Managing Director, Postsecondary Investment Strategy
The Commit Partnership, the largest regional educational “backbone” organization in the nation with 70+ employees and an operating budget exceeding $40 million annually, is seeking a bold, strategic, and collaborative leader to serve as the Managing Director of the organization’s Postsecondary Investment Strategy—an executive-level role at the center of Dallas County Promise 2.0, one of the most comprehensive, data-driven student success efforts in the country.
With over $110 million in anchor funding already committed from Dallas and national institutional investors, the Dallas County Promise 2.0 initiative is executing a comprehensive approach to double the number of young adults earning a living wage by the year 2040…in a county which ranks 7th (out of 3,100 counties nationwide) in the number of young adults living in poverty.
This leader will oversee the effective deployment, implementation, and long-term impact of catalytic Promise 2.0 investments being provided by numerous multi year national and regional investors, all strategically designed to help address the underlying root causes hindering post-secondary success…and thus break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Reporting to Commit’s Chief Operating Officer with dotted line responsibility to the organization’s CEO, the Managing Director will work closely with the Commit team, the 20+ staff at the Economic Mobility Center, and Education is Freedom, a to-and-through college and career advising entity, to help ensure that both philanthropic and public capital are being leveraged for maximum return—financial, social, and systemic. If successful, potential outcomes are extraordinary—just a 10% increase in Associate degree attainment for five regional graduating high school classes would translate into over $7.0 billion of incremental lifetime earnings for the students positively impacted.
This role is more than executive grants management; it’s a systems leadership opportunity requiring cross-sector fluency, sharp strategic thinking, disciplined financial oversight, and the ability to drive collective accountability among diverse partners—from K-12 systems and higher education institutions to workforce and advising nonprofits. It also provides the opportunity to influence statewide policy based on the Promise’s regional results, as well as the opportunity to help inform and advise other urban regions across Texas who have expressed interest in replicating the Dallas County model.
The salary range for this role is $150K - $182K.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Investment Stewardship
- Oversee the execution and performance of over $130 million in secured and pending philanthropic investments, including challenge grants and endowments aligned with Dallas County Promise 2.0.
- Sit on the Dallas Promise Advisory board, helping represent Commit in its role as lead capital aggregator in strongly supporting the effort.
- Ensure disciplined, transparent stewardship of capital across complex, multi-year initiatives, all focused on improving long-term student outcomes.
- Maintain alignment between capital deployment and Promise 2.0 strategies including but not limited to scaling real-time data systems, improving college and career advising, growing student supports, and aligning institutional incentives where possible.
- Lead collaborative investment deployment and stewardship across a growing ecosystem that includes Dallas College, SMU, UT-Dallas, UNT-Dallas, Education is Freedom, the Economic Mobility Center and other key actors.
- Facilitate regular convenings to benchmark and communicate progress, identify barriers, and keep cross-institutional workstreams aligned and on track.
- Serve as a connective tissue across K-12, higher education, workforce, and nonprofit partners, helping ensure shared ownership of key milestones with others.
- Work closely with Commit’s Analytics & Insights team and the 20+ team at the Economic Mobility Center to define, track and communicate progress along key investment-specific KPIs such as college readiness, enrollment, post-secondary credential completion, transfer success, and post-graduation wage outcomes.
- Collaborate with Commit’s Evaluation & Research team to produce insights on the social and economic ROI of deployed capital. • Design and oversee creation of real-time dashboards and reports via support from the Economic Mobility Center’s Salesforce case management system and data team to drive continuous improvement and transparency with all stakeholders including investors.
- Partner with Education is Freedom, Dallas College Foundation and Commit’s philanthropy and executive teams to cultivate and secure additional capital from aligned regional and national funders.
- Produce compelling, data-informed investor reports that demonstrate impact and inspire continued partnership.
- Support the long-term sustainability of Promise 2.0 by continuing to identify strategies that leverage bridge philanthropy to be replaced by sustainable public outcomes-based funding.
You are a purpose-driven collaborative leader with a deep belief in the power of education to fuel economic mobility and an understanding of the various systemic barriers that hinder current success. You thrive in complexity, operate with discipline, and build trust across sectors.
You bring:
- Proven experience managing large, multi-partner initiatives with both financial and impact accountability.
- A track record of stewarding and deploying capital with integrity and strategic foresight.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to translate data into action and narrative.
- Exceptional communication skills to both humbly and effectively influence executive leaders, investors, and policymakers.
- A strong commitment to providing equal student access to opportunity and a deep understanding of the barriers faced by first-generation and low-income students.
- 10+ years of professional experience in philanthropy, investment/fund management, nonprofit leadership, or social impact strategy—ideally with exposure to education or workforce systems.
