Director of Institutional Partnerships

Our Mission

We are educators and advocates. We are a multi-racial, intergenerational, LGBTQ+ organization working nationally and locally to transform K-12 educational systems and democracy in the US.

GLSEN strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. We believe that such an atmosphere engenders a positive sense of self, which is the basis of educational achievement and personal growth. Since homophobia and heterosexism undermine a healthy school climate, we work to educate teachers, students and the public at large about the damaging effects these forces have on youth and adults alike.

The Challenge

GLSEN seeks a highly capable Director of Institutional Partnerships to lead the growth and management of a new organization-wide grants program.

Over its 30-plus year history, GLSEN has secured several significant, multi-year grants, from community and family foundations. However, in terms of annual revenue, the organization is not fully realizing the potential of grant funding to advance its mission. In addition to securing funding, well aligned partnerships with foundations can provide new avenues for GLSEN to deepen its impact. Growing a more systematic approach to grant acquisition and management is a strategic priority for the organization. The Senior Manager of Institutional Partnerships will help drive that process.

As an organization that works in the landscape of education, racial justice, gender justice and disability justice for LGBTQ+ youth, we believe there is significant alignment between foundation giving priorities and what we offer. We are seeking a Senior Manager of Institutional Partnerships to help identify grant opportunities that advance our mission, prepare competitive grant applications, and shepherd grants from proposal to final grant reporting.

This is a meaningful opportunity to help GLSEN expand and deepen its impact. The person in this role will be a key member of the development team, working closely with colleagues throughout the organization to build and shape this new grants program.

Location: This position is a remote position. Due to existing funder relationships, candidates should reside within the NYC Metro or LA Metro areas.

Primary Function

The Director of Institutional Partnerships will work collaboratively across multiple programs, demonstrating a deep understanding of programmatic content and impact. The ideal candidate will be experienced in managing successful grant applications and will possess strong network-building skills to establish and sustain relationships with foundation program officers. The Director of Institutional Partnerships should have outstanding organizational skills and excellent budgeting and monitoring skills.

Reporting Relationships and Volunteer Support
This position reports into the Deputy Executive Director of Development.

Responsibilities

Develop, grow, and sustain a grants program at GLSEN:

• Identify funding opportunities with foundations, governmental agencies, corporate, and community-based funding organizations to meet financial and operational goals of GLSEN.
• Cultivate and manage relationships with foundations and funder stakeholders through targeted and strategic outreach and stewardship.
• Work with Program and Power Building staff in identifying projects eligible for grant funding and how to develop project and program work plans that are grant ready.
• Analyze grant funding trends to identify growing programs and opportunities for increased funding; develop strong, expanding pipelines of foundations for GLSENs programs.
• Create and maintain a grants development calendar.
• Support Executive Director and Deputy Executive Directors with preparation of board materials and funding proposals.
• Plan and execute Funder Briefings to highlight GLSEN’s mission and programmatic work with potential supporters.
• Additional Responsibilities as assigned by the Deputy Executive Director.

Responsible for submission of all grant applications and grant reports:

• Develop grant opportunities and proposals in collaboration with GLSEN program, policy, research, finance and/or development staff.
• Prepare and submit grant applications and grant reports in accordance with funder requirements and deadlines, ensuring quality, integrity, and timeliness throughout the process.
• Own the process of writing grant proposals, letters of interest/inquiry, concept papers, and related materials for proposal submissions that align with funder interests.
• Manage progress of all grant-funded programs and broker communication between funders and GLSEN staff; consult with funder program officers as needed.
  Monitor, evaluation, and record keeping:
  • Provide guidance to GLSEN staff on necessary and/or useful evaluation strategies to grow reporting capacity and improve outcomes-based proposal writing.
  • Inform staff of the requirements of grant contracts and assist in advising on how best to navigate any necessary changes with funders.
  • Maintain records and files related to past, present, and prospective grant engagements, including proposal information, contracts, paperwork, and key documentation.
• Financials and budgets:
  • Prepare program and project budgets in collaboration with programmatic staff.
  • Track and monitor annual grant revenue goals to provide financial updates and recommendations for annual budget development.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate should meet the following criteria:

• Minimum five years’ experience in a nonprofit or foundation environment; Minimum three years’ experience in grants administration/management
• Demonstrated track record of winning significant grants, required
• The intellectual depth, entrepreneurial drive, maturity, self-confidence, interpersonal skills, and warmth to build and maintain relationships with people at all levels of the organization, across a diverse range of educational and social backgrounds.
• Strong cross-functional contributor within team environments and a driver of organizational culture; leverages input of stakeholders in order to move work forward.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; superlative writing and editing skills.
• Ability to prioritize work, meet deadlines, and produce quality results on time.
• Experience with developing and monitoring budgets and financial reporting.
• Ability to work collaboratively yet also work independently with little direct supervision.
• Experience facilitating group meetings for purposes of developing projects or initiatives.
• Ability to exercise professional judgment to make sound recommendations and handle confidential matters with the utmost integrity.
• Able to understand and use on-line grants submission web-sites and modules.
• Ability to effectively interact with all levels of project/administrative staff/managers within a large institution to ensure successful grant program implementation and subsequent reporting.
• Proficiency with office applications and online collaboration tools, such as Microsoft Suite, Google suite, Zoom, Adobe, DocuSign, Dropbox, Monday.com, Asana, Salesforce, etc.
• Schedule includes some occasional evening and weekend work.
• Ability to travel up to 10-15% of the time, including overnight travel and occasional weekends for National and Chapter meetings.
• In-person evening/weekend hours required at events and fundraising gatherings (typically 3-4 times per year).
• An appreciation for the mission and growth aspirations of GLSEN.
• You care about LGBTQ+ youth. You care about changing and saving lives. You want to come to work (physically and virtually) and feel inspired every day and you want to inspire others. You want to change the world for all youth in our K-12 education system.
• You like to have fun. The work we do is very serious and extremely impactful, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have fun. We know how to have a good time and you should too.

For more information see GLSEN's website at www.glsen.org. To apply, please submit your resume and letter of interest to: paul.irwindudek@glsen.org, Deputy Executive Director of Development. Resumes without a cover letter will not be considered.

This is a 40 hours/week full-time nonexempt position. Salary range is $100,000 – 120,000 per year (commensurate with experience and qualifications).

GLSEN offers a generous benefits package, including paid time off (21 days off including the first full week of July and the week between Christmas and News Years), 10 observed holidays, and 40 hours of paid sick leave (starting on January 1st of each calendar year), 100% employer-paid medical and dental insurance for staff and optional benefits for family members; life insurance; and a 401k plan with increasing employer contributions based on staff tenure.

All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

GLSEN is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strongly encourage people of color, of diverse gender identities, women and non-LGBT persons to apply.