Executive Director (0.5 FTE)

Written By Steven Carney

Our Mission in Action

Rooted School Vancouver is dismantling educational and economic barriers for young people. As the first high-quality charter school in Vancouver, Washington's history, we're proving that students shouldn't have to choose between honoring their identities and accessing opportunity. Our students graduate with both a job offer in hand and college acceptance—equipped with the credentials, connections, and confidence to build generational wealth while staying rooted in community.

We intentionally serve a socioeconomically and racially diverse student body through innovative career-connected learning, authentic community partnerships, and a commitment to creating identity-affirming learning environments where every student and family experiences genuine belonging and shared power in their educational journey.

The Leadership Opportunity

The Executive Director serves as the community bridge and equity champion for Rooted School Vancouver's continued growth and impact. This focused, part-time role offers experienced leaders—particularly those with lived experience navigating systems and creating change—the opportunity to make high-leverage contributions to educational and economic justice through innovative career-connected learning.

Working in authentic partnership with our School Leader, community members, regional board, and the Rooted School Foundation, you'll concentrate on the external-facing strategic functions that ensure our school thrives as both an exceptional educational institution and a vital community asset. This role is designed for leaders who understand that sustainable change happens through community-anchored decision-making and shared power, not top-down management.

Core Responsibilities

As a 0.5 FTE role, this position focuses on the highest-impact strategic functions that ensure Rooted School Vancouver's sustainability and community connection.

Community Engagement & Strategic Partnerships (Primary Focus)

  • Champion Rooted School Vancouver's mission as the primary external face of the school, building trust and understanding across key community stakeholders

  • Cultivate and maintain strategic partnerships with industry leaders and community organizations that expand student opportunities

  • Facilitate quarterly Industry Advisory Council (IAC) meetings that connect students to high-growth, high-wage career pathways

Resource Development (Core Priority)

  • Lead targeted fundraising efforts focused on specific school needs and student opportunity expansion

  • Develop grant proposals and manage funder relationships to ensure sustainable revenue streams

  • Coordinate with Rooted School Foundation on network-level fundraising strategies

Governance & Compliance (Essential Function)

  • Serve as primary liaison between school operations and the regional board, ensuring transparent communication and mission alignment

  • Oversee charter compliance requirements and annual reporting processes

  • Support strategic planning processes in partnership with School Leader and board

Operational Partnership (Collaborative Role)

  • Partner closely with the School Leader on key operational decisions and long-term planning

  • Support talent strategy and organizational development within our DDO culture

  • Contribute to network learning and best practice sharing across Rooted School campuses

Your Profile
Mission-Critical Experience

  • Strategic leadership experience in education, nonprofit management, community organizing, workforce development, or social justice organizations with demonstrated ability to create change within complex systems

  • Resource development and community partnership experience including fundraising, grant writing, corporate engagement, and/or building authentic relationships with historically marginalized communities

  • Community engagement experience with proven ability to center community voice and build power-sharing relationships across diverse stakeholder groups

Values & Lived Experience

  • Deep commitment to educational and economic justice with understanding that systemic barriers require intentional, community-led solutions

  • Community-anchored leadership approach that prioritizes stakeholder voice, shared decision-making, and authentic relationship-building over extractive engagement

  • Cultural responsiveness and humility with ability to navigate and bridge diverse communities while centering those most impacted by educational inequity

  • Strategic thinking with ability to focus on highest-impact activities that build sustainable change from the ground up

We Especially Welcome Leaders Who:

  • Have lived experience with educational or economic barriers and bring that perspective to systems change work

  • Reflect the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of our student communities

  • Come from non-traditional leadership pathways including community organizing, social justice advocacy, or grassroots movement work

  • Bring bilingual/multicultural competencies and deep understanding of immigrant and/or first-generation college experiences

  • Have experience working within or alongside communities of color in authentic, non-extractive ways

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with career and technical education, workforce development, or industry partnerships that center worker power and economic justice

  • Grant writing and community-based fundraising experience, including relationships with foundations focused on equity and justice

  • Knowledge of anti-oppressive organizational practices and experience building inclusive, non-hierarchical team structures

  • Understanding of Pacific Northwest communities, including demographics, economic landscape, and community assets

Why This Role?

  • Lead with justice - Directly contribute to dismantling educational and economic barriers while building generational wealth in communities of color

  • Community-centered impact - Focus on high-leverage relationship-building and partnership development that centers community voice and power

  • Anti-oppressive culture - Work within a Deliberately Developmental Organization (DDO) framework that values growth, vulnerability, and shared leadership over hierarchy and competition

  • Flexible leadership model - Perfect for experienced leaders seeking meaningful part-time work with significant community impact and sustainable work-life integration

  • Authentic partnership - Collaborate with a strong School Leader in a power-sharing model that values diverse leadership styles and approaches

  • Transformational outcomes - Be part of a network where students launch real businesses, 7% become Posse Scholars, and graduates access both higher education and living-wage careers

  • Movement building - Help establish a replicable model that proves schools can serve as sites of community wealth-building and student empowerment

  • Professional community - Connect with the broader Rooted School network committed to both high academic standards and social justice principles

Our Commitment to You

Rooted School Vancouver is committed to creating an inclusive, anti-oppressive workplace where team members of color can thrive without code-switching or compromising their values. We understand that the best educational leaders often come from the communities we serve, and we actively work to dismantle barriers that have historically excluded diverse voices from school leadership.

We offer competitive compensation, comprehensive professional development, mentorship within our network, and a culture that values both high performance and personal well-being. This role includes flexibility for community engagement, family responsibilities, and the understanding that sustainable leadership requires sustainable work practices.

Ready to Apply?

We're seeking an experienced leader who understands that true educational excellence requires justice-centered practices and community partnership. This position is ideal for someone who wants to contribute their expertise to educational equity and economic justice while working within an organization that values both your professional skills and your whole identity.

To apply: please submit your complete application through our secure online form. This includes:

  • Resume

  • Cover Letter detailing your interest in this specific role and alignment with our mission

  • Responses to Critical Questions addressing eight key leadership areas relevant to the position

Application Link:
Submit your materials here

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: $55,000.00 - $70,000.00 per year

Expected hours: 20 per week

Benefits:

  • 401(k)

  • Dental insurance

  • Flexible schedule

  • Health insurance

  • Life insurance

  • Paid time off

  • Vision insurance

Ability to Commute:

  • Vancouver, WA 98662 (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

  • Vancouver, WA 98662: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Willingness to travel:

  • 25% (Preferred)

Work Location: In person

Rooted School Vancouver (RSV) values a diverse workplace and strongly encourages women, people of color, LGBT individuals, people with disabilities, members of ethnic minorities, foreign-born residents, and veterans to apply. Rooted School Vancouver is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will not be discriminated against because of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, citizenship status, disability, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, medical condition or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.

The following employee has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:

Steven Carney, Founding Executive Director

Mailing Address: 2005 SE 192nd Avenue, Suite 200, Camas, WA  98607-7475

Email: steven@rootedschoolvancouver.org

Steven Carney