Position description 

Great MN Schools is seeking a Community Engagement Manager to support a range of projects aimed at improving K-12 education in Minneapolis. This position will focus on project management and community building, supporting a variety of initiatives while fostering collaboration among community organizations, schools, families, other education nonprofits, and policy leaders to improve education systems and student outcomes. To do this job well, the Community Engagement Manager will requires exceptional organizational skills, a proactive approach to managing details, and the ability to build and maintain strong external relationships.

The Community Engagement Manager is a non-supervisory role that reports to the Vice President of Community Engagement and is part of the Community Engagement team. This role is designed to support ongoing projects at Great MN Schools and offers a unique opportunity to directly influence education advocacy and policy that drive meaningful improvements in the city’s education system.

Project Management 

This role will support a variety of projects aimed at addressing critical issues in the K-12 education system, responding to community needs, and learning from (and implementing) best practices from similar cities around the country. Projects will focus on driving change at the school, district, city, or state level, with a goal of improving education across multiple layers of the system. Examples of projects include organizing the annual Minneapolis School Finder Fair, creating a school board voter guide for Minneapolis, supporting team members on existing fellowships like Get on Board and Changemakers Twin Cities, and leading initiatives for Great MN Schools’ grant programs. 

Key responsibilities involve convening diverse groups to explore system solutions, creating and managing complex work plans, supporting focus groups with community partners, tracking progress on grants, organizing site visits to other cities, planning family engagement events, and coordinating advocacy efforts like a “Day at the Capitol,” for various issues. 

External relationship building

This role is focused on building and maintaining relationships across the local K-12 education ecosystem, including community organizations, families, schools, education leaders, and civic and business stakeholders. The Manager will work to create coalitions that unite diverse groups with shared goals, ensuring collaboration to improve K-12 conditions for students, even amidst differing perspectives.

Key responsibilities include identifying new opportunities for partnerships, maintaining ongoing dialogue with groups holding opposing viewpoints, and attending external events to foster relationships and support collaboration. Projects will involve working closely with organizations such as the Minneapolis Board of Education, Minnesota Association of Charter Schools, the Minnesota Department of Education, Minneapolis Public Schools, and other local education champions and community-facing groups.

Grant Management

Great MN Schools works with education policy experts and community-facing organizations to drive systemic change in K-12 education. This role will support key aspects of the organization’s grant programs, which align with our advocacy and policy priorities. Specifically, the Community Engagement Manager will assist in managing two ongoing grant programs: Ecosystem Grants and Engaging Family Grants.

Key responsibilities include annually updating the grantmaking requests for proposals (RFPs), developing grantmaking objectives, and overseeing the approval and reporting processes. The role also involves building and maintaining relationships with grantees, attending events and meetings to represent GMS, and engaging with grantees to track progress toward grant milestones. This position plays a crucial role in advancing GMS’s mission through strategic investments and collaborative partnerships.

This role offers a unique opportunity to build relationships across a variety of local community-based organizations and influence education policy and advocacy at various levels of the education ecosystem.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate has at least 3-5 years of professional experience and can demonstrate the ability to project manage multiple initiatives while also maintaining strong external relationships across a variety of stakeholders. We are seeking a dynamic team member who holds a personal commitment to ensuring every child in Minneapolis has access to an excellent and equitable education.

Knowledge and Skills 

• Proven ability to manage multiple complex projects with multiple moving parts, ensuring all deadlines and deliverables are met. (Project management certification prioritized, but not required)
• Detail-oriented, with a track record of creating organized systems for tracking progress and ensuring quality outcomes.
• Capable of maintaining a large portfolio of relationships with diverse stakeholders
• Experience in supporting grantmaking process, including updating annual materials like requests for proposals (RFPs), tracking milestones, and overseeing year-end reporting
• Proficient in Google Suite, Zoom, Wrike, Salesforce; open to learning new applications (including the use of AI)
• Solid understanding of the K-12 education landscape in Minneapolis, including district, charter, and independent schools (or demonstrable experience working with similar demographics)
• Fluency in Spanish or Somali (prioritized, but not required)
• Experience in advocacy or policy initiatives around an established issue

Personal characteristics 

• Demonstrable commitment to racial equity, with an ability to apply an equity lens to all aspects of their work.
• Highly detail-oriented with excellent organizational skills and an aptitude for learning and implementing new systems
• Strong commitment to Great MN Schools’ mission and vision to transform K-12 education so that children of all races, means, and origins access excellent and equitable schools:
  • Mission—Ensure every child attends a great school that prepares them to thrive in their lives, careers, and community. 
  • Values—Honesty, Inclusivity, Intentionality, Courage, and Collaboration 
• Ability to work nights and weekends as necessary (approximately one night per week and/or one weekend per month)
• Comfortable working on a highly collaborative team, and on projects with significant collaboration and co-ownership across organizations.
• Willingness to represent the organization at external events  
• Relationship-builder, with demonstrated ability to foster collaboration among diverse groups by listening carefully and maintaining focus on common objectives
• Ability to apply an equity lens in their work and actively participate in the organization’s DEI work 

Location

Great MN Schools offices in the North Loop Minneapolis WeWork office located at 729 N Washington Ave. Team members are expected to work from the office a minimum of two days a week (currently all staff are in the office Tuesday and Wednesday). To perform the necessary duties of this role, on occasion, the Community Engagement Manager will need to be in the office for additional days, and needs to have the flexibility to do so with limited forewarning. Additionally, as a member of the Community Engagement team, this role will frequently have work responsibilities that fall on nights and weekends. 

Compensation
$50,000-$65,000 per year commensurate with experience, plus a competitive benefits package, including 401K match, health, vision, and dental insurance, disability coverage, and access to HSA and FSA plans. GMS Employees are also eligible for the team bonus program, designed to support collaboration and collective ownership, and to recognize shared impact on organizational goals.

Please Apply by Feb 17

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Please fill out this form to apply.

If you require accommodation as part of the hiring process, please let us know!

Great MN Schools is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity within our team. We encourage applicants who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and people from households with low incomes to apply.

About Great MN Schools
We work to ensure that every child attends an excellent and equitable school that prepares them to thrive in their lives, careers, and communities.

Great schools that enroll kids from low-income backgrounds make a difference. These students grow academically at twice the rate, are twice as likely to graduate, and are six times as likely to earn a postsecondary degree. We focus on developing and sustaining great schools in Minneapolis for all students through:

>> Creating more high-performing schools for underserved communities. Our school-centered approach starts with identifying schools with strong leaders and culture and helping them diagnose their strengths and gaps. We facilitate the development of a strategic roadmap, and surround schools with support to ensure the implementation of strategic interventions and evidence-based solutions.

>> Building community partnerships to support underserved families’ ability to navigate K-12 systems. We work with community organizations to provide families with helpful tools and resources, resulting in families choosing better options for their children, stronger family-school relationships and stronger schools.

>> Advancing proven solutions toward more high-performing schools. We elevate what’s possible and engage the community as partners in change.

By working alongside schools and supporting families, we’re committed to transforming education equity for students—of all backgrounds—and elevating what’s possible.