Public School Forum of North Carolina, Chief Executive Officer

Job Description

The Opportunity

The Public School Forum of North Carolina (The Forum) seeks a collaborative visionary and mission-driven Chief Executive Officer to lead the organization into its next chapter after experiencing significant growth over the last decade. The Forum has made an intentional decision to elevate the leadership role from Executive Director to CEO based on the size and scope of the position and its impact. This CEO will join the Forum during a pivotal time both for the organization and for public education in North Carolina and will have the opportunity to build upon a 40-year legacy of driving systems-level change in education policy and practice. This role will require inclusive leadership skills strong business acumen and a deep belief in the strength and value of public education.

The Organization

For 40 years the Public School Forum of North Carolina has served as an indispensable and nonpartisan champion of better schools. Founded in 1986 the organization brings together individuals and institutions from business education and government to study education issues develop ideas seek consensus and ultimately inform and shape public education policy. The vision is that all North Carolina children shall have the opportunity to reach their full potential through equitable and meaningful public education that nourishes our states civic and economic vitality. The mission is powerful: To inspire meaningful action on North Carolinas most important public education issues. From the start a key purpose of the Forum has been to speak truth to power. The organization has consistently and diligently served as an informed and honest voice for action regardless of the politics. The Forum prides itself on advocating for what is best for the children of North Carolina not just what seems politically possible in the moment.

In addition to a core focus on research policy analysis advocacy and public engagement the Forum runs three centers. The Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity (Flood Center) serves as a hub to identify and connect organizations networks and leaders to address issues of access and opportunity in education across North Carolina. the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs (NC CAP) is a comprehensive statewide afterschool and expanded learning network with key partners including afterschool providers state agencies state and local policymakers law enforcement universities and community colleges business and the philanthropic community working together to increase access to high quality afterschool and expanded learning programs for all children and youth in North Carolina especially for those at-risk of education failure. The NC Center for Resilience and Learning is an initiative focused on transforming North Carolina schools into trauma-informed supportive environments using a whole child whole school approach to build student resilience reduce trauma impact and boost academic success by training educators in social-emotional learning and fostering positive school climates where all feel valued and safe.

The Forum is staffed by 32 full-time employees and operations are supported by an annual budget of approximately $4.5 million. They are guided internally and externally by their core values: courageous integrity and trust joyful pursuit of excellence collective care and inclusive leadership.

To learn more visit the Forums website at Position

The Public School Forum of North Carolina is seeking an experienced leader with a broad set of executive-level skills to build on a strong organizational foundation. The Chief Executive Officer will work collaboratively with staff Board and Advisory Boards to drive the overall strategic vision of the organization manage and inspire a dedicated senior leadership team through a distributed leadership model staff and steward fundraising efforts to support the core work and increase sustainability. The CEO will be a trusted and courageous leader who engages diverse audiences across ideological lines to advance educational opportunity.

The CEO will guide a complex organization with an integrated financial system and operational protocols that maximize transparency efficiency and strategic clarity. Measures of success for the CEO will be strong communication skills and the ability to develop trusted collaborative relationships with diverse partners and stakeholders including staff board and advisory board members funders business leaders policymakers grasstops and grassroots leaders. The ideal candidate will possess the understanding and experience to develop a strong network of foundation and individual donor relationships and a strategy for securing operational revenue to support the Forums work.

The CEO will report directly to the Board of Directors and manage a seven-person senior leadership team composed of the Sr. Director of Policy and Research Sr. Director of Advocacy & Engagement (Sr.) Directors of the three Centers Director of People and Operations and Sr. Director of Strategic Partnerships. Partnering with the Board and senior leadership team the CEO will be responsible for executing all aspects of the Forums mission to ensure the long-term success of the organization.

