Chief Strategy Officer

About the Role

The Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) serves as a senior leader responsible for defining and advancing the organization’s long-term strategy, growth, and economic sustainability. This role leads enterprise-wide strategic planning and plays a critical role in translating vision into clear priorities, investments, and decisions that strengthen organizational performance and impact.

The CSO will guide the organization through its next phase of growth by strengthening its position as a national organization, supporting a shift toward a nimbler and technology-enabled operating model, and driving the evolution of its economic model to increase earned revenue and scalability. Working closely with the CEO, Board, and executive team, the CSO will identify opportunities for growth across philanthropy, educational organizations, public sector partners, and other strategic markets; shape go-to-market strategies; and ensure strong alignment across programmatic, operational, and financial priorities.

In addition to leading enterprise strategy, the CSO is responsible for identifying and securing new pathways for organizational growth by bringing external relationships, market insights, and funding opportunities that are not currently accessible through existing organizational structures. The role serves as the organization's lead strategist for growth capital, innovative revenue generation, and expansion opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Enterprise Strategy, Planning & Positioning
  • Serve as a primary steward of the organization’s enterprise-wide strategy, partnering with the CEO and executive leadership to define priorities, sequencing, and success measures.
  • Lead multi-year and annual strategic planning processes that are actionable, mission-aligned, and grounded in external realities.
  • Drive disciplined decision-making regarding strategic investments, market opportunities, and organizational priorities, ensuring clarity around where the organization should lead, partner, scale, or not pursue opportunities.
  • Continuously assess strategic assumptions, performance, and external trends to recommend strategic shifts as needed.
  • Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and Board, providing clear, data-informed perspectives on strategy, growth, and key organizational trade-offs.
• Enterprise Strategy & Business Development
  • Lead the organization's growth strategy by identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing opportunities to expand impact, strengthen sustainability, enhance offerings, and develop strategic partnerships or new areas of work.
  • Ensure growth initiatives are supported by realistic operational capacity, financial assumptions, and success measures.
  • Drive organizational revenue growth through new business models, venture philanthropy investments, national strategic partnerships, fee-for-service opportunities, and innovative investment structures that complement the organization’s fundraising strategy.
  • Identify and develop strategic partnerships that expand organizational capabilities, markets, and long-term impact.
  • Develop and execute go-to-market strategies that support scalable growth and mission impact.
• Strategic Partnerships & Business Development
  • Lead, develop, and provide strategic direction to team members and functions responsible for business development, partnerships, and growth initiatives.
  • Develop and execute enterprise-wide business development strategies that diversify and expand organizational revenue beyond traditional philanthropy.
  • Identify, cultivate, and secure new sources of growth capital, including venture philanthropy, social impact investment, public-private partnerships, and other innovative funding models.
  • Build relationships with education leaders, national funders, philanthropic investors, intermediaries, and mission-aligned capital providers to accelerate organizational growth and sustainability.
  • Lead the identification and design of transformational funding opportunities that support geographic expansion, product innovation, technology investments, and scalable program delivery.
  • Partner closely with the External Affairs team to align organizational growth initiatives with fundraising priorities while focusing specifically on new and emerging revenue opportunities outside of the organization's established fundraising portfolio.
  • Develop investment cases, growth propositions, and strategic partnership frameworks that demonstrate organizational impact, scalability, and return on investment.
  • Maintain a pipeline of strategic growth opportunities with measurable revenue, market expansion, and impact targets.
• Program Portfolio, Sustainability & Trade-Off Decisions
  • In partnership with the Chief Program Officer and the Senior Director of National Portfolio, support portfolio sustainability and growth through strategic, market, and economic analysis.
  • Advance national program portfolio decisions based on clear trade-offs between cost, impact, scalability, and long-term sustainability.
  • Support disciplined portfolio decision-making regarding the launch, scaling, redesign, or discontinuation of programs through strategic and economic analysis.
  • Partner with program leadership to ensure the sustainability and evolution of national portfolio programs through redesigned delivery models and alignment with the organization's broader economic strategy.
• Operating Model & Organizational Effectiveness
  • Establish clarity around centralized versus locally driven decisions, balancing consistency with flexibility.
  • Lead efforts to streamline operations and support a more nimble, agile organization, including adoption of systems and delivery models.
• Financial Stewardship & Long-Term Sustainability
  • Partner closely with the CFO to align resource allocation, planning, and forecasting with the organization’s evolving economic model and strategic priorities.
  • Lead the design and evolution of the organization’s economic model to ensure sustainability of core programs (e.g., BAM and WOW), balancing cost efficiency with revenue generation.
  • Drive tighter integration between programmatic strategy and financial planning, ensuring program decisions are grounded in clear economic models, cost structures, and long-term sustainability.