Managing Director, Strategic Grantmaking & Fund Stewardship

Position Overview

Strategic advisor and steward of $200M+ philanthropic capital to advance one of the most ambitious economic mobility efforts – serving a region responsible for educating 10% of Texas’ and 1% of the nation’s public-school students.

The Commit Partnership (Commit), the largest regional educational “backbone” organization in the nation with 70+ employees and an operating budget exceeding $40 million annually, is seeking a bold, strategic, and collaborative leader to serve as the Managing Director of the organization’s Grantmaking Strategy and Fund Stewardship —an executive-level role at the center of accelerating economic mobility in Dallas County and across Texas through one of the most comprehensive, data-driven student success efforts in the country.

Since 2023, Commit has secured over $200 million in catalytic funding from Dallas and national institutional funders to deploy through grants that both advance the regional Opportunity 2040 plan – developed in partnership with the Child Poverty Action Lab to place 150,000 young adults on a path to economic mobility -- and support the implementation of aligned education policies across Texas.

While serving as a primary external leader (over 50% or more of time) the leader of this new role will oversee the effective deployment, stewardship, and long-term impact of catalytic funding, all strategically designed to help address the underlying root causes hindering student outcomes and living-wage attainment and thus break the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer and working closely with the CEO, this leader will oversee a director-level team member responsible for internal grant operations, systems, and analysis ensuring excellence in grant execution, tracking, learning, and reporting.

The Managing Director will work closely with the Commit team, funders, and numerous external partners such as the Economic Mobility Center, Education is Freedom, and many others, to help ensure that philanthropic and public capital are being leveraged for maximum return—financial, social, and systemic. If successful, the impact is profound: for every student moved on to the path of economic mobility who earns at least an Associate's degree, gains an estimated $425,000 in lifetime earnings – translating to more than $60 billion in long-term impact for 150,000 students and the region.

This role is more than executive grants management; it’s a systems leadership opportunity requiring cross-sector fluency, sharp strategic thinking, disciplined financial oversight, and the ability to drive collective accountability among diverse partners—from K-12 systems and higher education institutions to workforce and advising nonprofits. It also provides the opportunity to influence statewide policy based on the programmatic results, as well as the opportunity to help inform and advise other regions across Texas and the nation.