Core Responsibilities

The CEO will be expected to fulfill the following key responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership and Vision

• Oversee implementation of the Forums strategic direction with an informed focused and forward-thinking approach ensuring the organization remains North Carolinas leading voice for high-quality equitable public education policy and action while remaining true to its mission and core values.
• Demonstrate adaptive leadership in times of political social or organizational change. The CEO will lead with transparency grounded decision-making and trust while navigating uncertainty.
• Effectively represent the Forum in relationships with key stakeholders funders policymakers partners and advisory groups.
• Serve as a non-partisan convener and connector building bridges between and stewarding networks of business leaders educators and policymakers to advance education equity.
• Ensure that Forum values are embedded in the organizations internal operations and external work.
• Utilize data to assess program effectiveness ensuring all initiatives drive measurable systems change in NC education.

Organizational Culture and Leadership

• Foster an inclusive growth-oriented culture grounded in trust transparency accountability and collective care across a hybrid statewide team.
• Oversee develop and empower a high-performing senior leadership team with a focus on utilizing a culturally responsive transparent collaborative people-focused management approach.
• Ensure effective responsible and transparent operational systems by working with the operations team to provide sufficient and efficient support to the organization.
• Ensure successful implementation of operational agreements with Centers providing the guidance and resources necessary for them to thrive while ensuring alignment with the Forums broader mission.
• Establish clear processes for staff input ensuring a healthy internal climate and effective organizational functioning.

Financial Management and Resource Development

• Manage the organizations budget with transparency ensuring fiscal accountability audit readiness and alignment with mission-driven priorities including providing timely transparent audit-ready financial updates to the Board and Leadership Team.
• Work with senior leadership the Board and donors to cultivate relationships with state and national funders and develop an innovative sustainable diverse revenue strategy for the Forum that includes operational revenue grants and individual donors.
• Assess opportunities for new services or business concepts that generate mission-aligned revenue and make recommendations to the Board.

Board Leadership and Governance

• Partner with the Board to establish strategic clarity and ensure a strong collaborative relationship between the Board and staff in pursuit of the organizations goals.
• Support effective governance through transparent communication providing the Board with the performance data and insights needed for informed decision-making.
• Engage Board and Advisory Board members as active ambassadors and champions of the Forums philanthropic and advocacy goals
• Support/oversee board functioning such as meeting preparation recruitment training/orientation committee meetings and strategic planning processes.

The Ideal Candidate Profile

Skills and Experience

• 10 years of senior management experience with a demonstrated track record in strategic planning finance management change management and organizational operations.
• Proven ability to build authentic relationships with major foundations corporate partners and individual philanthropists.
• Experience embedding equity principles into organizational strategy and culture.
• Demonstrated experience strategically navigating politically complex education issues.
• Deep understanding of the states political educational and philanthropic landscape a plus.
• Bachelors degree from an accredited college with an advanced degree in a relevant discipline preferred.
• Proficiency in Google Workspace Slack Zoom and Simbli.

Attributes

• A leader who naturally shares credit nurtures talent and thrives in a team-oriented environment.
• The ability to dream boldly about the future of NC public schools while implementing the systems and discipline required to get there.
• A calm diplomatic presence with the social-emotional literacy to lead through periods of growth and political tension.
• The ability to build trust easily across diverse groups from rural educators to corporate CEOs.
• A skilled communicator who can translate complex information into a compelling narrative that inspires action.
• Lives out Forum values through observable behaviorssuch as transparent decision-making participatory planning and modeling care courage curiosity and continuous improvement.

Compensation and Benefits

The Public School Forum of NC is committed to attracting an extraordinary leader for this position through a compensation package that includes a competitive salary and a generous benefits package that includes employer-subsidized health insurance; access to dental vision and disability insurance; vacation holidays and sick days; Summer Fridays from Memorial Day to Labor Day; 401k retirement plan life insurance flexible spending accounts and more.

This is a full-time hybrid opportunity with the expectation of being in the Cary NC office as needed to best execute the role.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Public School Forum of NC is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race color sex religion sexual orientation national origin disability or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal state or local laws. This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization including hiring recruiting promotion termination layoff recall leave of absence compensation benefits training and apprenticeships. The Public School Forum of NC makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications merit and business needs at the time.

To Apply: Please submit a cover letter and resume by February 8 2026 by applying here. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Questions:

Public School Forum of North Carolina

PO Box 18284

Raleigh NC 27619