Education Initiatives Manager

Position description

Candidates will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The position will remain open until we have a sufficient pool of diverse candidates who meet the job requirements, at which point we may pause the review of new applications before the stated deadline. Please understand that you may not be contacted for several weeks after you apply.

Ideal Start Date: 2-4 weeks after offer

About the Center for Disaster Philanthropy

CDP began in 2010 with the goal of pioneering the practice of strategic disaster philanthropy. Since then, it has grown in its ambition, envisioning a world where the impact of disasters is minimized through thoughtful, equitable and responsible recovery for all. CDP has a $40 million budget and a team of 30+ staff members working remotely across the U.S.

CDP is a trusted partner, expert and authoritative resource helping hundreds of individuals, foundations and corporations boost the impact of philanthropic giving in response to disasters and humanitarian crises by supporting equitable recovery and addressing the root causes of vulnerabilities worldwide.

In 2024, CDP awarded approximately $16 million through 78 grants to grantee partners worldwide, demonstrated thought leadership through webinars, blog posts, featured speaking engagements, and other events, and served 20+ philanthropic partners through consulting efforts.

• In 2020, CDP was a featured nonprofit for the 14th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.
• CDP has earned Charity Navigator’s Four-Star Charity rating, Candid’s Platinum Transparency seal and is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity.

As an organization grounded in racial and intersectional equity, our team members are deeply committed to strengthening communities most vulnerable to disasters because of systemic inequities. We are guided by our values of integrity, boldness and innovation, humility, and empathy in all that we do in pursuit of our mission.

Bottom line: We aspire to walk the talk of anti-racism and treat each other and our partners in ways that inspire trust, creativity, learning and care.

Be a part of our fast-growing team that offers countless ways to help communities thrive. Join us!

Responsibilities & Duties

Over the last few years of CDP’s 15-year history, growth has been exponential. CDP has granted over $123 million to more than 676 nonprofits, influenced and educated numerous philanthropists and grown its base of donors and partners. CDP’s positioning and increased visibility bring a need for enhanced education and engagement expertise to support CDP’s mission, strategic plan and growth.

The education initiatives manager will play a critical role in supporting CDP’s ambition to be the leading expert in equitable recovery for marginalized communities affected by disasters. Reporting to the director of innovation and special projects, the education initiatives manager will coordinate donor education initiatives and deploy creative, state-of-the-art (including digital) adult learning techniques for educational content, curriculum development and presentation.

This includes managing team members engaged in education efforts, including the content development associate, liaising closely with the marketing and communications (marcomm) team and working collaboratively across the organization to advance education outcomes for philanthropic audiences.

This role combines learning and development expertise, project management and execution, . It is ideal for an education professional who is enthusiastic about creative and innovative approaches to help strengthen CDP’s reach, reputation and influence within disaster philanthropy.

As a fully remote workforce, CDP prioritizes employee engagement and relationship-building in service of a collaborative culture rooted in equity. To this end, in-person team retreats are scheduled throughout the year in different regions of the U.S. This role will be expected to attend 2-3 retreats per year, which average 3-5 days of travel each. This role may also require travel to donor engagement events, conferences and other convenings.

Qualifications

You are a clear, creative and compelling communicator with strong editorial and design instincts. You have the ability to drive high-quality multimedia content production in a fast-paced environment, including during situations requiring rapid responses. You are an experienced and detail-oriented project manager who is skilled at influencing others, and adept at ensuring products are accurate, polished and delivered on time.

You are a strategic thinker who identifies opportunities to strengthen organizational positioning and thought leadership through education, providing new and actionable ideas on ways to educate and engage philanthropy on disasters, humanitarian crises and equitable recovery. You are comfortable with technology, knowledgeable about multimedia engagement tools and tactics, and promote user-centered approaches to ensure that educational products and services resonate with key audiences.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Support the development of innovative educational products and training, and help determine the best delivery modalities across virtual and in-person channels.
• Draft, edit and adapt a wide range of education content, including blogs, articles, webinar scripts, talking points and presentations.
• Test and implement innovative and creative engagement tactics across web, print, and digital channels informed by adult learning theories.
• Collaborate with internal subject matter experts to develop and implement online learning strategies informed by CDP’s mission and strategic goals.

Education project management

• Serve as project manager for educational materials supporting different philanthropic audiences, with primary responsibility for content development, production timelines, team coordination and quality control.
• Manage educational project and training logistics for multiple internal and external audiences, including webinars, convenings and workshops.
• Coordinate the design, development and delivery of online courses, modules and other e-learning content.
• Monitor and evaluate metrics related to education products and services to make adjustments and ongoing improvements.

Disaster tracking & editorial leadership

• Track trends in disasters, disaster giving and philanthropy to identify relevant educational opportunities (e.g., for webinars or educational campaigns).
• Proactively track disaster and philanthropy discourse, organizational priorities and donor engagement trends to shape education strategy, strengthen CDP’s voice and expand audience reach.
• Support disaster mobilization content and communication as needed, including coordinating blogs, disaster profiles, talking points, emergency webinars and other materials to address emergent donor needs and interests.
• Serve as an in-house education advisor to support cross-team needs and ad hoc content requests (e.g., training materials, multimedia assets, workshop design and facilitation).
• Work with the director of advisory services and the expert advisory services team to support identified education needs (e.g., deliverables or information) for projects and clients.
• Support new educational efforts incubated under the innovation and special projects work stream and guide their transition to permanent efforts when applicable.
• Work with the director of strategy and research to support knowledge mobilization/external education plans related to research, learning and evaluation projects.
• Work closely with marketing and communications, development, and funds management and coalition building teams to ensure depth and accuracy of relevant educational products.
• Contribute to the development of an internal education knowledge management strategy to collect, organize, share and make accessible CDP’s education knowledge assets to all teams.
• Contribute to the development of tools and templates to enhance cross-team collaboration and coordination on donor education efforts.

Required qualifications and skills:

• years of relevant professional experience, demonstrated through working knowledge and expertise in an education or learning function.
• Knowledge of and experience implementing adult education techniques for special projects and organizational learning, particularly within a variety of cultural and cross-cultural contexts.
• Ability to effectively synthesize and distill complex information clearly and persuasively to multiple audiences.
• Strong understanding of disaster-related trends, emerging technologies and dynamics.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with a demonstrated ability to balance immediate deadlines with long-term planning, while managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, and ability to think creatively and outside the box.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation and writing skills.
• Ability to work independently in a fully remote environment and collaborate effectively with dispersed, cross-functional teams in ways that foster collaboration and creativity.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Fluency in Microsoft Office suite (e.g., Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
• Familiarity with digital learning and content development tools (e.g., Articulate, Captivate or Adobe Animate)

Preferred qualifications and skills:

• Direct experience working on domestic or international disaster response, either in immediate relief or long-term recovery.
• Experience working in or alongside philanthropy.
• Experience with project management and knowledge management tools.
• Skills in training and facilitation.
• Experience managing, supervising, mentoring and/or coaching others.

Personal characteristics:

• Commitment to the values intrinsic to CDP’s mission and strategy.
• Energetic and eager to tackle new projects and ideas.
• High tolerance of ambiguity and appetite to tackle issues constructively.
• Team player capable of cultivating productive relationships across teams.
• Sense of humor.
• Deeply curious and open to learning as well as teaching.

Application instructions

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