Salary Range

$150,000-$182,000 + a bonus of up to 20%

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Grantmaking & Investment Stewardship
• Lead the strategic stewardship of Commit’s philanthropic grant portfolios, including multi-year, complex grants aligned to Dallas County Promise, statewide initiatives, the Opportunity 2040 strategic plan, and related initiatives.
• Oversee the deployment and performance of significant philanthropic investments (secured and pending), ensuring disciplined, transparent, and outcomes-driven grantmaking. This includes oversight of over $130 million secured towards the Dallas County Promise efforts.
• Ensure alignment between grantmaking strategy and Commit's Priority Systems, including:
• High-quality Educator and System leader Talent
• Rigorous Instruction and Curriculum
• Postsecondary access and success
• Well-Resources Schools and Neighborhoods
• Serve as a senior representative of Commit’s role as a capital aggregator and strategic intermediary, including participation in advisory bodies such as the Dallas County Promise Advisory Board, and others as appropriate.
• Ensure disciplined, transparent stewardship of capital across complex, multi-year initiatives, all focused on improving long-term student outcomes.
• Grantee Partnership & Implementation Coordination
• Serve as a primary lead or through shared relationships with grantees and implementation partners, fostering strong, trust-based partnerships grounded in shared goals and accountability.
• Act as connective tissue across a complex ecosystem of partners—including higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations, advising entities, and backbone partners—ensuring alignment between grant intent and on-the-ground execution.
• Facilitate regular partner and grantee convenings to:
• Share progress and learning
• Identify challenges and barriers
• Drive continuous improvement across initiatives
• Lead collaborative investment deployment and stewardship across a growing Dallas County Promise ecosystem that includes Dallas College, SMU, UT-Dallas, UNT-Dallas, Education is Freedom, the Economic Mobility Center and other key actors.
• Performance Management, Learning, & Impact Evaluation
• Partner closely with partner grantees and Commit’s Analytics & Insights and Evaluation & Research teams to:
• Define clear grant outcomes and success metrics
• Track progress across key indicators (e.g., Pre-K enrollment, 3rd – 8th grade proficiency, college-readiness, enrollment, etc.)
• Use data to inform strategy, improvement, and storytelling
• Oversee the development and use of dashboards, reports, and learning tools that support both internal decision-making and external transparency with funders and grantees.
• Translate performance data into clear narratives of impact, learning, and return on investment for philanthropic audiences.
• Ensure grant reporting reflects not only compliance, but also insight, learning, and strategic value for funders and partners.
• Funder Engagement, Stewardship, and Impact Reporting
• Partner with the CEO, COO, and philanthropy team to:
• Cultivate new philanthropic relationships
• Secure aligned growth capital
• Position Commit as a high-impact, investable partner
• Produce compelling, data-informed funder updates and impact reports that deepen trust and long-term partnerships.
• Support long-term sustainability strategies, including efforts to:
• Leverage time-bound philanthropy
• Transition successful initiatives toward public funding or other durable financing mechanisms where appropriate
• Organizational Strategy & Leadership Partnership
• Serve as a strategic advisor to Commit’s executive leadership team on grantmaking priorities, funder alignment, and organizational strategy.
• Support development of grants and funding strategies aligned to:
• Annual organizational goals
• Long-term Dallas County Promise and economic mobility outcomes
• Opportunity 2040 Plan
• Statewide Initiatives
• Help ensure coherence between grant-funded work and broader organizational strategy, capacity, and systems.
• People Leadership & Grant Systems Oversight
• Directly manage and support a Director responsible for grant operations and systems, ensuring:
• Strong internal infrastructure for grant tracking, compliance, and reporting
• Clear roles, timelines, and accountability across teams
• High-quality execution of grant requirements
• Set expectations, coach performance, and build internal capacity for excellence in grantmaking and stewardship.
• Ensure grant systems (e.g., Salesforce and related tools) effectively support transparency, learning, and scalability.
  
  

Ideal Candidate Profile

You are a purpose-driven collaborative leader with a deep belief in the power of education to fuel economic mobility and an understanding of the various systemic barriers that hinder current success. You thrive in complexity, operate with discipline, and build trust across sectors.

You Bring

• Deep experience in strategic grantmaking or regranting, ideally within a foundation, intermediary, or large nonprofit
• Strong track record of stewarding multi-year, complex grant portfolios with rigor, transparency, and sound judgment
• Ability to Build trust-based partnerships with grantees, balancing support, accountability, and learning
• Comfort working across complex systems (education, workforce, public and nonprofit sectors) and aligning diverse stakeholders
• Ability to translate strategy and data into clear priorities, decisions, and funder-ready narratives
• Strong people management skills valuing high-quality systems, process, and execution
• Deep commitment to equity and economic mobility, with a belief in education as a lever for systemic change
  
  

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience in philanthropy, grant portfolio management, nonprofit leadership, or social impact strategy—ideally with exposure to education or economic mobility efforts.
• 5+ years managing teams towards successful goal attainment.
• At least 3+ years of demonstrated experience overseeing philanthropic grant or investment capital deployment ($5M+ preferred) and implementation towards outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience in initiating, building, and maintaining strong relationships with partners and influential decision-makers.
• 5+ years working across complex partnerships and layers of leadership internally and with external stakeholders to influence decision making in large institutional systems.
• Track record of producing data-rich, compelling impact reports for institutional funders.
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in a related field preferred.
  
  

Language Skills

• Ability to understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate.
• Ability to communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
• Ability to describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.
  
  

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships across diverse teams.
• Capacity to manage confidential information with discretion and integrity.
• Strong analytical skills with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to thrive in a mission-driven, collaborative, and evolving environment.
  
