Associate Director, Academies
Thrive ScholarsAbout the role
The Organization
At Thrive Scholars, our mission is to help high-achieving, low-income underrepresented students get into and graduate from top colleges equipped to achieve their full career potential, with the focus of helping Scholars achieve economic mobility.
Our comprehensive and data-driven program model focuses on the key inflection points that can be the difference between graduating from any college and graduating from a top college with the grades, degree, career skills, and network needed to thrive in any career. Thrive Scholars originated in Los Angeles as South Central Scholars (“SCS”) twenty years ago. Over this time, the organization has refined its program model and, in the last five years, has focused on expanding nationally; reaching more high-achieving underrepresented students, growing the number of Scholars we serve; and deepening our program impact. Looking ahead, Thrive Scholars is embarking on a new strategic plan which will include launching new program offerings and continued organizational growth. Thrive Scholars has approximately 85 permanent employees and 170 summer employees.
(Please read Thrive’s Economic Mobility Statement below.)
The Program:
Summer Academy is a cornerstone of the Thrive Scholars experience. This intensive, in-person program is designed to prepare Scholars for success in competitive academic and professional environments. Expansion of this proven model is already under way, with commuter versions of our academy launched in two cities and growing. We are seeking an Associate Director to uphold our tradition of excellence while refining the model for scalability and responsiveness to evolving Scholar needs.
The Opportunity:
The Associate Director will contribute to all aspects of designing, preparing for, and executing our summer programs with a particular focus on the Scholar experience. They will participate in continuous improvement efforts using internal data, relevant research, and proven practices. With a results-oriented mindset, they will create, deploy, and monitor systems and practices that promote an affirming, inclusive, mission-aligned environment for academy participants.
As a steward of Academies culture, the Associate Director will be a crucial contributor to seasonal staff hiring, onboarding, and support. Additionally, they will report to the Program Director, Academies, and supervise at least one Program Operations Manager, ensuring smooth execution of programming. Strong project management and collaboration across Thrive Scholars teams will be essential.
This role is remote for most of the year, and requires significant travel during the summer. The Associate Director of Academies is expected to be on site during the summer, with ample time spent at the locations of both Summer Academy 1 and Summer Academy 2.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Co-create the conditions for Academies excellence by:
Leading the ongoing improvement of all Scholar-facing plans, practices, policies, and protocols
Working closely with the Recruitment Team to ensure consistent messaging to Scholars and their families, beginning with first contact
Collaborating with other Thrive teams to facilitate outstanding enrichment programming, leveraging insights from past years to address inefficiencies, drive innovation, and enhance the Scholar experience
Ensure the success of seasonal and year-round staff by:
Collaborating with the Program Director and Director of Faculty on seasonal staff hiring
Contributing to the onboarding, support, and management of seasonal staff to uphold program quality
Supervising and supporting the Program Manager to optimize program operations
Working collaboratively to ensure that all staff involved with Academies have the conditions they need to achieve their Scholar-centered goals
Manage internal workflow and program performance by:
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