Founding Executive Director
Rooted School Columbia
About This Transformational Opportunity
Position: Founding Executive Director
Location: Columbia, South Carolina
Start Date: August 2025
Compensation: $120,000–$140,000 + comprehensive benefits
Our Mission in Action
Rooted School Columbia is pioneering a groundbreaking educational model that proves students don't have to choose between academic excellence and real-world career readiness. We're creating innovative pathways where students graduate with both college acceptance letters and job offers, equipped with the credentials, connections, and confidence to build economic mobility while contributing to a sustainable future.
We're building something revolutionary: a school where rigorous academics meets hands-on career preparation, where students don't just learn about emerging industries—they actively participate in South Carolina's growing economy while preparing for prestigious higher education opportunities. Our students graduate ready to lead in both college classrooms and professional workplaces, positioned to build generational wealth while staying rooted in community.
The Leadership Opportunity
As Founding Executive Director, you'll serve as both the community steward of Rooted's mission and the chief architect of how our nationally-recognized model takes root in Columbia's unique educational, cultural, and economic landscape. This is a rare opportunity to build something transformational from the ground up: an instrumental agent of change in supporting the Rooted School Network's early development in South Carolina.
Over the next 5 years, the Rooted School Network will experience significant growth through its schools and non-academic programmatic offerings. As part of its growth plan, Rooted School Foundation will partner with a forward-thinking, high-capacity leader to replicate its nationally-recognized school model in Columbia, South Carolina where Rooted School Foundation (RSF) received a multi-million dollar investment to expand. As Founding Executive Director for Rooted School Columbia, you will be an instrumental agent of change in supporting the Rooted School Network’s (RSN) early development in South Carolina.
In your role, you will work directly with our Board Chair, Board of Directors, the CEO of RSF, and other members of our national team to lead Rooted School’s launch in Columbia, South Carolina. Above all, you will help us determine how we will fulfill the Rooted Promise. You'll spend your planning year (August 2025 - May 2026) learning "The Rooted Way" while building the relationships, systems, and community trust essential for our August 2026 launch. You'll help us determine how we fulfill the Rooted Promise in Columbia's context, ensuring our model serves and reflects the diverse communities we're honored to serve.
Your Founding Year Priorities (August 2025 - May 2026):
Work in collaboration with RSF and authorizer to develop and meet clear strategic priorities and compliance requirements
Recruit a values and mission-aligned team of staff, teachers, families, and students for our founding community
Engage local businesses, employers, and leaders in the successful launch of Rooted School Columbia
What You'll Lead: Four Essential Domains
1. Manage Rooted School Columbia Pre-Opening Requirements Through Completion
The Work: Lead planning and execution of our pre-opening phase, ensuring all milestones and deliverables are met on time. Secure facilities aligned with operational and instructional needs. Drive student recruitment to meet target enrollment through community engagement and effective enrollment strategies. Navigate state and local regulatory requirements, including authorizer authorization processes. Deliver on our partnership with RSF by fulfilling services agreements and utilizing technical assistance from RSF leadership.
Your Success Profile: You bring operational readiness and compliance expertise paired with the ability to build teams and cultivate community trust. You understand that successful school launch requires both regulatory precision and deep community partnership.
2. Bring Strategic Initiatives from Idea to Execution
The Work: Collaborate with RSF CEO to define and align Columbia's vision and strategic milestones with RSF's overarching plan, setting quarterly, annual, and 5-year goals. Lead communication efforts with key stakeholders including school teams, boards, and community partners. Coordinate across internal teams, contractors, and RSF leadership to meet strategic milestones. Develop cohesive data and organizational systems to track performance metrics and drive strategic decision-making.
Your Success Profile: You excel at strategic execution while serving as a Rooted model steward: adapting national playbooks for local context without losing the essence of what makes our approach transformational.
3. Champion Rooted School's Academic Model
The Work: Lead design and implementation of curriculum and instructional frameworks that prepare students for both college and career success. Ensure alignment with South Carolina graduation requirements while incorporating best practices for high-quality instruction. Partner with RSF to evaluate and implement Industry Recognized Credentials (IRCs) that provide meaningful career pathways aligned with local workforce needs. Develop school calendar, daily schedules, and assessment plans. Foster collaboration with other Rooted campuses to continuously improve instructional practices.
Your Success Profile: You understand model fidelity and program design while being a talent development leader who coaches toward instructional excellence and student success outcomes.
