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MCAN is an equity-focused organization and values having broad, diverse representation and inclusivity on our team. This is critical to provide perspectives and lived experiences to help guide our work to have the greatest impact. We especially encourage people of color and first-generation college graduates to apply.
Since our founding a decade ago, MCAN has known that college changes everything — and perhaps even more critical to our mission is the belief that college is for everyone.
We do what it takes to provide students in Michigan with a brighter long-term future, through college access and postsecondary certificate and degree attainment: doing the research, talking to agents of change, connecting resources, being a changemaker.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
The Director of Educated Workforce Strategy is a new position at Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) that will lead the organization’s strategies focused on supporting systems change across Michigan’s workforce development sector in tandem with higher education, K12, and local community sectors to advance the organization’s Sixty by 30 goal. Under the supervision of the Deputy Director, the Director of Educated Workforce Strategy serves as a senior leader and supports various initiatives and projects focused across the workforce development sector aligned to MCAN’s strategic plan and Strategy for an Educated Workforce, both of which expand the organizational scope to include a dedicated focus on adult learners, college completion, employer engagement, and the workforce development sector more directly. The ideal candidate is self-motivated, technically capable, detail-oriented, and can prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced, innovative environment. Having a tolerance for ambiguity, risk-taking, and an adventuresome outlook will help ensure success within MCAN’s work and culture. A strong commitment and understanding of the role of college access and success in addressing racism and equity are essential. Importantly, MCAN’s work in this sector will emphasize student success with a student-first approach to all initiatives. The director understands the pivotal role education plays in transforming a community’s prosperity and an individual’s economic independence. Also essential to this role is an understanding of Michigan’s workforce development system, preferably with prior experience leading within this system or working in a close partnering capacity. This leader understands the complexity of the workforce development system, from the federal government to hyper-local, and the many organizations and leaders that comprise it. This role will focus on empowering stakeholders engaged in Michigan’s existing workforce networks, while also continuing to build and develop new networks. The Director will work together with leaders across all Michigan workforce development organizations, inclusive of state-level departments and associations, local workforce development entities, community-based organizations, and employers in an effort to work towards increasing educational outcomes for Michigan’s residents in support of Michigan’s Sixty by 30 goal. The role will also interact regularly with stakeholders from higher education, K12, and local communities to promote de-siloing and sector alignment.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Director of Educated Workforce Strategy performs a wide range of duties including, but not limited to, the following:
Strategic Leadership and Expertise
▪ Lead and oversee MCAN’s Strategy for an Educated Workforce and Educated Workforce department: Support implementation and updates of the recently developed strategy, establish staffing structure, and oversee the departmental budget.
▪ Seek opportunities to leverage and support the workforce development system as a strategy to increase college access and success internally and with partner organizations.
▪ Lead efforts to achieve MCAN’s strategic plan goals within the workforce development system to increase college access and success.
▪ Gather and analyze pertinent data for decision-making, program design, and presentations.
▪ Develop the knowledge and expertise of the organization and staff of workforce development system strategies, opportunities, and challenges.
▪ In partnership with the Executive Director, co-lead advocacy for increased investment across the workforce development, higher education, and K12 sectors.
Programmatic Oversight
▪ Work in tandem with the Director of Higher Education Innovation to support the expansion of the Roadmap to Opportunity series focused on highlighting education pathways for in-demand, high-wage careers through video, printed collateral, and professional development; explore opportunities to expand this line of effort in connection with MCAN’s goals around an educated workforce.
▪ Develop a workforce development systems change-focused grant strategy, including ongoing support, and coaching to the grantees.
▪ Execute all initiatives as articulated in the Strategy for an Educated Workforce in alignment with the overarching vision of a highly connected workforce system.
▪ Plan, build, and launch the next phase of MCAN’s work focused on workforce and employer partnerships.
Equity and Inclusion
▪ Help to build an anti-racist internal and external culture.
▪ Employ Targeted Universalism to move the needle on MCAN’s college access and success dashboard metrics.
▪ Lead in the development and continuous improvement of initiatives and strategies within the department designed to focus on opportunity and systemic gaps, specifically those impacting low-income students, first-generation college-going students, and students of color.
Partnership and Coordination
▪ Build and maintain relationships with key national, state, and local partners, including workforce professionals and membership associations.
▪ Strengthen and deepen relationships within workforce entities, employers, and employer associations alongside the Deputy Director and Executive Director.
▪ Regularly connect and partner with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Office of Employment and Training and the Michigan Works! Association.
▪ Lead a strategy focused on advocating, persuading, and convincing workforce development entities to identify and implement the systemic changes necessary to support students through to completion and into high-wage employment opportunities.
▪ Ensure programming and activity within the department are aligned, connected, and representative of the organization and its mission.
▪ Work with and support Local College Access Networks and other partner organizations to assist their efforts.
▪ Lead MCAN’s Educated Workforce Advisory Board and all related responsibilities under the guidance of the Deputy Director and Executive Director.
▪ Plan and execute MCAN’s annual Educated Workforce Summit, working in partnership with all other departments to make progress towards the vision of three highly connected systems (workforce, K12, and higher education) that result in student educational success.
Why? By encouraging Michigan residents to earn postsecondary certificates and degrees, we not only help them earn more and promote their well-being — we also strengthen Michigan’s talent pool, retain and attract businesses to the state and stimulate Michigan’s economy in the process. Through college access, we are also able to promote equity in our state. We work to ensure that every student in Michigan has the opportunity to attend college — especially low-income students, first-generation college-going students and students of color.
REQUIREMENTS
The ideal candidate should:
▪ Have a master’s degree in a program that would support this work.
▪ Bring five to eight years of experience working in or on issues pertaining to the workforce and/or the workforce system.
▪ Have an ability to collaborate across departments on multiple projects and timelines, and work independently with minimal management to effectively perform duties in a fast-paced environment.
▪ Can think critically to solve problems, pay attention to detail, and follow through on tasks assigned through completion.
▪ Work efficiently and adhere to established deadlines.
▪ Possess strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively as part of a team.
▪ Have a passion for working in the nonprofit and education sector, especially for postsecondary attainment.
▪ Have strong written and verbal communication skills.
The ideal candidate must:
▪ Hold a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
▪ Have a strong and demonstrated commitment to equity.
▪ Have a valid in-state driver’s license for regular local travel and national travel.
▪ Be vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19.
