Executive Director

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

SF Parent Coalition (c3) and SF Parents Action (c4) are San Francisco’s leading independent organizations for public school families. Working across a unified strategy, SF Parents informs, organizes, and mobilizes a diverse coalition of parents and caregivers to advance student-centered decision-making and exert influence in San Francisco Unified School District, one of the country’s most complex and consequential public school systems.

SF Parents has built a distinctive identity at the intersection of four capabilities: serving as an information hub and watchdog that translates school board decisions and policy tradeoffs into clear, accessible insight for families; building a broad and diverse parent coalition grounded in trust-based relationships; operating with sophistication and discipline in San Francisco’s demanding political landscape; and earning the credibility to be the go-to media voice and trusted source on SF public education. The results include a strong track record of school board endorsements and electoral wins, major policy victories, and thought leadership that district leaders, city officials, media, and funders all take seriously.

The work requires navigating three strategic tensions that are not problems to be solved, but defining features of the mission:

staying broadly inclusive while taking sharp advocacy positions; narrowing gaps for the most underserved students while raising the bar for all; and elevating authentic parent voice while grounding that voice in evidence and rigorous analysis

. The next Executive Director will need to be genuinely at home in and excited by all three tensions.

SF Parents is entering a new chapter. After five years of founder leadership, the organization is transitioning from a startup to a resilient, durable institution: clarifying its structure, building a coherent operating model, and expanding its reach and financial base. The incoming Executive Director joins an organization with real momentum, deep community trust, and an extraordinary foundation to build from. This is an opportunity to leverage the past and shape what comes next.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Values-driven holder of the vision

You are radically passionate about all kids and student outcomes, and about student-centered decision-making as the north star of this organization. You bring genuine passion for the mission alongside the judgment and steadiness to translate that passion into durable strategy.

Strategic and adaptive

You translate vision into execution. You set goals, work from evidence, and stay focused when the environment is noisy. You maintain a focus on long-term thinking while addressing urgent issues demanding real-time attention.

High-EQ communicator and coalition builder

SF Parents’ work is deeply rooted in its relationships and its credibility. You listen more than you talk in rooms where trust is still being built. You code-switch fluently—between a parent meeting in the Excelsior, a conversation with a major donor, a media call, and a session with city leaders. You know the difference between the moment that calls for bold positioning and the one that calls for bringing people back together.

Systems thinker

You understand how policy, politics, and organizing interact to produce change—or block it. You can quickly size up whether a school board decision or district initiative is good, bad, or complicated for kids, and you can explain your read credibly to parents, reporters, and funders alike. You think in structures, incentives, and long-term dynamics rather than in individual programs or direct-service delivery.

Appetite for SF’s political environment

You have the instincts, thick skin, and judgment to operate effectively in San Francisco’s unique political terrain. This is a city where education, politics, and identity are deeply intertwined, where advocacy requires navigating relationships across ideological lines, and where the organization’s independence is both its greatest asset and a perpetual test of nerve. Good judgment and a strong backbone matter more than an existing political network.

Chief fundraiser and small-team leader

You thrive in a lean, fast-moving environment where you roll up your sleeves alongside your team. You know when to take a project on yourself and when to delegate. You bring the operational discipline to run a high-performing organization and the governance steadiness to lead across a C3/C4 structure with distinct legal entities.

Ready to step into a founder transition

You are joining an organization shaped by the relationships, reputation, and institutional knowledge its founder has built over the past five years. We are looking for someone who sees this structure as a strategic asset and brings ideas for how to leverage it.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

The Executive Director serves as the chief executive of SF Parent Coalition, entrusted with overall leadership and strategic direction. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the ED acts as the organization’s primary representative and spokesperson, working to build and strengthen partnerships with community leaders, families, educators, donors, and elected officials.

The Executive Director will lead SF Parent Coalition (C3) from day one, with full responsibility for organizational strategy, operations, fundraising, and team leadership. Leadership of the C4 and PAC, as well as external relations will be integrated over time through a collaboratively designed transition. During this period, the founding ED will continue in a senior role focused on C4 political strategy and electoral work.

Strategic Leadership and Vision

• Develop and execute a comprehensive annual and multi-year strategy in collaboration with the Board of Directors, Managing Director, Strategic Advisory, and Parent Leadership Council
• Set the organizational agenda proactively, translating vision into clear goals, aligned resources, and measurable outcomes
• Engage and energize stakeholders—including parents, board members, committees, and partners—through an effective, inspiring vision
• Inform and develop ideas for current and new programmatic efforts to enhance the organization’s impact and reach

External Relations and Advocacy

• Serve as the organization’s primary point of contact for San Francisco City leaders, SFUSD leadership including the Superintendent and Board of Education, and other key district stakeholders
• Represent the organization as its primary spokesperson at public events, conferences, forums, and in media, communicating the mission, goals, and policy campaigns with clarity and conviction
• Build and strengthen partnerships with community leaders, educators, families, students, and donors to support a broad, student-centered coalition
• Oversee advocacy and issue campaigns, ensuring alignment with mission and vision; develop strategies to effectively engage stakeholders in these efforts

Fundraising and Development

• Own the fundraising strategy and lead efforts to meet fundraising goals across the organization’s three entities (C3, C4, and PAC)
• Collaborate with the development team, the board, and the Managing Director to set annual fundraising goals and develop comprehensive fundraising plans
• Cultivate and steward relationships with major donors and grantors; develop and implement strategies to increase donor engagement and retention
• "Develop a compelling case for support with tailored narratives that resonate with current and prospective funders
• Support board members in carrying out fundraising activities with major donors

Board Management and Governance

• Serve as the primary contact with the Board of Directors, ensuring effective, transparent, and proactive communication
• Present clear, accurate financial reports and operational updates to ensure transparency and sound fiscal oversight
• Maintain governance steadiness across the C3/C4 structure; run effective board meetings and manage up to boards with different operating rhythms
• Support recruitment, orientation, and development of board members to enhance governance capacity

Team Leadership and Organizational Management

• Lead a mission-aligned, high-performing team; model a culture of collaboration, accountability, innovation, and results
• Attract, recruit, develop, and retain talent; invest in staff growth and professional development
• Partner with the Managing Director to ensure excellence in programmatic operations, finance, administration, communications, and systems
• Ensure adherence to legal, accounting, and regulatory requirements across all organizational entities

Brand and Reputation

• Steward the SF Parents brand—defining its voice, ensuring consistency across all audiences, and authentically building the organization’s reputation and public presence
• Adapt the organization’s voice and messaging to address the shifting social and political landscape
• Identify and mitigate threats to the organization’s reputation and relevance

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

• Demonstrated track record of senior leadership in advocacy, organizing, policy, or a related field
• Systems-change orientation: thinks at the level of structures, incentives, and long-term dynamics—not direct service or individual programs
• Experience or strong appetite for fundraising strategy and implementation
• Experience and comfort as an organizational spokesperson and public representative
• Demonstrated experience connecting strategy to budget decisions and leading organizations through periods of growth or change

Highly Valued

• Experience as a current or former SFUSD public school parent
• Education policy background (research, advocacy, think-tank) or education setting experience (administration, teaching)
• Existing relationships within the SF and SFUSD community
• Experience with political campaigns, endorsement processes, or advocacy within San Francisco
• Experience working with the complexities of 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and PAC structures