Company Description

About the Organization 

KIPP Public Schools is a national network of tuition-free public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 278 schools, nearly 16,500 educators, and nearly 190,000 students and alumni. 

Our mission: Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world. 

Our vision: Every child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities. 

The KIPP Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports KIPP public charter schools across the country. The KIPP Foundation helps to develop outstanding educators to lead KIPP schools; provides tools and resources for excellent teaching and learning; promotes innovation; and facilitates the exchange of insights and ideas across KIPP and other public schools and organizations. 

About Our Values: 

Excellent Results for Students: We value results over effort and know that our work is not finished until all students thrive. We maintain high expectations for self, team, and students. We drive outcomes by operating with agility, removing barriers, differentiating support, and prioritizing student-centered solutions—especially for those at the margins. 

Collective Impact: We are one team. We win together. We embody a one-team mindset by working collaboratively across teams, aligning goals, and leveraging the strengths of all teammates. We build trust-based relationships and ensure inclusive decision-making by engaging those closest to the work. We provide clarity through simple, repeatable systems and goals that enable transformational outcomes. 

Courageous Action: Our belief in what we can achieve is unwavering, fueling our optimism and commitment to overcome any challenge. We demonstrate an unwavering belief in students' potential and a commitment to addressing systemic inequities. We approach challenges with resilience, a solutions-focused mindset, and adaptability. We foster a psychologically safe environment centered on trust and accountability where feedback is encouraged. We leverage data to reflect on progress, own setbacks, celebrate successes, and continuously improve to maximize impact. 

Job Description

About The Position 

The Vice President of Development will play a pivotal leadership role in shaping and executing the fundraising strategy for KIPP Foundation.  This role is a key partner to the Chief Development Officer (CDO) and will work closely with the Chief Executive Officer to drive philanthropic growth. Reporting to the Chief Development Officer (CDO), the VP will lead a team of talented development professionals and serve as a thought partner to both the CDO and the Chief Executive Officer. This leader will contribute meaningfully to KIPP’s bold vision to raise over $100 million annually.  They will be charged with identifying and cultivating new major donors—including multiple new supporters at the seven- and eight-figure level—to ensure KIPP’s long-term sustainability and impact. Beyond sustaining this annual fundraising engine, this leader will also collaborate with executive leadership in the recruitment of new national board members who bring not only deep commitment to KIPP’s mission but also seven-figure philanthropic capacity, and play an supporting role in launching a new growth fund. 

The ideal candidate is both a relationship-builder and a strategic operator: someone who inspires confidence in regional leaders, national board members, and senior executives alike through sound judgment, sharp strategic thinking, and deep fundraising expertise. They must bring a passion for KIPP’s mission, a commitment to excellence in donor stewardship, and a desire to build systems, teams, and partnerships that fuel ambitious growth. 

Responsibilities 

The VP’s work will span three major, interconnected workstreams: 

1. High Net Worth Donor Strategy 

• Build and manage a robust portfolio of ultra-high net worth individuals, with a targeted focus on 1-2 strategic geographies; this includes: 

  • Cultivating new seven- and eight-figure donors aligned with KIPP’s One KIPP strategy to become the best K–12 public school system—academically excellent, joyful, and identity-affirming.

  • Designing and executing a personalized, best-in-class stewardship strategy tailored to both donor preferences and KIPP’s organization-wide priorities. 

  • Strengthening relationships with current donors while identifying opportunities to grow long-term philanthropic commitments. 

• Develop and implement a multi-year strategy for regionally anchored, collaborative fundraising that lifts KIPP regions. 

1. Team Leadership and Management  

• Oversee a team of individual giving professionals working across portfolios and regions to advance KIPP Foundation’s fundraising objectives. This includes: 
  • Hiring, developing, and leading a diverse, high-performing team that operates with excellence, delivers on goals, and acts in alignment with KIPP values. 
  • Setting clear, individualized key performance indicators (KPIs) in alignment with team and organizational goals, and managing individuals towards those KPIs. 
  • Fostering a team culture grounded in equity, continuous learning, and belonging, and proactively applying leadership best practices. 
  • Collaborating across departments on cross-functional initiatives to amplify KIPP’s impact and donor engagement. 

