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Children’s Literacy Initiative, a nationally recognized educational non-profit, seeks a forward-looking, strategic, culturally competent, racial equity-driven, institutional leader to serve as its next CEO.

Helping educators, school leaders, and school districts serve historically marginalized student populations, CLI seeks to dismantle structural racism by providing Black and Latinx children with anti-racist early literacy instruction, support, and advocacy needed to create equity in early childhood education for all.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, CLI has been supporting literacy in classrooms since its inception in 1988. Today CLI’s services and resources include teacher coaching and professional development, workshops and seminars, books and materials, and leadership development support. Using its unique and transformative methodologies, CLI partners with and supports teachers in helping them to develop their students more effectively into powerful and self-affirming readers, writers, and thinkers.
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Deeply rooted in reading research including (i) the science of reading, (ii) culturally sustaining pedagogies, and (iii) effective adult learning strategies, CLI currently serves Pre-K- through fifth-grade students in cities and counties across the United States including, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Broward County, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Elizabeth and Passaic, New Jersey; Omaha, Nebraska; and a statewide partnership in Massachusetts.
This leadership transition comes at a time of significant opportunity for CLI as the need and demand for the organization’s work is greater now than ever. CLI believes that literacy is a vital pathway to creating lasting social change and in fostering a just and equitable society.
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Looking ahead, the CEO of CLI will oversee the financial and cultural health and strategic, long-term growth of the organization - working to strengthen its capacity to deliver on its burgeoning racial justice mission. This leader will bring knowledge of early childhood literacy and an understanding of the impact of structural racism on the country’s educational systems and practices; along with a principled commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging for all students.
The CEO will serve as a strategic leader, with demonstrated effectiveness in developing organizational culture and relationships with staff and boards; a highly effective communicator, skilled at identifying funding opportunities and partnerships across a broad range of constituencies; and will be a strong and accountable financial and people manager.

Apply Today

CLI has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national search firm, to assist in the recruitment of its CEO. Please direct all nominations, inquiries, and application materials in confidence to the search firm, as indicated below:

APPLICATIONS, NOMINATIONS, AND INQUIRIES

All inquiries, nominations, and applications (including resume and a two-to-three-page letter of interest responding to the opportunities and challenges outlined above) should be submitted via Isaacson, Miller’s website:

Rebecca M. Swartz, Partner
Karson Freeman, Associate
Isaacson, Miller
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