Executive Director

The Elevation Scholars; Mission, Northern (KS, KY); Hybrid; USD 125,000 - 175,000; Full time

Job summary

Elevation Scholars seeks an entrepreneurial, mission-driven Executive Director to lead strategic growth, fundraising, and stakeholder engagement. You will oversee a high-impact team, partner with the board, and strengthen collaborations with universities and school districts to expand access for high-need scholars.

The role requires a proven track record in fundraising, organizational leadership, and building durable partnerships.

Qualifications

• Must have experience leading a nonprofit or higher-education-focused organization.
• Proven track record in fundraising and cultivating major donors.
• Experience guiding growth, expansion, or strategic transformation across multiple pathways.

Responsibilities

• Lead organizational strategy and scale, including partnerships and policy initiatives.
• Act as the public face with funders and major donors; partner with the Development Director.
• Build and maintain strong governance relationships with the Board of Directors; ensure sound governance.

Skills

Fundraising

Stakeholder engagement

Strategic leadership

Board relations

People leadership

Education

Executive leadership experience

Job description

Who We Are

Elevation Scholars invests in high-achieving students from high-need families with demonstrative positive impact, aiming to increase their college access and ensure successful completion of a college degree from the nation's most competitive colleges and universities.

Who You Are

Elevation Scholars seeks an entrepreneurial, mission-driven Executive Director to serve as its next leader. This is a rare opportunity to shape the organization's next phase of growth.

The Executive Director will be a credible, compelling external voice for educational equity, an active partner in fundraising, and a steady, big-picture manager internally. Above all, the Executive Director must be someone the current leadership team is genuinely excited to follow and someone the board is proud to stand behind in the community.

The title of this role is Executive Director, with the expectation that it may evolve to President as the organization grows.

What You’ll Do

Strategic Leadership & Organizational Scale

• Using the organization's strategic plan as the guiding framework, lead an assessment of growth opportunities and recommend a clear path for scale, including geographic expansion, additional school partnerships, and policy or advocacy initiatives.
• Operate as a big-picture manager: delegate effectively, empower strong staff, and create the conditions for a talented team to do its best work.
• Translate insights from external conversations and funder feedback into aligned, intentional initiatives without creating internal disruption or program drift.

Fundraising & External Influence

• Serve as the organization's lead fundraiser and "quarterback," working in close, well-defined partnership with the Development Director to elevate the entire development effort.
• Be the organization's public face with major funders, meeting directly with top-tier donors and prospects who expect to engage with the top leader.
• Build and sustain relationships that attract "vision" level investment by articulating a compelling, credible case for educational equity.

Governance & Board Partnership

• Build a strong, mutually accountable relationship with the Board of Directors, championing the board's role while earning its confidence and advocacy in return.
• Partner with the board to strengthen its capacity and reach as the organization grows beyond its current, close-knit structure.
• Provide the board with the strategic and financial visibility needed for sound governance and decision-making.

People Leadership & Culture

• Lead, support, and elevate a strong existing staff team, including key internal leaders, fostering a culture of trust, alignment, and shared ownership of the mission.
• Bring enough operational fluency to steer the organization confidently without disempowering the team closest to the work.

Mission & Scholar Advocacy

• Serve as a credible, passionate public voice on the systemic problem of high-achieving, undermatched students in the community, with universities, and with policymakers.
• Champion effective, sustainable partnerships with universities, school districts, and community stakeholders in support of scholars.
• Keep the organization's mission and the experience of its scholars at the center of every strategic decision.

What You Bring

• Prior experience as an Executive Director or President, or clear readiness to step into that role, with a track record of organizational leadership.
• Demonstrated success in fundraising and external relationship-building; comfort as a primary face and voice of an organization with major donors and partners.
• Demonstrated experience leading organizational growth, expansion, or strategic transformation, including evaluating multiple pathways for scale and recommending a clear direction.
• A genuine, credible passion for educational equity. Candidates may come from higher education, nonprofit, philanthropy, or business leadership backgrounds, but should bring a track record of organizational leadership, fundraising, and stakeholder influence.
• A collaborative leadership style: a big-picture manager who empowers strong staff, leads change thoughtfully, and balances innovation with organizational focus and operational stability.
• Comfort operating in and helping build an organization that is still relatively close-knit, with a board that is growing in size and sophistication.

What We Offer

Compensation & Process

The salary range for this role is $125,000-$175,000, plus bonus, commensurate with experience. Elevation Scholars is working with an executive search firm to ensure a broad, high-quality candidate pool. The process will include a structured interview process, comprehensive reference reviews, and meaningful interaction with Board members and key members of the leadership team. The organization anticipates a search timeline of approximately 60-90 days once the process is launched.