Finding SchoolHouse Connection's Senior Director of Strategic Execution

At Edgility Search, we view every search as a chance to help an organization define what it needs next. My recent search for SchoolHouse Connection's first Senior Director of Strategic Execution was a powerful example of that.

SchoolHouse Connection (SHC) is the nation's leading nonprofit dedicated to overcoming homelessness through early care and education. Its network spans all 50 states and DC, supporting children and youth experiencing homelessness from prenatal through postsecondary education. As SHC enters a new phase of growth, it created a brand-new senior leadership role, and invited Edgility Search to help find the right person for it.

When the search wrapped, SHC Executive Director Barbara Duffield shared this:

"Edgility Search's skill in translating a job role to its core competencies was extremely impressive, and some of the anti-bias techniques were new and important to our team. I also loved the facilitation and the thought partnership when we were stuck."

— Barbara Duffield, Executive Director, SchoolHouse Connection

Here's a look at how I got there.

The role: SHC's chief integrator

The Senior Director of Strategic Execution reports directly to the Executive Director and serves as the organization's chief integrator. As SHC's work expands across programs, policy, communications, partnerships, and new state-based initiatives, this leader makes sure strategy turns into coordinated, high-quality execution.

In practice, that means:

• Turning strategy into clear priorities, with defined outcomes, owners, success measures, and realistic timelines.
• Building the systems that keep teams aligned, from annual retreats and quarterly planning to meeting rhythms, dashboards, and decision logs, without adding needless bureaucracy.
• Serving as a strategic partner to the Executive Director, framing tradeoffs and taking on day-to-day coordination so Barbara can focus on vision, relationships, fundraising, and long-term strategy.
• Driving accountability across teams, surfacing cross-functional challenges early and building a culture where commitments are met or proactively renegotiated.
• Helping lead SHC's next phase of growth, including a two-year state-based pilot and the learning that will shape SHC's future growth model.

Just as important was how this person would lead. SHC named four qualities up front: mission over ego, impact over process, relationship-centered leadership, and composure under pressure.

Nearly 1,000 applicants, each one read

The search drew close to 1,000 applications. That kind of response says a lot about SHC's reputation and the appeal of the role. It also raises the stakes on how carefully each candidate is considered.

I reviewed every application individually against the core competencies of the role without using keyword filters or shortcuts. Because we had done the work early to translate the job description into a clear, shared set of competencies every candidate was measured on what mattered most for success.

That clarity is also central to reducing bias. When competencies are defined before anyone reads a resume, decisions rest on evidence of what a candidate can do rather than on familiar titles, pedigree, or gut feel. Several of these anti-bias practices were new to the SHC team, and they became a shared language through every round of the search.

Bringing the SHC team in, without taking over their calendars

This role would sit at the center of how SHC works, so the people it would partner with every day needed a real voice in the search. I also knew how stretched a lean, impact driven nonprofit team is. My goal was to gather meaningful input while asking as little of their time as possible.

Here's how the team shaped the search:

1. Discovery. Conversations with SHC staff helped me understand the organization's context: how teams work together, where coordination breaks down, and what this leader would need to get right in year one. That insight shaped both the role's competencies and how we evaluated candidates.
2. Semi-finalist and finalist rounds. SHC team members took part in interviews at both stages, so candidates met the colleagues they'd actually work alongside, and the team saw firsthand how each candidate engaged.
3. Independent feedback surveys. After each round, team members shared their feedback through short, independent surveys. Collecting input separately kept each person's perspective their own, free from groupthink or the loudest voice in the room. Barbara then used that feedback in her debrief for each round.

The result was a process that the SHC team helped shape, and one that respected the demands of their work.

A partnership built on deep listening and trust

At Edgility Search, every search is a partnership. With SchoolHouse Connection, that partnership rested on two things: deep listening and trust.

Listening meant taking the time to understand SHC's mission, its people, and the moment it's in, then reflecting that back in a role definition the whole team could stand behind. Trust meant Barbara and her team were willing to try new approaches, think out loud with me when a decision was hard, and rely on a rigorous, equitable process to surface the right leader.

We're grateful to Barbara and the entire SchoolHouse Connection team for the partnership, and we're excited to see what SHC's next chapter makes possible for children and youth experiencing homelessness across the country.

Stay tuned: I can't wait to share who is stepping into this pivotal role.

Learn more about SchoolHouse Connection at schoolhouseconnection.org.

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About the Author

Mara Cooper is a Principal at Edgility Search, where she leads executive searches for charter school networks, nonprofits, and social impact organizations nationwide, with particular depth in the Philadelphia region and the broader PK–12 sector. She began her career in the classroom as a Humanities teacher at Mastery Schools of Philadelphia, then moved into postsecondary advising and helped build Mastery’s talent outreach and marketing function. That path, which includes teaching, advising, administration, and talent leadership, gives her a full view of what strong leadership looks like for students, families, and communities. With more than 20 years in education and talent work, she helps mission-driven organizations find leaders who understand both the role and the community behind it.

For more insights and new opportunities, follow Mara on LinkedIn.