Chief Executive Officer

What You'll Do

As CEO, you will shape the next chapter of Ingenuity Prep's (IP) legacy. Over the past decade, IP has cultivated a strong, mission-aligned staff community that partners closely with families and is deeply committed to student growth and success. After years of steady expansion, the school has focused on strengthening its structures, systems, and leadership —creating strong conditions the next leader will inherit to accelerate student achievement, elevate the student experience, and deepen community partnerships and students' connection to the strengths and rich history of Southeast Washington, D.C.

Ingenuity Prep seeks an experienced, equity-focused, relational leader, with expertise in organizational leadership and instructional leadership to serve as our next CEO. This exciting leadership role combines a compelling academic vision with a broader vision for building a strong community school. The incoming CEO will be responsible for the day to day operations, academic and fiscal oversight, and maintaining equity and accountability across all aspects of the organization. You will work closely with leaders to accelerate learning and foster classrooms that are rigorous, joyful, and affirming; enhance our student support and wellness programs, and strengthen family engagement. You will lead the Executive Leadership Team, steward a $25M+ budget with strategic precision, and build powerful partnerships with the Board, funding partners, policymakers, and community stakeholders to secure resources to realize Ingenuity Prep's mission.

This is an extraordinary opportunity for a courageous, forward-thinking leader who is excited about creating a proof point for what it looks like to create a high quality educational option – in a community that has historically been excluded from opportunity— where students' identities are centered and affirmed, academic excellence isn't the exception but the expectation, and where every student develops the competence and confidence to be impactful civic leaders that create their own extraordinary futures.

Equity Champion & Resilient Change Agent

• Lead with a deep commitment to racial equity, ensuring all students in Southeast DC have access to classrooms that challenge, affirm, and empower them.
• Proactively build and maintain relationships across the school community to ensure a culture of trust as a critical component of an equitable, student-centered environment.
• Seek to understand the barriers that impact students and families and partner with the staff, board, and the broader Washington DC community to address and interrupt those barriers in service of stronger student outcomes.
• Model resilience, adaptability, and courage in tackling complex challenges while keeping students' needs and potential at the center of all decisions.
• Inspire IP to embody a strengths-based, culturally responsive approach to teaching, learning, and operations.
• Inspire and align the Executive Team, the Board, school leaders, staff, and families around a shared commitment to racial equity, high expectations, and collective responsibility for ensuring students thrive academically, socially, and as future leaders.

Program Visionary & Strategic Leadership

• Partner with the Board and IP community to co-create and lead a bold, transformative vision that puts the strengths, potential, and brilliance of all students at the center, creating classrooms where every child is challenged, supported, and inspired to exceed expectations and leaves prepared to succeed in high school and beyond.
• Drive a culture of high academic standards, fostering creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking across all grades while cultivating belonging, pride, and purpose for every student.
• Partner with the CAO & Chief of Student Support and Wellness to implement instructional and social-emotional best practices - including but not limited to culturally responsive teaching, curriculum, and practices – to accelerate outcomes for all students.
• Design and implement strategic initiatives that accelerate learning outcomes for all students, strengthen staff and leader capacity, honor the knowledge and contributions of families, and expand Ingenuity Prep's impact across the city.
• Rapidly improve outcomes by partnering with leadership and school-based teams to analyze student data, identify trends, diagnose root causes, and use outcomes to pivot or iterate toward desired goals.
• Uphold consistent systems of learning, development and accountability grounded in student outcomes and instructional best practices.
• Enhance and deepen family and community engagement initiatives to foster an inclusive community and improve collaboration in support of the whole child.