4. Lead Fund Development and Ecosystem Engagement
The Work: Collaborate with RSF and fund development contractors to prepare compelling funding proposals and reports. Provide accurate, timely data to support fundraising efforts grounded in measurable outcomes. Proactively identify funding opportunities, build relationships with potential donors and partners, and advocate for resources addressing current and future school needs. Stay informed about emerging trends in education and philanthropy.
Your Success Profile: You're a strategic storyteller and advocate who can inspire support while being a philanthropy-aligned operator balancing opportunity with stewardship.
Network Integration & Expectations
What Network Membership Means:
You're implementing the Rooted School model as part of a growing network with shared standards, resources, and accountability—not launching an independent school.
Network Support & Resources:
Model Assets: Curriculum, assessment tools, operational playbooks, and compliance guidance
Leadership Development: Executive coaching, peer learning with other EDs, professional development programs
Technical Assistance: Pre-opening support, specialized expertise (legal, financial, academic)
Network Contributions Expected:
Monthly: Network ED calls and operational data reporting
Quarterly: Network convenings and strategic planning participation
Ongoing: Implement network-wide initiatives within 30 days, document best practices for network benefit
Annual: Conference participation and thought leadership representing RSF
Shared Commitments:
Model Consistency: Collaborate on implementing core academic framework, DDO culture, and assessment systems
Collaborative Leadership: Balance local community needs with network learning and shared resources
Professional Growth:
Green Balloon Fellowship: Complete leadership training modules and implement local employer partnerships
Network Leadership: Opportunities for mentoring future EDs and potential regional roles
National Platform: Represent RSF at conferences and contribute to policy discussions
Bottom Line: Your success strengthens the entire network, and network resources amplify your local impact. You'll have significant autonomy while contributing to a proven model that's scaling nationally.
Who We're Looking For: The Rooted Columbia Success Profile
We're seeking a leader who brings a powerful blend of vision, humility, and execution. The most aligned candidates will see themselves reflected in the qualities below: not just as competencies, but as ways of leading, learning, and living our shared mission:
Visionary Leader and Practical Operator
You cast bold, future-facing vision while translating it into clear, achievable plans. You balance long-term impact with near-term execution, understanding that sustainable change requires both dreaming and doing.
Systems Integration Leader
You've successfully managed operations spanning multiple regulatory frameworks. You coordinate across education and industry sectors while maintaining compliance, seeing complexity as a puzzle to solve rather than a barrier to avoid.
Community Connector and Cultural Bridge-Builder
You build authentic relationships across diverse communities and understand local community assets. You understand that trust is earned through proximity, consistency, and deep listening. You know that the best educational solutions emerge from community partnership, not top-down mandates.
Entrepreneurial Educator and Change Agent
You've led or launched something new, ideally in high-autonomy or startup environments. You thrive building from scratch, making meaning from ambiguity, and solving complex problems alongside others. You see innovation as a tool for creating opportunity, not just efficiency.
Innovation Under Constraint
You've pioneered new approaches within established regulatory environments. You innovate while maintaining operational excellence and compliance, understanding that creativity and accountability are complementary, not competing.
Community-Responsive Leader and Student-Centered Advocate
You're committed to ensuring every student succeeds regardless of their background or circumstances. You build authentic relationships across diverse communities, listen deeply to understand different perspectives, and design programs that serve all families effectively. You understand that academic excellence requires meeting students where they are and creating pathways that work for each individual learner.
Talent Builder and Culture Creator
You know how to hire, develop, and retain diverse teams. You lead with clarity, care, and high expectations, implementing systems like coaching cycles, adult learning structures, and DDO-style practices that help everyone grow.
Fluency in Career and College Pathways
You believe deeply in preparing students for both college and career success. You understand dual enrollment, internships, and postsecondary transitions, and can articulate why Rooted's both/and approach matters in our changing world.
Network-Minded Leader
You understand that your success strengthens the entire network, and network success supports your local impact. You're committed to both local excellence and network contribution, seeing collaboration as essential to scaling impact.
Model Steward
You can adapt network resources for local context while maintaining fidelity to core model elements. You understand the difference between surface-level customization and essential model components.
