About Lead For America
Lead For America (LFA) is dedicated to providing place-based service opportunities to local individuals to help mission-driven organizations advance solutions that are informed by place and responsive to community. The American Connection Corps (ACC), launched by LFA in 2021, is an AmeriCorps service program focused on closing the digital divide in digitally disconnected communities. Supported by a broad coalition of partners including AmeriCorps and major corporations, ACC has members serving in 30+ states across the country.
Department Context:
The Community Partnerships & Talent team leads the strategy and execution of how Lead For America activates local talent and builds the partnerships in the community where we work. The team operates in close collaboration across the organization to ensure alignment between community needs, program delivery, and strategic growth.
They partner closely with the Programs team to maintain a continuous, year-round feedback loop that aligns partnership development and talent strategy with programmatic priorities for ACC and emerging programs. The team also works alongside Marketing and Communications to clearly articulate and refine the organization’s value proposition, with Development to ensure alignment with grant requirements and funding strategy, and with Government Relations to identify opportunities for public sector partnership and expansion.
This team operates at the intersection of:
- Community and Host Site needs
- Local talent development
- Mission-aligned partnerships
The department is responsible for building and sustaining a place-based ecosystem where:
- Community organizations (host sites) serve as partners and co-creators of impact
- Members are recruited from and activated within their communities
- Systems and strategies align talent supply with community demand
Role Expectations:
The Director serves as the organization's strategic leader for community partnership growth and talent activation, ensuring Lead For America develops the relationships, systems, and talent pipelines necessary to expand its impact in communities nationwide.
This role reframes traditional recruitment into a two-sided, mission-driven system:
- Community partners (host sites) who define needs and co-invest in solutions
- Local talent (members) who bring lived experience and leadership
The Director is responsible for:
- Building and scaling a national portfolio of community-based host site partnerships
- Developing and implementing a place-based partnership strategy by analyzing current and recent cohorts to identify priority regions, technical sectors, and other considerations, enabling more focused and strategic recruitment and partnership efforts
- Designing place-based talent pipelines aligned with those partnerships for meaningful immediate-term, medium-term, and long-term outcomes
- Ensuring strong alignment between community-defined needs and talent placement
- Leading a team of Managers that deliver on both impact and sustainability goals
- Reporting to the COO, this role serves as a key strategic partner to senior leadership, funders, and cross-functional teams.
What You’ll Do:
1. Community Partnership Development & Strategy (Host Sites) – 30%
- Lead a mission-aligned approach to identifying, engaging, and securing host site partnerships.
- Develop and implement a national partnership strategy aligned with programmatic, geographic, and funding priorities
- Build and manage a robust pipeline of host site partners across nonprofits, government, and local institutions
- Lead a consultative, relationship-centered approach to partnership development (not transactional sales)
- Identify priority regions and sectors in collaboration with Programs, Development, and Government Relations teams
- Represent LFA at conferences, convenings, and community events to expand partnerships
- Design and refine outreach strategies (campaigns, webinars, referrals, ecosystem partnerships)
- Ensure partnership models support both community impact and financial sustainability
2. Partnership Stewardship & Host Site Success – 20%
- Ensure host sites are engaged as long-term partners and set up for success
- Build and oversee systems for partner onboarding, engagement, and retention
- Establish a host site success framework, including training, tools, and ongoing support
- Collaborate with Program teams to ensure host sites can effectively support members
- Create feedback loops to continuously improve the partner experience
- Develop long-term relationships that extend beyond single program cycles
3. Community Talent Strategy & Member Recruitment – 25%
- Lead a place-based approach to recruiting and selecting members aligned with community needs
- Design and execute a community-centered talent strategy aligned with host site demand
- Ensure recruitment prioritizes locally rooted, diverse candidates reflective of the communities served
- Oversee a pipeline of candidates in the local markets LFA serves, improving both quality and alignment
- Build partnerships with associations, workforce organizations, and community groups
- Align recruitment messaging with LFA’s mission and community impact
- Collaborate with host sites to define role profiles and ideal candidate characteristics
4. Systems, Data & Operational Excellence – 15%
- Build integrated systems that support both partnership and talent pipelines.
- Oversee CRM strategy and data integrity across partnerships and talent pipelines
- Track and analyze:
- Partnership pipeline health
- Talent pipeline metrics
- Conversion and retention rates
- Use data to inform strategy, forecasting, and continuous improvement
- Ensure alignment across systems (CRM, Asana, Workable, etc.)
- Build forecasting models connecting host site acquisition and member placement
5. Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Alignment – 10%
- Lead and develop a high-performing, mission-driven team.
- Manage recruitment, partnerships, and onboarding staff, including two Managers
- Coach team members in:
- Relationship management
- Community-centered engagement
- Data-informed decision-making
- Set and track KPIs across both partnership and talent functions
- Collaborate closely with:
- Programs (host site success & member experience)
- Finance (partner contributions & contracts)
- Grants (funding alignment & compliance)
- Marketing/Communications (outreach and positioning)
- Contribute to organizational strategy and senior leadership planning
What Success Looks Like
- A growing, diverse portfolio of community-based host site partners clearly aligned with a defined strategy
- Strong alignment between host site needs and member placements
- Increased partner retention and satisfaction
- A high-quality, mission-aligned member pipeline
- Clear data visibility and forecasting across both sides of the model
- A department recognized as a strategic driver of community impact and organizational sustainability
Requirements
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
- 10+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience in nonprofit, workforce development, higher education, economic development, public sector, community engagement, business development, talent acquisition, or a related field.
- Demonstrated success developing and managing strategic partnerships with nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, employers, philanthropic organizations, or other mission-aligned stakeholders.
- Experience designing and implementing outreach, partnership development, or talent acquisition strategies that achieve measurable growth and impact.
- Experience leading and developing high-performing teams, including coaching managers and fostering a collaborative, mission-driven culture.
- Strong strategic planning and project management skills with the ability to translate organizational priorities into actionable plans and measurable outcomes.
- Experience using CRM and project management systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot, Workable, Asana, Airtable, or similar) to manage pipelines, relationships, forecasting, and reporting.
- Demonstrated ability to analyze data, identify trends, and use insights to inform strategy, improve performance, and communicate results.
- Exceptional relationship-building, facilitation, presentation, and communication skills with the ability to engage audiences ranging from community organizations to executive leadership and funders.
- Experience working across multiple departments and balancing competing priorities in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.
- Commitment to Lead For America's mission and a passion for strengthening communities through place-based leadership and locally rooted talent.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working within or alongside national service programs, AmeriCorps, community development organizations, rural initiatives, workforce development, or community-based nonprofits.
- Knowledge of place-based development, collective impact, talent pipeline development, or community leadership models.
- Experience securing, managing, or stewarding partnerships that include financial commitments, sponsorships, grants, or cost-sharing agreements.
- Experience building regional or national partnership strategies across multiple states or geographic markets.
- Experience supporting organizational growth through ecosystem building, community engagement, or cross-sector collaboration.
- Familiarity with grant-funded programs and aligning operational strategies with grant requirements and outcomes.
- Experience representing an organization at conferences, public events, and external stakeholder meetings.
Benefits
Salary and benefits:
Below is the anticipated minimum and maximum salaries we can provide at this time. Starting salary is dependent on role and experience level. Based on these factors, the below salary range is subject to vary considerably. Note that salaries are expected to rise over time with increased experience, inflation, and the growth of the organization, and that for most roles there is ample opportunity for promotion.
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