1. Regional Innovation and Pilot Partnership with KIPP NYC 

• Launch and oversee an innovative pilot partnership with KIPP NYC to deepen engagement with New York-based donors and serve as a model for future regional collaboration. This includes: 

  • Managing a four-person fundraising team based in NYC to execute the pilot’s goals, including hiring several of these roles.

  • Partnering with the NYC team to identify joint ask opportunities with NYC donors eager to support both the region and the broader KIPP network, with a goal of raising $9M+ annually through this approach.

Qualifications

Skills and Mindsets 

• Mission & Student Focus: Demonstrates passion and commitment to KIPP’s mission and possesses the desire and ability to uphold KIPP’s core values (Focus on Excellent Results, Collective Impact, and Courageous Action)  

• Achievement & Outcomes Orientation: Demonstrated record of setting and achieving ambitious goals for their departments in complex or ambiguous environment; uses data, research, and analysis to set a high bar of excellence for goal setting; effectively distributes and redistributes work among direct reports, teammates, and teams to optimizes goal attainments; effectively sets and fosters a culture that enables and celebrates teammates’ achievements and goals attainment. 

• Partnership, Alliance-Building and Stakeholder Management: Can generate excitement, enthusiasm, and commitment across internal and external stakeholders to advance KIPP’s Mission; has political acumen and the interpersonal, diplomatic, and communications skills necessary to develop successful working relationships with diverse constituents. 

• Effective Work Management & Strategic Clarity: Design and evolve multi-year vision and direction that promotes organizational priorities; Effectively prioritizes and delivers on work products that ensure sustainability and scalability of work. Develops and implements agile project plans that ensures cross functional collaboration and resource sharing to ensure achieving organizational goals; creates and ensures systems are in place for knowledge management. 

• People Management & Development: Effectively ensures strong professional development and coaching for teammates through layers; proficient in the mechanics of succession management and performance management for teammates; able to coach as a manager of managers; skilled at setting and fostering a positive team culture in which teammates feel ownership and accountability for their own and the broader team’s work and results.  

• Strategic Decision Making & Problem Solving: Effectively uses data to shape teamwide decisions and the learning agenda or evaluation of a function or significant initiative. Able to generate, implement, and evaluate solutions with a focus on scalability and sustainability; can make courageous yet necessary decisions in the interest of students and families; can maintain exemplary integrity, discretion, and cultural competence while working with staff and with confidential/sensitive information.   

Experience and Qualifications 

• Fundraising Experience: At least 7-10 years of experience in fundraising, with a track record of success cultivating and generating revenue from high-net-worth individuals  

• Experience with executive leadership and boards, with an extraordinary track record of excellence in implementing strategic priorities in a way that produced significant results, ideally in a charter school network and K-12 education setting.   

• Team Leadership Experience: At least 7-10 years of experience managing teams, with a focus on building inclusive cultures and strong operational excellence resulting in strong outcomes for the organization 

• Commitment to education equity, social justice, and a passion for KIPP’s mission and values, including a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.   

Additional Information

Work Conditions 

• Travel requirements: 30-50% 

• Full Time, Exempt Position 

Location 

It is preferred, but not mandatory for this role to be based out of a KIPP Foundation office. This role has the option of working from a remote office full-time. KIPP Foundation offices are in NYC and Chicago.  

Compensation and Benefits  

In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, and relevant experience. The salary range for this position is $300,000-$335,000.   In addition, KIPP Foundation provides a variety of benefits to employees, including:  

• 25 holidays for + 18 days additional flexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to 23 days for years 3 and 4 and to 28 days for years 5+). 

• 100% paid parental leave 

• 100% coverage of the premium for employee and 75% for employee + family’s medical/dental/vision plans. 

• Wellness benefits such as fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to theme parks/attractions, backup care support for children and adults/elders, and our employee assistance program 

• Finance Security benefits include such as a 401K retirement plan with 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts 

KIPP Foundation embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the students and communities with whom we work and the world that around them. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.