Organizational, People, & Culture Leadership

• Lead with an unwavering conviction that the organization can and will meet audacious goals and relentlessly persevere through challenges.
• Foster an inclusive environment that invites different perspectives, is responsive to feedback, and creates an environment where staff can thrive in service of the mission.
• Lead with empathy, humility and accountability - grounding ambitious goals in a deep belief in the brilliance, potential, and resilience of all students and the Southeast DC community.
• Attract, grow, and retain a diverse, high-performing Executive Leadership Team that drives results, fosters innovation, inclusion, and develops talent across the organization that exceeds expectations.
• Evolve and enhance leadership systems and practices (i.e. decision-making, alignment, collaboration structures, etc.) to enable organizational success.
• Cultivate a thriving school culture where students, families, and staff share ownership of the mission - and where every student is safe, known, and successful.
• Oversee the organization's $25M+ annual budget and operational systems, ensuring strategic resource use, organizational resilience, and sustainable growth
• Partner with the Executive Team and the Board to strengthen governance, ensure alignment with mission and values, and advance a culture of transparency, trust, and shared accountability

Financial Acumen

• Oversee organizational finances, real estate, and the systems, processes, and procedures needed to maintain Ingenuity Prep's long-term fiscal health.
• Partner with the Board of Trustees to establish annual budgets and approve policies that advance our mission and vision, prioritize our academic program, and meet students' learning needs.
• Partner with the Board to shape a fundraising strategy that reflects and uplifts the community's strengths, voice, and vision.
• Drive financial sustainability by collaborating with the Board to build and broaden relationships with funding sources including individual, foundation, corporate, and government donors to maximize resources, and secure funding for organizational priorities.

Who You'll Work With

You will report to the Ingenuity Prep Board of Directors.

You will supervise the Executive Team (Chief Academic Officer, Chief Talent Officer, Chief Financial & Operations Officer, and the Chief of Student Support & Wellness)

You will frequently collaborate with the Academy Principals and Schoolwide Leadership.

• Demonstrates deep passion for Ingenuity Prep's mission, vision, and core values. This includes a steadfast commitment to racial equity and community partnership and the knowledge and skills required to create culturally competent trauma-informed schools where every student feels safe, known, and successful.
  
• A Bachelor's degree is required; an advanced degree is preferred.
• At least 10 years of professional experience in a K-12 charter management organization, K-12 district, non-profit, or education-adjacent organization, with at least 5 years of people management experience including experience managing through managers.
• Exceptional leadership and change management skills, including the ability to co-create a vision, effectively invest and engage stakeholders in that vision, and create a culture of caring accountability across staff and leaders to uphold that vision. - Leans into difficult conversations about performance with clarity and care in order to accelerate learning and growth for adults and students.
• Self-Reflective leader that will drive their own learning, consistently strive toward excellence, and consistently reflect on how identity, power and privilege impact their leadership.
• Track record of building trust and making values- based decisions while navigating complex dynamics of race, equity, diversity, and inclusion as it relates to adult interactions and student interactions.
• Track record of leading significant academic improvement and deep change management with a strong preference for experience leading change across 2 or more schools or academies (ES, MS, HS). Experience working in, supporting or managing a public charter middle school is strongly preferred but not required.
• Outstanding communication, relationship-building, and interpersonal skills to engage and partner with staff, families, Board members, and the broader D.C. community.
• Fundraising and budget management experience.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, using both data and lived experience to drive outcomes, inform decisions, and center equity in all strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to lead with equity, embrace systemic change, and champion culturally affirming practices

Compensation

The starting base salary for the position is $200,000 - $230,000 and commensurate with experience. Ingenuity Prep offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, and retirement plans, as well as paid time off and professional development opportunities.

Additional Details

Based in Washington, D.C. This is an in-person role with engagement at schools and community events.

Ingenuity Prep offers among the strongest compensation and benefits packages of any public charter school in Washington, D.C. Our compensation and benefits package includes:

Ingenuity Prep is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, creed, religion, national origin or ancestry, gender, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), age, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), sexual orientation, personal appearance, gender identity or expression, marital status, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation), lawful use of tobacco products and unemployment status or other protected class in accordance with applicable federal or District of Columbia laws in hiring or other employment practices.