  

Work Environment

The Director generally works in an office environment but may occasionally be required to perform job duties outside of the typical office setting. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate. The employee is not exposed to any adverse environmental conditions.

Job Requirements

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed must be representative of the knowledge, skills, minimum education, training, licensure, experience, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The Commit Partnership is an Equal Opportunity Employer that seeks to hire individuals with backgrounds similar to that of the stakeholders they serve. As an organization that embraces equity and inclusion, all employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

About The Commit Partnership

Our Mission

We believe that through our collective actions, Dallas County—which educates 10% of Texas and 1% of the nation—can become an inclusive and prosperous region where economic opportunity is shared fairly. That’s why our True North Goal is that by 2040, at least half of all Dallas County residents ages 25–34, irrespective of race, will have the opportunity to earn a living wage.

To increase living wage attainment, we must equitably increase educational success aligned with high-demand, well-paying jobs—maximizing the cumulative impact from early education through college, career, and military readiness to strong postsecondary completion. Our team aligns community stakeholders around this shared roadmap for the future, using data to surface strategic initiatives that improve policies, practices, and funding. Together, we work to address the systemic root causes that hinder progress and strengthen our community’s capacity to serve every student effectively.

Our Story

Founded in 2012, the Commit Partnership has grown into the nation’s largest educational collective impact organization, uniting more than 70 backbone team members and over 200 partners across Dallas County and Texas—all working together to address the systemic education challenges facing our region and state. Our team brings community stakeholders together around a shared roadmap for the future, using data and practitioner insights to inform effective policy solutions that accelerate progress toward our goals and strengthen our collective capacity to serve every student well.

Together, we advocate for an excellent public education that ensures all students—regardless of race, place, or socioeconomic status—can shape their own futures, earn a living wage, and share in the prosperity of the world’s eighth-largest economy. We pursue this mission through several key initiatives, including Early Matters Dallas, Dallas County Promise, the Texas Urban Council, and the Texas Impact Network.

True North Traits

Our True North Traits creates a mission-driven environment and champions us to do our best work each day.

Systemic Impact: You understand the barriers and lived experiences that our students face and are skilled at delivering systemic solutions at scale that address these needs. You achieve significant, sustainable results that increase equitable outcomes through your work (including the reallocation or improvement in public funding), and you recognize the difference between activity and impact.

Judgment: You exhibit a relentless “students first” focus by thinking strategically about what data must be collected, analyzed, visualized, and activated (and what steps must be taken, in what order) to cause resources to be reallocated and actions to be taken to systemically overcome the root causes hindering achievement of the Partnership's mission.

Communication: By listening to understand before seeking to be understood, you’re able to build trust and facilitate collaboration across lines of difference, recognizing that both are essential to our success. You are also able to find common ground with diverse stakeholders and can tailor the organization's message to different audiences as needed to influence meaningful change.

Innovation: You can create or meaningfully contribute to the design and execution of a systemic and transformational strategic plan to solve complex problems, often at scale, that improves organizational effectiveness and/or closes equity gaps for our students and families.

Equity and Inclusion: You intentionally create spaces where relevant stakeholders have a seat or voice at the table, ensuring that each person at the table's thoughts and perspectives are shared, valued by all others at the table, and reflected in our work. You're excited to help build and/or contribute to teams where everyone feels welcomed, respected, valued, and highly supported.

Joy: You recognize that people are central to our work, striking a balance between people and process, and you inspire others with your optimism and thirst for substantive change in service to the mission.

Integrity: You admit mistakes openly, share learnings widely, and elevate bad news quickly, also capable of making difficult decisions in all situations to ensure the success of the organization.

The Commit Partnership is an Equal Opportunity Employer that seeks to hire individuals with backgrounds similar to that of the stakeholders they serve. As an organization that embraces equity and inclusion, all employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Commit does not sponsor visas of any kind.