Careers

The Vice President, Impact (VP of Impact) will help to drive strategy and execution for the work Eat. Learn. Play. is doing to serve the community. Reporting to the CEO, the VP of Impact serves on the organization’s leadership team and will help lead and be responsible for Eat. Learn. Play.’s community partnerships, grantmaking efforts, and program execution, and serve as a spokesperson for the foundation.

The VP of Impact will oversee a grantmaking portfolio of $10 million+ annually, most relate to Eat. Learn. Play.’s efforts with community partners to serve students attending Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) schools. They will also oversee the Foundation’s program initiatives with an annual budget of roughly $2 million, including the Eat. Learn. Play. Bus and Little Town Libraries. The VP of Impact will manage relationships for our community partners, program partners, and grantees with support from two staff members, and consultants as needed.

Eat. Learn. Play. is a young organization experiencing rapid growth, and all team members possess flexibility, agility, and a collaborative spirit. The ideal candidate will embrace our entrepreneurial culture and share a commitment to authenticity, generosity, optimism, and "impact over legacy.”

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Direction & Partnerships:

Work closely with the CEO to:

Align programs and grantmaking strategies with overall strategic plan and budget, and develop benchmarks for success.

Establish, lead, and grow community partnerships, working with community leaders to find ways to deepen our collective impact.

Act as a public face and voice for the Foundation in the community.

Grantmaking:

Oversee the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the granting process.

Develop operating standards and procedures necessary to ensure high quality and efficient grantmaking.

With CEO approval and in partnership with grantmaking staff, establish calendars for grants and processes, ensuring deadlines are met and grant programs are operating in a transparent, fair, and equitable manner in alignment with the strategic plan and budget.

Oversee grantmaking staff and contractors who are responsible for:

Executing the grant administration process, supporting grantees through grant lifecycle, screening ongoing inquiries to assess fit, tracking applications from development to launch; pre-award to post-award, and overseeing the grant management system.

Managing, optimizing, and updating the budget.

Developing the Foundation’s measurement and evaluation processes and managing ongoing data collection and reporting.

Project managing the schoolyard remodels Eat. Learn. Play. is leading at Oakland elementary schools, including fostering trust between partners and supporting inter-team information sharing and alignment around build logistics.

Programs:

Oversee the design, deliverables, staff, and partners of the Foundation’s programs, including the Eat. Learn. Play. Bus and Little Town Libraries, in alignment with the strategic plan and budget.

Oversee programs staff and contractors who are responsible for:

Ensuring ongoing programmatic excellence.

Setting work plans with timelines.

Developing and managing programmatic partner relationships and fostering trust.

Managing data collection and reporting.

Increasing efficiencies and cost-savings.

Supporting inter-team information sharing and alignment.

Additional responsibilities:

Coordinate with the development team to support fundraising needs, including identifying needs, supporting relationships, and developing proposals and grant reports for a variety of stakeholders, including individual donors, foundations, and corporate partners as needed.

Coordinate with the finance team on accurate and timely payments for programs and grants.

Coordinate with the marketing and communications team on an annual communications calendar and coordinate storytelling opportunities related to grants and programs.

Coordinate with the operations team to audit risk, secure insurance, and ensure compliance with legal guidelines and internal policies.

Work Experience:

10+ years of leadership experience in the non-profit sector, including designing, building, and managing seven-figure grantmaking and programs portfolios. Fundraising experience a plus.

7+ years of experience managing staff (including recruiting, managing, and developing teams).

Experience as an effective manager within a growing organization, with an ability to handle shifting priorities and an appetite for new ideas and approaches. Successful managerial experience in leading a team and mentoring/coaching staff.

Experience working effectively with a broad range of nonprofit, community-based organizations, and public sector entities

Required Skills & Abilities

Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.

Ability to prioritize work effectively and adjust to multiple demands.

Experience in creating realistic project budgets and timelines.

Strong people management skills leading through collaboration and shared accountability with high emotional intelligence and comfort with agile role definition.

Strategic, creative mindset that can synthesize information, translate it into a program design and lead a team to execute it.

A persuasive communicator with experience as an effective spokesperson at the state or national level who is able to represent the Foundation and work effectively with diverse partners internally and externally.

Able to maintain a high-level of confidentiality where appropriate, and to engender trust, credibility, and confidence with a variety of constituencies.

Strong analytical skills, basic business intuition, and common sense.

Committed to and enthusiastic about ELP’s mission while staying authentic, inspired, and positive.

Awareness of Oakland’s social, economic, cultural, and political landscape, respect for the community, and ability to establish deep and trusted community relationships.

Demonstrated interest in Eat. Learn. Play.’s core issue areas with a broad range of experience working with non-profit organizations. Deep expertise is not needed, but issue area experience and/or experience working with public school systems is a plus.

Salary Range: $140,000 - $175,000