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Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project, is an award-winning, independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to supporting the next generation of journalists in the U.S. and around the world. A national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities, Report for America is structured to harness the skills and idealism of an emerging group of journalists plus the creative spirit of local news organizations.
The Director of Corps Excellence for Report for America is a key leadership position within the organization. They are charged with making sure the corps experience is excellent for corps members, newsrooms and thus communities.
As part of that role, they are responsible for creating clear policies and procedures for the corps and newsrooms as they relate to Report for America, and managing a growth staff of regional managers. They report to the Senior Vice President for Report for America. The position is remote.
Essential Duties/Responsibilities
- Leading and overseeing the Corps Excellence department and function. That includes: hiring and managing the regional managers; establishing the policies, goals and guidelines for their work; planning the scaling for the program
- Ensuring that the corps experience is outstanding for corps members. To that end, work with the Impact and Evaluation manager and the leadership team to define what success looks like for corps members, and meet those goals.
- Develop and revise policies and procedures for corps members and newsrooms.
- Use findings from impact and evaluation reports to fine-tune corps experience and recruitment.
- Ensuring that the Corps experience is excellent for Report for America news organizations. To that end, work with the Impact and Evaluation manager, the Local Sustainability team and the leadership team to define what success looks like, and meet those goals.
- Promoting diversity within the program and among newsrooms.
- Identifying and overseeing special projects, such as a program to foster Black-owned and Latino-owned newsrooms.
- Leading and overseeing a comprehensive mentoring program.
- Creating and overseeing awards program to highlight corps members’ work.
- Working with all media outlets to ensure understanding and compliance with Report for America program values, mission and procedures. To that end, conduct quarterly conference calls with employers.
- Working with their supervisor, the senior vice president of Report for America, they are responsible for identifying potential partnerships between Report for America and other organizations to further our mission, and making them happen.
Duties beyond “Corps Excellence”
- Work with Report for America and GroundTruth colleagues to build opportunities for corps members, funders and partners. For example, relationships with academic institutions and media nonprofits where corps members may have the opportunity to sit on panels, moderate discussions on the importance of local news coverage and media trust and other activities.
- In conjunction with the Director of Admissions, provide marketing strategies to promote the program to potential corps members and potential media partners.
- Create the strategy for assisting corps members and media companies in the awards submission process.
- Help conduct training for corps members when called upon to do so.
- Coordinate and assist other staff with various events, activities and fundraising throughout the year as needed.
Required Experience
- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent, plus several years’ experience in a volunteer, service or academic institutions
- Familiarity with the culture of local news rooms
- Some experience working with emerging journalists or early professionals
- Strong diplomatic and people-management skills
- Ideally, solid experience as an advisor, counselor, or mentor in an academic or professional setting
The GroundTruth Project is an equal employment opportunity employer and considers qualified application for employment without regard to race, gender, age, color, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, or any other protected factor.