What You Bring
While no one person will embody every trait, we're looking for a leader who brings many of the following:
Mission-Critical Experience and Qualifications
Deep commitment to Rooted's mission of economic mobility and unwavering belief in young people's power to shape their own futures
10+ years of professional experience in fields serving children and families (excluding volunteer time and unpaid internships)
Significant management responsibility: current or recent experience as school leaders, program managers, deputies, department heads, directors, or executives
Startup environment expertise: comfort navigating ambiguity, frequently changing scenarios, and building systems from scratch
Rooted's Core Leadership Values
Radical transparency: unwavering commitment to naming barriers that get in the way of achieving our mission, even when it's uncomfortable
Radical open-mindedness: regardless of how much you know about something, you maintain the humility that you could be wrong and actively seek diverse perspectives
Collaborative excellence: demonstrated track record of working successfully across lines of role, identity, and power in service of shared vision
Community-centered approach: commitment to celebrating, respecting, and valuing diversity while making learning relevant and meaningful to students of various cultures
We Especially Welcome Leaders Who:
Have lived experience navigating educational or economic barriers and bring that perspective to creating opportunity
Come from non-traditional leadership pathways including community organizing, workforce development, or social innovation
Reflect the diversity of Columbia's communities and bring deep understanding of local assets, challenges, and opportunities
Have experience in sustainability, workforce development, or innovative educational models
Bring bilingual/multicultural competencies and understanding of first-generation college or career experiences
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with career and technical education, workforce development, or industry partnerships
Knowledge of South Carolina's educational landscape and economic development priorities
Grant writing and community-based fundraising experience
Understanding of charter school authorization and compliance processes
Experience with project-based learning, mastery-based assessment, or innovative pedagogical approaches
Why This Role Matters
Pioneer innovative education: Lead the creation of the first school of its kind, combining clean energy enterprise with college prep in ways that address both economic mobility and environmental sustainability
Build generational impact: Create pathways that don't just serve individual students but strengthen entire communities through economic development and environmental stewardship
Lead with innovation and excellence: Work within a Deliberately Developmental Organization (DDO) framework that values growth, authenticity, and shared leadership over hierarchy and competition
Join a proven network: Connect with Rooted School Foundation's track record of success: graduates at prestigious colleges like Tulane and Case Western, careers at leading companies, and 7% becoming Posse Scholars
Create lasting change: Help establish a replicable model that proves schools can serve as sites of community wealth-building, environmental action, and student empowerment
Professional growth and support: Receive comprehensive support from our national team, extensive professional development, and connection to a network committed to both excellence and opportunity
Network Amplification: Your success doesn't just impact Columbia students—it strengthens a growing network serving students across multiple states. Your innovations become resources for current and future Rooted Schools, multiplying your impact nationally.
Our Commitment to You
Rooted School Columbia is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where leaders from all backgrounds can thrive authentically. We actively work to remove barriers that have historically limited access to school leadership opportunities.
We offer competitive compensation, comprehensive professional development, mentorship within our network, and a culture that values both high performance and personal well-being. Our DDO culture means we're committed to supporting your professional growth while recognizing that your lived experience, cultural knowledge, and diverse perspectives are leadership assets that strengthen our work.
To Apply
If you're as excited about this role as we are, please email the following to our Application Review Committee at opportunities.rsf@rootedschool.org.
Required Materials:
Resume that tells the story of your impact (the more specific you are using numbers, the better)
Cover Letter that includes answers to these prompts:
Explain what prompted you to apply for this role and what interests you most about the opportunity to serve as Founding Executive Director of Rooted School Columbia
Tell us about a time you had measurable (quantitative) impact on a job or organization. Be as specific as possible.
Share your biggest area for growth (if you improved in this area, it would significantly impact your next professional chapter).
Three References who fit this profile:
Someone who's coached/managed you for at least one year
Someone you've coached/managed for at least one year
Someone you consider a peer or lateral colleague on a team for at least one year
About the Rooted School Network
Rooted School is recognized as one of the most innovative high school models in the United States. Our vision is to expand opportunity for all students by equipping high school graduates with both a college acceptance letter in one hand and a job offer in the other. We believe that with the right training, elevated expectations, and access to opportunities, the next generation can help meet the demands of an evolving workforce while building economic mobility.
Rooted School currently serves students and families in New Orleans, Indianapolis, and Vancouver, Washington. Our graduates attend prestigious colleges such as Tulane, Villanova, and Case Western Reserve University, and have launched careers at leading companies, including Entergy, Ochsner Health, and Lucid.
The Rooted School Foundation also leads The $50 Study, a groundbreaking direct cash transfer program in partnership with the Center for Guaranteed Income Research and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This first-of-its-kind study provides students with $50 in unconditional weekly payments and has demonstrated significant benefits, including greater academic growth, improved attendance, and reduced hardship.
Rooted School Columbia is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring leaders who reflect the communities we serve. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds who are passionate about educational opportunity, economic mobility, and environmental sustainability.
For more information, visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn.
About the Rooted School Columbia
Rooted School Columbia is launching a first-of-its-kind school in Columbia, South Carolina that combines hands-on clean energy enterprise with college prep education. We're looking for a visionary team who can help bring this unique model to life.