Chief Education Programming Officer

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute (RRPFI) is the sole nonprofit organization created by President Reagan charged with continuing his legacy and advancing his principles – limited government, individual liberty, economic opportunity, freedom and democracy, peace through strength, and national pride.  The Foundation is a non-partisan organization which sustains the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA, the Reagan Center for Public Affairs, the Presidential Learning Center, The Air Force One Pavilion, the award-winning Reagan Leadership Academy, and the Reagan Institute, which carries out the Foundation’s mission in Washington, D.C.  The Reagan Library houses over 55 million pages of Gubernatorial, Presidential and personal papers and over 60,000 gifts and artifacts chronicling the lives of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. It also serves as the final resting place of America’s 40th President and his First Lady.  More information is available at www.reaganfoundation.org.

Education at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute

Our Mission: To develop and empower citizens and leaders by drawing on President Ronald Reagan’s principles and the lessons of his life and presidency.

Our Story: President Ronald Reagan once said, “Since the founding of this Nation, education and democracy have gone hand in hand.”  We embrace the concept that citizenship requires cultivation, and that when leadership skills are nurtured and developed, the result is a new generation of thoughtful, proactive, action-oriented citizens and a stronger democracy. Through state-of-the-art programs, immersive learning opportunities, and digital technology, we extend that core tenet into the 21st century and beyond. These opportunities offer a range of unique, innovative learning experiences that foster leadership, communication, and decision-making skills to inspire and empower the citizens and leaders of tomorrow.

Our Goal: To develop and inspire the citizens and leaders of tomorrow through immersive and impactful learning opportunities rooted in President Reagan’s principles and the lessons of his life and presidency. We aim to improve the citizenship, leadership, communication, and decision-making skills of every young person with whom we engage, whether locally, across the nation, or even around the world.  Going forward, we have as a major priority reaching vast numbers of young people where they are – in their schools and online – by generating content that is consistent with our overall digital strategy.  Our target audiences are middle and high school students, as well as their parents and teachers, and young adults who have graduated from high school. 

Learn: We leverage the story and principles of Ronald Reagan and the vast archives held at his Presidential Library to offer a wide range of programs and curriculum designed to help students and teachers across the country and beyond develop the civic knowledge and skills necessary to be an engaged and informed citizen. This includes our online Reagan Academy eLearning courses, free curricular materials drawing on primary source material from our archives, professional development offerings for teachers, onsite and virtual field trip programs, a partnership with Discovery Education, a Speaker Series for Students, presentations at state and local conferences, and more.

Grow: We invest in growing the civic, leadership, communication, and decision-making skills of the more than 60,000 students we work with annually through our award-winning and immersive Reagan Leadership Center, Great Communicator Debate Series, and our national and local scholarship programs (GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Scholars Program). Going forward, we will seek to reach vast numbers of young people across the country consistent with our overall digital strategy.  In addition, we work in conjunction with the Reagan Institute’s Center for Civics, Education and Opportunity to help grow leaders through the Academy for Civic Education and Democracy (ACED) program.

Lead: We believe in creating opportunities for students to lead through our Student Leadership Program summer camp, our Reagan Leadership Summit, our paid college Internship Program, and we recognize impactful student leadership across the country through the Reagan Leadership Medal. With the Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C., we lead on education policy through the Reagan Institute Summit on Education (RISE).

 

Responsibilities

The Chief Education Programming Officer (CEPO) will report to the RRPFI President and CEO, and will directly oversee both the Director of Learning and Engagement and Scholarship Program Coordinator, while broadly overseeing an education department of 24-27 managers, coordinators, educators, and contractors. The CEPO’s responsibilities include the following:

Administrative

• Work with Finance team and Education program leaders to create and monitor Education budget ($3-$4M) for each fiscal year, as well as monitor restricted funds dedicated for use in Education programs only.
• Lead team and program coordinators in the creation of clear, achievable, and measurable goals with regards to student and teacher impact, revenue, and fundraising.
• Oversee consistent implementation of project and program management across the department, and report progress to the Board as necessary.
• Lead management, coordinator, and team meetings as necessary to ensure effective communication and program implementation across the department.
• Oversee hiring, on-boarding, counseling, and other aspects of employee relations in conjunction with managers and HR.
• Provide general management for the Education business lines with the responsibility of creating sustainable revenue growth in keeping with the overall business objectives of the organization.  This includes data driven decision making and managing a portfolio of service lines that provide highly meaningful and “on brand” student experiences which are competitive in the education marketplace and achieve the financial requirements of the organization for this business unit. 
• Additionally, a full range of general management skills will be required: source of business and target segment identification; product development, pricing and promotion; end-to-end student experience management and measurement; physical, online, and hybrid experience delivery; and insightful marketing communications at effective and efficient ROI.

