Director of Learning and Impact; ECMC

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ECMC Group means joining a nonprofit corporation with a mission to help students succeed. With a vibrant mission and values, great benefits, and strong community involvement, ECMC Group companies are an ideal team to join.

ECMC Foundation is a Los Angeles-based, nationally focused foundation whose mission is to inspire and to facilitate improvements that affect educational outcomes—especially among underserved populations—through evidence-based innovation. It is one of several affiliates under the ECMC Group enterprise based in Minneapolis. ECMC Foundation makes investments in two focus areas:
College Success and Career Readiness; and uses a spectrum of funding structures, including traditional grantmaking and program-related investments, to fund both non-profit and for-profit ventures. Working with grantees, partners and peers, ECMC Foundation’s vision is to unlock all learners’ fullest potential. Learn more about ECMC Foundation by visiting www.ecmcfoundation.org and ECMC Group by visiting www.ecmcgroup.org

The Director of Learning and Impact, a new position at ECMC Foundation, will oversee the Foundation’s grants management, communications, and evaluation efforts. This includes, but is not limited to, facilitating the grant information and tracking process from inception through completion, ensuring quality control for all grantmaking procedures, and helping to tell the Foundation’s story via impact and measurement. The position reports to the President of the Foundation and plays a central role in contributing to the Foundation’s evaluation practice, measuring the impact of the Foundation’s grantmaking and the alignment with the Foundation’s theory of change.

Thorough and effective attention to this process allows ECMC Foundation to meet its commitments to their grantees and fulfill its mission.

The Director of Learning and Impact collaborates on the development and implementation of grantmaking strategy and goals. Essential duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Manage the Foundation’s strategy to monitor and evaluate grantees, collect data, codify results, and share lessons learned and best practices with the philanthropic and education fields
• Oversee the Foundation’s communications and grants management functions
• Build intentional connections between grantee outcomes (individual and collective) and the Foundation’s external communications strategies to advance understanding of the Foundation’s commitment to evidence-based learning
• Connect ECMC Foundation’s strategy and impact with the trends present among the broader education and philanthropic communities
• Develop an overall approach to learning and evaluation for the Foundation and design the structures and processes to support the work throughout the organization through measurement and data collection
• Collaborate with program staff to synthesize and share Foundation-funded research and evaluation
• Develop the processes and criteria for periodic systematic review of strategies, quality and effectiveness on all levels.
• Act as an internal advisor to staff involved with any major programmatic or strategic evaluation
• Organize grantee and funder convenings to enhance productivity and effectiveness including ECMC Foundation’s first ever all grantee convening in 2019
• Manage grant report process to ensure compliance with reporting and evaluation requirements
• Scope, retain and manage relationships with external researchers and evaluators
• Oversee two full-time employees and external evaluators and consultants as needed
• Present on the Foundation’s work to both internal and external audiences; includes creating dashboards/scorecards that demonstrate the Foundation’s impact and reach
• Serve as a member of the Foundation’s leadership team
• Comply with all ECMC Group Policies
• Perform other duties as assigned

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the education, experience, knowledge, skill, and ability required. Reasonable accommodations may…