Associate Partner, Innovative Public Schools

NewSchools Venture Fund

3d•$120,000 - $150,000•Remote

About The Position

NewSchools Venture Fund seeks an Associate Partner for its Innovative Public Schools (IPS) team to find, fund, and support leaders creating innovative, future-ready public schools in K-12 education. The role leads recruitment and selection of emerging school founders, manages a portfolio of up to 10 teams in the design phase—roughly two years before opening—and leads IPS work supporting AI-native and AI-supported fresh start schools. The Associate Partner spends significant time in the field to learn how innovation is developing and bring those insights back to inform strategy. The position reports to Ariana Valenzuela, Partner, may be performed remotely from anywhere in the U.S., and requires up to 25% travel for meetings, retreats, and school visits. The Associate Partner develops a national pipeline of founders across charter and district schools; shapes application and selection criteria; reviews applications, conducts due diligence, and writes investment recommendations for leadership and the board. They own strategic relationships with early-stage school teams, assess model strengths and risks, coach founders through design decisions, and create adult learning experiences such as cohort convenings, design sprints, school visits, and peer consultancy. They also coordinate with other associate partners to support transitions and learning across the Y00-Y3 trajectory. For IPS’ AI schools work, the Associate Partner identifies, selects, and supports AI-native and AI-supported schools, evaluates AI implementation partners, and contributes to NewSchools’ AI learning agenda with the Research and Learning team. The role translates field and portfolio insight into selection criteria, support strategies, investment priorities, and external communications, and takes on emerging strategy initiatives as IPS priorities evolve. NewSchools is a venture philanthropy that connects people, resources, and ideas to advance an education system that serves all students. It invests in education leaders and entrepreneurs pursuing equitable, collaborative, and innovative solutions.

Requirements

At least 8 years of professional experience in education, including school leadership, school design, management consulting, or philanthropy.
At least 5 years of experience serving as a school principal or coaching school principals.
Direct experience with AI in schools, such as integrating AI into instructional or operational systems, supporting AI adoption, or evaluating AI tools and models.
Experience founding, designing, or redesigning innovative school models, or coaching early-stage founders through design and launch.
Demonstrated ability to design and deliver effective adult learning experiences for leaders and teams.
Ability to travel up to 25% for in-person meetings, retreats, and school site visits.
Must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S.; visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

Experience making or contributing to investment, funding, or high-stakes organizational decisions.

Responsibilities

Lead recruitment and selection for emerging AI-native and other future-ready school models.
Own the recruitment strategy for founders developing models involving AI as core infrastructure, college and career pathways, talent and time redesign, and historically underserved students.
Build and refine a national pipeline of innovative founders across charter and district schools.
Shape funding application and selection criteria and contribute an innovation lens to application review, due diligence, and selection.
Write investment recommendations for leadership and the board.
Manage relationships with up to 10 school teams in the earliest design phase, diagnosing model strengths, gaps, and risks and tailoring support plans.
Coach founders on instructional coherence, AI integration, talent and staffing, authorization, and launch readiness.
Design and lead adult learning experiences, including cohort convenings, design sprints, school visits, and peer consultancy.
Coordinate with other associate partners to support handoffs and learning across the Y00-Y3 trajectory.
Lead IPS identification, selection, and support of AI-native and AI-supported fresh start schools.
Manage and evaluate AI implementation partners, match founders with technical support, and hold partners accountable for intended outcomes.
Contribute to the AI learning agenda with the Research and Learning team, including assessing promising integration approaches and the conditions needed for success and sustainability.
Spend time in schools, incubators, and convenings to understand emerging innovation and identify founder needs.
Synthesize field and portfolio insights into selection criteria, support strategy, and investment priorities.
Share learning externally and help strengthen NewSchools’ influence and credibility regarding AI-native school design.
Lead or contribute to emerging innovation initiatives and special projects as IPS priorities evolve.