Programmatic

• Lead and collaborate with Education management team and program coordinators to set annual calendars and goals for all education programs, including: field trips, student speaker events, summer camp, national debate competition, internships, curriculum development, eLearning, and teacher trainings.
• Develop online/digital learning, courses, and other educational content that reaches vast numbers of middle and high school students, as well as young adults who have graduated from high school.
• Work with internal and external educators and content experts to create or refine educational materials and curricula that are attractive, engaging, effective, aligned with educational standards, and able to reach large digital audiences.
• Strategically choose state and national social studies, museum, and student leadership conferences to exhibit, present, and recruit.
• Supervise Scholarship Program Coordinator to administer and award more than $500,000 in scholarships through various programs.
• Coordinate with Alumni Coordinator to engage and share the stories of Reagan Academy alumni.
• Research, create, coordinate and facilitate student programs with civics education themes – on-site, off-site and on-line.
• Participate actively in local, state, and national organizations dedicated to civic learning and museum work (NCSS, CCSS, AAM, CAM, NCHE, NSDA, etc.)
• Work with internal and external marketing team to promote enrollment in various programs and to meet revenue goals.
• Lead effort to summarize education impact through annual program reports.
• Participate in annual RISE (Reagan Institute Summit on Education) in Washington, DC.

Collaboration and Leadership

• Serve on the executive team, contributing to RRPFI strategic planning, annual goal-setting, budgeting, and marketing/communications.
• Collaborate with other departments in the Foundation and Library, as well as offsite organizations, for the development and implementation of teacher training and student programming, including on-site, in schools and education institutions across the country, and digital programs.
• Collaborate with the Development team and CEO to develop proposals and solicit funding for innovative new projects likely to lead to greater innovation and impact. Raise $2-4M in funds to support education programs, craft proposals, and report back to donors on results of philanthropic investment.
• Work in conjunction with the Reagan Institute in Washington, D.C. on ACED, RISE, and alumni engagement across programs.
• Develop, build and maintain relationships and outside partnerships with national and regional civics focused organizations.
• Manage the development, building and maintenance of regional and national teacher, administrator, and student alumni contact list.
• Attend and make presentations at national and state conferences.
• Support programs and events for the RRPFI as necessary.
• Serve on city, state, and national panels, working groups, and forums as needed to advance our organizational goals and mission.
• Other duties as assigned.

Transformation Drivers

Program Design and Evaluation

• Through deep collaboration with both internal and external leaders and partners, define program models and ensure our various program teams and departments are integrated into a coherent overall model that can demonstrate impact.
• Identify and implement a set of shared tools, data, software, and resources as needed to create a program that extends the reach of the Reagan Foundation aligned with the education mission.
• Design educational content that is consistent with RRPFI’s digital strategy.
• Work alongside the Executive Team to create tools and systems (social media, impact dashboards, etc.) to assess program impact and effectiveness.
• Use values-based design and decision-making to improve the full range of programmatic processes and systems.

Leadership, Staff Coaching, and Development

• Identify the strengths and areas for development of the education team and support them through goal setting, reflection, coaching, team-building, and prioritization
• Work closely with all aspects of the Foundation to develop understanding related to educational programming, content, etc.
• Partner with department leaders do develop and implement an education strategy that builds upon Library events and promotes the mission of the organization.
• Coach direct reports through difficult judgment calls, decisions, and crisis situations as needed

Program Budgeting, Compliance and Operations

• Work closely with the finance, development, etc. to ensure programs are meeting revenue goals, building new revenue streams, and supporting the foundation’s overall revenue targets.
• In consultation with the finance team, ensure that program teams are setting, monitoring, and adjusting budgets that align with programmatic needs while maintaining fiscal control, and ensure expense compliance consistent with audit requirements.

Qualifications

A successful candidate for this position should possess:

• A record of success in managing and inspiring a large team to serve students and teachers, both in person and online;
• Strong oral, written, and digital communication skills;
• Demonstrated ability to effectively work with and respond to a sophisticated Board of Trustees, as part of a team of senior colleagues, and with support staff;
• A strong working knowledge of educational technologies, program management and communication tools, online and in-person events and programming;
• A demonstrated capacity to manage and execute programs on time and on budget;
• The capability to coordinate and integrate with current Education staff;
• An ability to work collaboratively in teams or with committees and task forces, within the department, throughout the organization, and with external partners and groups;
• An ability to multi-task;
• A strong understanding of elementary and secondary education, with a focus on civic learning and history;
• Strong management, motivational and organizational skills;
• The ability to convey a professional image, as well as effectively represent the organization on a local, state and national level;
• High level of conceptual and strategic thinking skills;
• Desire to motivate and develop staff through ongoing trainings and workshops; and,
• Great attention to detail. 

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree or higher preferred, preferably in education, history, museum studies, or related field.
• Previous general management P&L experience in Education or related industries with revenues of $2-$5M or greater, and with a demonstrated track record of sustainable growth by a diverse portfolio of growth engines.
• Minimum of 10 years of management experience in education, museum, or non-profit field.
• School administration and/or business management experience desirable.
• Strong experience in educational program development, implementation and evaluation.
• A strong desire to serve young people at all levels and the motivation to maintain and grow a national learning center of the highest caliber.
• Uncompromising personal integrity and high moral values.
• Willingness, ability and desire to travel as needed, including up to 25%-50% of the time depending on the time of year.

When needed, the ability to work evening, holiday, and weekend hours to support Education programming and Foundation events.

Salary, Benefits, Location

This is an exempt position that offers a salary commensurate with experience, plus excellent benefits including vacation, health/dental benefits, and the opportunity to participate in a 403(b) retirement plan.  The position will be located onsite at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, Simi Valley, California, and may be performed either fully in person or on a hybrid basis, with the former being preferred.

How to Apply

Please send thoughtful cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to:

Joanne Drake
Chief Administrative Officer
Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation
40 Presidential Drive, Suite 200
Simi Valley, California 93065
cao@reaganfoundation.org