COVID Recovery Fellowship

Education Pioneers is uniquely positioned to find and support the talent needed to accelerate the recovery of our education sector.

The past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges to our nation's school systems. And although schools have battled to reopen and return students to classrooms, the road to recover learning, maintain safe and healthy schools, and reimagine a more equitable future for K-12 education remains urgent, complex, and capacity-intensive.

EP first brought critical capacity to the front-lines of K-12 crisis response through our dedicated COVID Response Fellowship. Now, we are proud to build on our impact with a new cohort: the COVID Recovery Fellowship.

We must seize this opportunity to grapple with the long-standing inequities within education. School systems need adaptive, inclusive leaders to disrupt the status quo. They need Pioneers.

The EP COVID Recovery Fellowship

As a trusted talent pipeline for more than 15 years, Education Pioneers will help the sector emerge from pandemic challenges by meeting this moment with what we’re uniquely positioned to offer: adaptive, inclusive, talented leaders equipped to transform the sector.

For this 12-month, paid Fellowship opportunity, we’ll connect senior leaders with a district, charter school, or state education agency where they’ll provide Chief of Staff-level support to senior leaders as they plan and implement adaptive approaches to evolving public health policies, operational processes, and academic practices while ensuring that schools are providing equitable student learning experiences.

What will EP COVID Recovery Fellows do?

Advance essential work over the course of 12 months. They’ll work directly with senior-level staff to tackle initiatives that meet urgent new challenges and effectively utilize the time-limited surge of resources intended to help students, families, and schools recover from the pandemic. They will coordinate and align resources, communicate with key stakeholders, and work to make sure that new efforts yield the support and results that students need.

Benefit from collective solutions. Fellows will have access to a cohort of peers executing similar work across the country for thought-partnership, problem-solving, and best practice sharing—accelerating progress for schools nationwide.

Leverage network support. Fellows will be matched with a coach to help them navigate their experience and will have the opportunity to pull in knowledge from the EP Alumni community to support their work.

Who are COVID Recovery Fellows?

Mid-senior Level Education Leaders

Proven Collaborators & Problem-solvers

Adaptive, Inclusive, Equity-oriented People

10-15 years of overall work experience
3-7 years of relevant chief of staff, project management, and/or strategy experience
Comfortable working directly with senior and executive leaders at an education organization or school

They can navigate diverse groups of stakeholders.
They can diagnose problems and find creative solutions.
They have experience leading through organizational and operational change.
They persevere and persist through challenging and high-stakes work.

They grasp the nuances and complexities facing the education sector right now.
They’re conversant in DEI issues, including how race, identity, power and oppression influence the system.
They’ve practiced adaptive leadership and are committed to equity & inclusion.

Get Involved

To learn more about how you or your organization can help the education sector meet the current moment via EP’s COVID Recovery Fellowship, select your role below.

BECOME A FELLOW

Position Overview

As an integral part of the organization's COVID-19 recovery plan, you will add vital capacity to senior leaders as they plan, implement, and iterate on new public health, operational, and academic practices. Since much of the work related to new and evolving initiatives exists either across or outside of existing structures and job responsibilities, you will lead coordination, data and information gathering, task management, delegation, and follow-through – often with cross-functional teams not accustomed to working together and without established roadmaps. You will enable the full-time staff and subject matter experts to spend their energy in their areas of expertise while you organize, communicate, and mobilize staff towards a collective goal.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s degree
7 years of work experience with 3+ years of specific chief of staff or strategic project management experience at an education-focused organization or school network
Commitment to Education Pioneers’ mission and core values, and a passion for social impact
Commitment to the full program term including the ability to complete 12 consecutive months of employment, attend workshops, and other mandatory aspects of the Fellowship
Authorization to work in the United States on a full-time basis for the entire program

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

10-15 years of work experience
Previously led through organizational and operational change management
Experience reporting to and/or working closely with senior-level leaders
Persists and adapts through challenging and high-stakes work
Diagnoses problems and drives toward creative solutions
Builds authentic relationships and collaborates with a range of stakeholders
Seeks to understand their identity, power, privilege, and access, as well as its impact on their work and decision making

Timeline and Process

Applications are now open. Start an application >>
- Round 1/Priority Deadline is February 21, 2022
- Round 2 Deadline is March 7, 2022
Fellows will complete a selection process, including interviews with prospective partners, between February and April.
Fellows will start their placement between April and early May 2022.

Learn More

Download this job description and Fellowship overview.
Review our candidate FAQ document.
If you have additional questions, email covidrecoveryfellowship@educationpioneers.org.

HOST A FELLOW AT YOUR SCHOOL OR DISTRICT

EP aims to utilize our unique network and platform to bring necessary and flexible capacity to meet your needs so you can quickly integrate the essential and additional capacity you need to build back better.

This is more than a person for a project, this is talent to transform.

We recognize that schools and districts are facing complex financial situations as a result of the economic impacts of COVID-19 and the recent surge of federal funding. We are working with partners to identify resources and structures that will allow them to effectively staff under-capacity initiatives with exceptional talent.

Timeline and Process

Identify critical capacity needs and initiate partnership process with EP beginning in December 2021
Identify Fellow supervisor, define position scope, and complete scoping protocol between December 2021 - March 2022
Finalize Partnership Agreement between December 2021 - March 2022
Receive profiles and engage in selection process in March - April 2022
Welcome your Fellow in April - May 2022

Learn More & Partner

Download this program guide.
To start the process of hosting a COVID Recovery Fellow, please share your contact information through this link. A team member will be in touch to begin the process or answer any questions you might have. You can also feel free to reach out via email.

INVEST IN THIS PROGRAM

The talent landscape is at an inflection point across our economy, and Education Pioneers is committed to developing responsive approaches to the rapidly evolving talent needs in the education sector. This program is an important initiative in EP’s ongoing effort to provide transformational talent to our partners during this important time.

Learn More & Invest

If you’re interested in investing in this program at a leadership level, email Terrence Kneisel, Vice President of External Relations.
If you'd like to make a general gift to Education Pioneers to support this program and more, you can do so here. Thank you!

[Our] education challenges didn’t begin with the pandemic, but it exacerbated inequities in our educational system. These inequities will endure and prevent the potential of this great country unless tackled head on.

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona