About YWCA San Antonio
YWCA San Antonio is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. As part of the international YWCA movement, YWCA San Antonio has been at the forefront of advancing racial and gender equity for more than 100 years. Since 1910, the organization has supported women, children, and families through programs focused on early childhood education, youth development, economic empowerment, housing, and racial justice. Today, YWCA San Antonio serves the community through innovative, community-centered programs designed to improve outcomes for children and families and strengthen access to critical services.
Position Summary
Reporting directly to the Deputy CEO and serving as a member of the senior leadership team, the Senior Director of Early Childhood and Afterschool Programs provides strategic leadership, operational oversight, and partnership development for YWCA San Antonio's early childhood education and afterschool programming portfolio. This position leads efforts to deliver high-quality, mission-aligned care and education for children ages 0 through 12, ensuring that YWCA-SA's programs meet the needs of working women and families while supporting children's developmental, academic, and social-emotional growth. This leader identifies emerging community needs, builds cross-sector partnerships, and collaborates with the Senior Director of Development to pursue funding that advances YWCA-SA's mission.
Key Responsibilities
1. Early Childhood Education and Care
- Provide strategic oversight of YWCA-SA's early childhood education programs serving children ages 0 to 5.
- Ensure programs maintain Texas Rising Star 4-star quality rating and meet all licensing, accreditation, and compliance requirements established by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and other regulatory bodies.
- Lead implementation of developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive curriculum and teaching practices across all early childhood classrooms.
- Oversee enrollment, family engagement, and intake processes, ensuring that childcare services are accessible to working women and low-income families.
- Monitor and assess program outcomes, performance measures, budgets, and service delivery to ensure quality and compliance with funder and regulatory requirements.
2. Afterschool and Youth Development Programs
- Provide strategic oversight of YWCA-SA's afterschool programming for children in grades K through 7, including programs operating at the Olga Madrid Center and partner school sites.
- Ensure afterschool programs deliver high-quality academic support, social-emotional learning, and enrichment activities that advance student success and family stability.
- Oversee youth K-7 after school enrichment curriculum ensuring fidelity to evidence-based curricula and alignment with YWCA-SA's mission.
- Build, maintain, and assess partnerships with San Antonio Independent School District and other area school districts, community organizations to expand program reach and quality.
3. Community Partnership and Mission Alignment
- Actively build and maintain cross-sector partnerships with school districts, early childhood networks, childcare resource and referral agencies, and community organizations that strengthen and expand YWCA-SA's early childhood and afterschool programs.
- Identify emerging community needs related to childcare access, afterschool programming, and youth development, and translate them into programmatic responses grounded in YWCA-SA's mission to eliminate racism and empower women.
- Collaborate with the Director of Development to identify and pursue grant opportunities, providing programmatic expertise, outcome data, and funder relationship support.
- Represent YWCA-SA in community coalitions, collaborative initiatives, and public engagement opportunities related to early childhood education, afterschool programming, and youth development.
4. Strategic Leadership and Staff Support
- Guide overall strategy for the early childhood and afterschool portfolio while building the capacity of program leaders and classroom staff to deliver with excellence and autonomy.
- Provide regular supervision, coaching, and professional development support to program directors, site coordinators, teachers, and afterschool staff.
- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous learning, cultural humility, and trauma-informed practice across all program sites.
- Establish clear performance and behavioral expectations for program leaders and staff, ensuring consistent accountability across all sites.
- Collaborate with Sr. Director of Human Resources to strengthen recruitment, onboarding, retention, performance management, employee development, and succession planning across the Early Childhood, After School, and Youth teams.
- Collaborate with the CEO, Deputy CEO, and senior leadership team to align early childhood and afterschool initiatives with organizational strategy and mission.
- Support continuous improvement, program evaluation, and data-informed decision-making across all programs.
5. Grants and Financial Oversight
- Oversee grant contracts, reporting requirements, program outcomes, budgets, timelines, and compliance activities for all early childhood and afterschool programs, including government contracts such as Early Head Start, DHS Consolidated Funding, and Texas Workforce Commission childcare subsidies.
- Partner with the Director of Development to identify prospective funders, develop relationships with program officers, and provide program content for grant proposals and reports.
- Monitor program budgets and expenditures, ensuring responsible stewardship of resources and alignment with funder requirements.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree required in early childhood education, child development, education, social work, nonprofit management, or related field, or certification and experience. Master's degree preferred.
- Minimum of 5 to 7 years of leadership experience in early childhood education, afterschool programming, youth development, or nonprofit management.
- Demonstrated experience managing licensed childcare programs and meeting Texas childcare licensing and Texas Rising Star quality standards.
- Strong understanding of early childhood development, developmentally appropriate practice, trauma-informed care, and culturally responsive programming.
- Experience working with historically underserved communities and low-income families.
- Proven track record of building and sustaining community partnerships and cross-sector collaborations.
- Experience with grant management, government contracts, and funder reporting.
- Passion for and commitment to the mission of YWCA San Antonio.
Skills
- Strategic planning and program development
- Community partnership development and relationship building
- Budget management and financial oversight
- Grant contract management, compliance, and reporting
- Staff supervision, coaching, and team leadership
- Early childhood licensing, accreditation, and quality standards
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Public speaking and community engagement
- Fund development collaboration and grant opportunity identification
- Data-informed decision making and program evaluation
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines
- Bilingual English and Spanish preferred
Organizational Requirements
- Support YWCA San Antonio's mission to eliminate racism and empower women, demonstrating cultural competency and sensitivity to issues of race and gender, proactively addressing biases and stereotypes in the workplace.
- Work effectively with persons from various ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and professions with emotional maturity and professionalism.
- Actively promote an inclusive environment by fostering collaboration and respect among colleagues of diverse racial and gender identities.
- Demonstrate patience and compassion while remaining calm in stressful situations.
- Communicate information accurately, clearly, and in a timely fashion to all pertinent individuals.
- Ensure that resources, opportunities, and recognition are distributed fairly among employees regardless of race or gender, fostering a culture of equity and inclusion.
- Approach difficult conversations with respect and compassion.
- Flexibility and adaptability to work non-traditional hours as needed, including evenings and weekends.
- Actively represent the mission of YWCA San Antonio in all interactions with the community and coworkers.
To apply, please send cover letter and resume to [email protected]
YWCA San Antonio provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.
Benefits:
- Childcare
- Dental insurance
- Employee discount
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Work Location: In person