- 5+ years managing teams towards successful goal attainment.
- At least 3+ years of demonstrated experience overseeing grant or investment capital deployment ($5M+ preferred) and implementation towards outcomes.
- Demonstrated experience in initiating, building, and maintaining strong relationships with partners and influential decision-makers.
- 5+ years working across complex partnerships and layers of leadership internally and with external stakeholders to influence decision making in large institutional systems.
- Track record of producing data-rich, compelling impact reports for institutional funders.
- Experience securing philanthropic capital from major investors or foundations.
- Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in a related field preferred.
Core Competencies
- Strategic thinking and systems leadership
- Sophisticated financial and investment stewardship
- Cross-sector relationship management • Data fluency and outcome measurement
- High-quality communication and presentation design
- Ability to navigate ambiguity and drive aligned action
This is a Dallas-based position with a minimum requirement to be in person at the Commit Partnership offices on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm and remote on Tuesdays and Fridays which requires reliable internet connection.
Job Requirements
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed must be representative of the knowledge, skills, minimum education, training, licensure, experience and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Commit Partnership is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Our commitment to equal employment opportunity applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, benefits, training, and termination. We are dedicated to fostering a workplace where all employees feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute to our mission.
About The Commit Partnership:
Our Mission
We believe that through our actions, Dallas County – which educates 10% of Texas and 1% of the nation– can be an inclusive and prosperous region where economic opportunity is shared equitably. That’s why our true north goal is that by 2040 at least half of all 25-34-year-old residents of Dallas County, irrespective of race, will be provided the opportunity to earn a living wage.
To increase living wage attainment, we must equitably increase educational success aligned with high-demand jobs, maximizing the cumulative impact from early education all the way to college, career, and/or military readiness and accessing and completing a strong postsecondary education. Our staff aligns community stakeholders around this shared future roadmap – analyzing data to lift up strategic initiatives that improve policies, practices, and funding that grow our community’s capacity to serve every student more effectively.
Our Story
Founded in 2012, this partnership is the nation’s largest educational collective impact organization, composed of backbone staff and over 200 partners across Dallas County and the state of Texas working collaboratively to solve systemic education challenges. Our staff aligns community stakeholders around a shared future roadmap – analyzing data to lift up strategic initiatives that improve policies, practices, and funding that grow our community’s capacity to serve every student more effectively.
Together, we work to advocate for excellent and equitable public education that ensures all students – regardless of race, place, or socio-economic status – have the power to determine their future and earn a living wage. We do this work through several ventures including Early Matters Dallas, North Texas Tutoring Corps, Dallas County Promise, Texas College Bridge, Dallas Thrives, Commit’s Policy Team, the Texas Impact Network, and several coalitions.
True North Traits
Our True North Traits creates a mission-driven environment and champions us to do our best work each day.
Systemic Impact: You understand the barriers and lived experiences that our students face and are skilled at delivering systemic solutions at scale that address these needs. You achieve significant, sustainable results that increase equitable outcomes through your work (including the reallocation or improvement in public funding), and you recognize the difference between activity and impact.
Judgment: You exhibit a relentless “students first” focus by thinking strategically about what data must be collected, analyzed, visualized, and activated (and what steps must be taken, in what order) to cause resources to be reallocated and actions to be taken to systemically overcome the root causes hindering achievement of the Partnership's mission.
Communication: By listening to understand before seeking to be understood, you’re able to build trust and facilitate collaboration across lines of difference, recognizing that both are essential to our success. You are also able to find common ground with diverse stakeholders and can tailor the organization's message to different audiences as needed to influence meaningful change.
Innovation: You can create or meaningfully contribute to the design and execution of a systemic and transformational strategic plan to solve complex problems, often at scale, that improves organizational effectiveness and/or closes equity gaps for our students and families.
Equity and Inclusion: You intentionally create spaces where relevant stakeholders have a seat or voice at the table, ensuring that each person at the table's thoughts and perspectives are shared, valued by all others at the table, and reflected in our work. You're excited to help build and/or contribute to teams where everyone feels welcomed, respected, valued, and highly supported.
Joy: You recognize that people are central to our work, striking a balance between people and process, and you inspire others with your optimism and thirst for substantive change in service to the mission.
Integrity: You admit mistakes openly, share learnings widely, and elevate bad news quickly, also capable of making difficult decisions in all situations to ensure the success of the organization.
The Commit Partnership is an Equal Opportunity Employer that seeks to hire individuals with backgrounds similar to that of the stakeholders they serve. As an organization that embraces equity and inclusion, all employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.
Commit does not sponsor visas of any kind.