator, with strong writing, editing, presenting, and facilitating ability. You are an active listener, translating complex topics to varied audiences and situations to have the greatest impact. You are clear, proactive, and consistent in articulating ideas and building a compelling identity for Foster America that others can connect with. You center the voices of those most impacted by our work and advance social and racial justice in what we say and how we say it.
• A highly-collaborative colleague who fosters a sense of trust and community. You communicate with transparency and authenticity, differentiating communication style based on the audience and situation to have the greatest impact. You connect with others and seek input, respecting the expertise of those engaged, and working in iterative loops to build off of that input. You break down silos internally and externally, navigating complex ideas and dynamics to co-create compelling content.
• An innovator, contributing to and helping drive organizational change. You embrace and lead through times of ambiguity, modeling adaptability and a high level of awareness of how change impacts others. You organize the work, lean on context, proactively plan for interdependencies, assess risk, and take into account contingencies to inform decisions. You approach new ideas, changes in work, or challenges with a sense of possibility and solutions-based attitude.
  

EDUCATION AND WORK EXPERIENCE

This is an extraordinary opportunity for an experienced leader with seven or more of focus on program development, leadership development, and cross-systems collaboration experience. You will ideally have experience in the public sector or a complex nonprofit that serves multiple programs. You will ideally have experience communicating about social impact – preferably related to families, racial equity, poverty alleviation, or related topics. Minimum of a BA/BS require

Benefits

START DATE

This role will begin on July 8, 2024.

REPORTING

This role will report to the Foster America Site Engagement Director and the Senior Vice President of Programs. This role provides dotted-line supervision to Foster America specialists (e.g., data, fiscal, co-design, system-mapping, and equity) assigned to work alongside selected jurisdictions.

BENEFITS & COMPENSATION

Salary is commensurate with experience in the range of $126,000 - $140,000. Foster America offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, paid vacation, paid parental leave, paid holidays, commuter benefits, participation in a retirement plan, paid sick time, and professional development opportunities.

WORK LOCATION

This is a fully remote position. It requires prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer. When public health conditions permit, the role may include up to 40% travel.

Foster America is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity in backgrounds and professional experience. Frequently cited statistics show that underrepresented groups apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. Foster America encourages you to break that statistic and apply. No one ever meets 100% of the qualifications. We look forward to reviewing your application.