National nonprofit access and success organization seeks to add to its executive leadership team.
College Possible, founded in 2000, has launched a search for a president to join the executive leadership ranks of the national nonprofit based in Saint Paul, MN. The new position has been created to lead the day-to-day work of running and growing the $22 million organization.
“Our growth over the last decade, in particular, has allowed us to actively reach nearly 25,000 students from low-income backgrounds each year,” said Jim McCorkell, CEO and founder. “A president will lead the charge to close the degree divide and ensure that the future of America’s children is determined solely by their talent, motivation and effort, not their income.”
Since its founding, College Possible has grown to become one of the largest college access and success organization in the U.S. by building and replicating a model for recruiting, training and motivating recent college graduates to provide a cost-efficient and results-driven program that helps capable, low-income students get into college and persist through graduation. In 2016, it introduced Catalyze, a capacity-building program created to help colleges and universities boost retention and graduation rates. In October 2018, it was awarded the inaugural Evergreen National Education Prize in recognition of its leadership in the field and its success, through the Catalyze program, to embed its model on college campuses across the country.
“As College Possible continues to expand its reach and serve more students,” notes Stephen Smith, National board chair and CEO of Intellispark, “our executive leadership must expand to take on the challenges and opportunities that will come our way. The entire board is excited by the potential of bringing in additional perspective and skills to lead us forward.”
With sites in Philadelphia, PA; Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; St. Paul, MN; Omaha, NE; and Portland, OR; and Catalyze partnerships in Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio, College Possible coaches students from low-income backgrounds to and through college to break the cycle of poverty and empower the next generation of leaders. Its model earns top-of-field results: a 2011 Harvard randomized controlled trial, the gold standard of evaluations, found that College Possible’s program more than doubles a student’s chance of enrolling in a four-year college, and its students are four times more likely to become college graduates than their low-income peers. College Possible has a budget of over $22 million, more than 130 full-time employees and more than 270 AmeriCorps and VISTA service members. During the 2017-2018 school year, it served students in all 50 states, at more than 90 partner high schools and at more than 350 colleges.
Interested candidates should send a cover letter and resume to hr@collegepossible.org.
