Chief Operating Officer

Oakland Promise seeks an inaugural Chief Operating Officer (COO) to help lead the organization through a pivotal period of growth, complexity, and opportunity.

To meet this moment, Oakland Promise is investing in its leadership capacity by creating two inaugural executive positions: Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. Together, these leaders will help strengthen organizational capacity, build the leadership infrastructure and performance systems necessary to drive execution and accountability, and position Oakland Promise for its next decade of growth, impact, and influence.

Reporting directly to CEO Sandra Ernst, the COO will serve as a key member of the executive team, providing strategic leadership for the organization's finance, operations, human resources, technology, compliance, evaluation, and administrative functions. Working across the organization, this leader will strengthen the systems, processes, and infrastructure necessary to support accountability, organizational effectiveness, financial and operational stewardship, and Oakland Promise's continued growth and success.

This is an exceptional opportunity for a strategic, systems-oriented leader to help shape the future of one of Oakland's most ambitious and influential organizations dedicated to expanding educational opportunities and economic mobility for children, youth, and families.

Oakland Promise emerged from a bold civic vision: that every child in Oakland, regardless of circumstance, should have access to the resources and supports needed to thrive from birth through college, career, and beyond. Recognizing that educational attainment is among the strongest predictors of economic mobility, community leaders came together to build an organization that would combine direct support for students and families with broader investments designed to expand opportunity and improve outcomes across Oakland.

This work was supported through both public and private investment. Alongside significant philanthropic fundraising efforts, community leaders secured voter approval of Measure AA, establishing a long-term source of public funding for Oakland children and families and laying the groundwork for future community-wide initiatives. As the organization's ambitions, assets, and responsibilities grew, leaders recognized the opportunity to establish a stronger and more sustainable independent institution. That opportunity culminated in the 2019 merger between Oakland Promise and East Bay College Fund. The merger combined Oakland Promise's citywide cradle-to-career approach with East Bay College Fund's longstanding expertise in college access, persistence, mentoring, and scholarship support, creating a single organization capable of supporting students across the educational continuum. Widely regarded as a mission-driven success, the merger reflected a shared commitment to community impact rather than organizational identity. The result was a stronger organization, uniquely positioned to support Oakland students at every stage of their educational journey.

Today, Oakland Promise's mission is to mobilize Oakland to expand opportunity and economic mobility through cradle-to-college and career achievement. By 2030, the organization aims to place 50,000 Oakland youth on the path to postsecondary attainment.

Build a High-Performing Executive Leadership Team

As Oakland Promise enters its second decade, one of the organization's most significant priorities is strengthening executive leadership capacity. The creation of the Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer roles reflects a deliberate effort to build the leadership infrastructure needed to support this more complex and influential organization.

Working with the CEO, the CSO and COO will foster a culture of shared leadership, effective decision making, excellence, and clear accountability. Success will require strengthening cross-functional collaboration, encouraging leaders to operate from an organization-wide perspective, and ensuring that Oakland Promise has the talent and management practices necessary to support its growing scale, complexity, and ambitions.

Ensure Strong Stewardship of Public and Philanthropic Resources

Oakland Promise operates at the intersection of philanthropy, public investment, direct service, grant-making, and collective impact. As the organization has grown, so too have its responsibilities for stewarding significant financial resources, managing complex partnerships and contracts, and ensuring accountability to multiple stakeholders.

The COO will play a critical role in ensuring that Oakland Promise's financial management, compliance practices, evaluation functions, technology systems, and administrative operations evolve in step with the organization's expanding responsibilities. Success will require maintaining strong financial and operational stewardship, supporting transparency and accountability, and building the organizational rigor necessary to support increasingly complex investments, partnerships, and community-wide initiatives.

Advance Organizational Accountability and Performance

As Oakland Promise continues to grow in scale, complexity, and influence, the organization has an opportunity to further strengthen the management systems, performance expectations, and operational discipline necessary to achieve its ambitious goals.

The COO will play a central role in helping leaders establish clear goals, monitor progress, allocate resources effectively, and ensure that organizational activities remain aligned with desired community outcomes. Working closely with leaders across the organization, this individual will help strengthen performance management practices, embed a culture of accountability and excellence, and ensure that decision-making, resource allocation, and organizational priorities support effective execution. Success will require translating ambitious aspirations into measurable results for the children, youth, and families Oakland Promise serves.

QUALIFICATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS

• While no single candidate is expected to possess every quality listed below, the ideal candidate will bring many of the following experiences, attributes, and competencies:
• A deep commitment to advancing educational opportunity, economic mobility, and equitable outcomes for children, youth, and families.
• Significant senior leadership experience helping complex organizations navigate growth, transformation, increasing scale, and/or organizational change.
• Demonstrated success leading finance, operations, human resources, technology, compliance, evaluation, or other administrative functions within a complex organization.
• Strong financial and operational stewardship, including experience managing significant budgets, institutional resources, compliance obligations, and organizational risk.
• Experience building the systems, processes, and organizational infrastructure necessary to support accountability, operational effectiveness, and long-term sustainability.
• Demonstrated success translating strategy into action, establishing clear goals and expectations, and driving organizational performance in service of mission delivery and community impact. • A track record of building, mentoring, and developing high-performing teams while fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, learning, trust, and shared ownership.
• Ability to establish accountability and performance management practices that align people, resources, and organizational activities with desired outcomes.
• Skilled at using data, evidence, and evaluation to support decision-making, assess organizational effectiveness, and guide resource allocation.
• Experience working across complex ecosystems involving public agencies, school districts, community-based organizations, philanthropy, higher education institutions, employers, and other stakeholders.
• While familiarity with Oakland and its communities is welcome, the organization is equally interested in candidates who demonstrate an ability to build trust and credibility quickly, navigate complex stakeholder dynamics, forge productive relationships across diverse constituencies, and lead with both humility and conviction in service of the community.
• A seasoned, values-driven leader with resilience, emotional intelligence, strong interpersonal instincts, and the leadership presence to inspire confidence, build alignment, and lead effectively through change and ambiguity.

LOCATION AND COMPENSATION

Oakland Promise is a place-based organization located in Oakland, California. It is a requirement that all staff reside within commuting distance to the main office, located at 484 9th Street, Oakland, CA 94607.

Oakland Promise anticipates a salary range of $220,000 to $240,000, commensurate with experience and qualifications, along with a competitive benefits package.

APPLICATIONS, INQUIRIES, AND NOMINATIONS

Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and resumes along with letters of interest should be sent via the Isaacson, Miller website. If you require a reasonable accommodation to complete an application, participate in an interview, or otherwise take part in the selection process, please contact Harley Bartles at View email address on click.appcast.io.

Oakland Promise is a place-based organization located in Oakland, California. Oakland Promise requires that employees work in person at various engagements. It is a requirement that all staff reside within commuting distance to the main office, located at 484 9th Street, Oakland, CA 94607. Please note that at any time, a full in-person work plan may be required, and it is of utmost importance that all staff are able to meet this requirement. Oakland Promise is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Oakland Promise is committed to providing a work environment free of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and disrespectful or other unprofessional conduct based on sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), sex stereotype, race, religion (including religious dress and grooming practices), color, gender (including gender identity, gender expression, and transgender), national origin (including language use restrictions and possession of a driver's license issued under Vehicle Code section 12801.9), ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, registered domestic partner status, age, sexual orientation, military, and veteran status or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law or ordinance or regulation. It also prohibits discrimination, harassment, disrespectful or unprofessional conduct based on the perception that anyone has any of those characteristics, or is specialist with a person who has or is perceived as having any of those characteristics.