Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Professional Development Affiliation
Timeline
Generic

Francisco Cruz

New York,NY

Summary

Director with 11+ years experience as education equity advocate with a strong track record in program leadership, partnership development, fundraising, as well as innovating program models and curriculum design. Skilled in expanding education equity initiatives, addressing stakeholder needs, and creating culturally-responsive social programs. Proficient in building efficient systems, leading teams, and managing complex projects & change management in dynamic settings. Seeking leadership roles in social impact organizations or philanthropic entities to drive opportunities for marginalized communities and maximize mission impact.

Overview

12
12
years of professional experience

Work History

Senior Director of Programs

Futures Ignite
03.2023 - 06.2025
  • Direct programs, serving over 250 annually through college and career counseling and youth leadership programs training over 150 young people as civic scientists, implemented initiatives that engaged over 800 community members.
  • Direct business strategy & program transformation, including: program design innovation, logic model & theory of change, curriculum & training development, managing a $300k budget ($2.2M overall), and ensuring program fidelity.
  • Primary program representative in fostering relationships with foundations, school, corporate and government partners. Launched inaugural expansion to a second school site, doubling impact.
  • As evaluation director and lead data admin, implemented new CRM to track KPI's. Led data-informed program innovations & fundraising strategies for special projects via RFPs & grant development (i.e. 50k grant in FY25).
  • Direct a team of eight staff across two school sites, providing coaching and consulting for school system leaders. Drive strategic improvements to enhance operational efficiencies, instituting formal organizational procedures.

Director of Business Development

Youth Communication
01.2022 - 03.2023
  • Secured $400K+ in earned revenue across FY22–FY23 through new partnerships. Led external relations and strategic client expansion, including DOE offices, DYCD, national partners, and CBOs.
  • Directed strategic planning for expansion of a new program model, tailoring offerings to stakeholders and communities in expansion.
  • Managed revenue models, process flows, operations support, and customer engagement strategies.
  • Overhauled Salesforce CRM reports and acted as data administrator to aid in grant writing and board reporting. Supported funder reporting and RFP writing & submissions.
  • Directed planning for a new program launch and streamlined operations systems. Overhauled marketing materials to drive outreach and website engagement.

Director of Strategic Growth, Northeast

Peer Health Exchange
10.2020 - 07.2021
  • Directed fundraising via partnerships and strategic relationships with districts, colleges, and government agencies, finalizing $190K in earned revenue and built a $150K pipeline. Served over 12k young people in NYC & Boston.
  • Key decision-maker regarding regional goals and business strategy. Directed program change management and adoption of education technology (EdTech) platform and quality programming in alignment with partnership needs & organizational goals.
  • Guided business strategy and codified market research for Northeast expansion to support mission-aligned partnership development.
  • Directed marketing and and expansion of education technology platform. Innovated revenue generation and sustainable program growth in the Northeast and nationally, overseeing grant submissions, leading sales pitches & brand-building.
  • Managed two regional teams to support implementation and community outreach and strengthened cross-functional collaboration. Regular board management and quarterly reporting for NE Regions-NYC and Boston.

NYC Program Director

Peer Health Exchange
04.2018 - 10.2020
  • Directed the growth and evaluation of programming, scaling new program models nationally, setting quality and impact standards-reaching 17k+ students across 70+ NYC partners schools with a skills-based mental health curriculum.
  • Managed program budget of $167k and overall NYC operating budget of $1.66M. Finalized over $110k in earned revenue, managed quarterly board engagement & grant reporting.
  • Primary NYC program representative with national teams & key organizations-managing external relationships & contracts with school districts, colleges, government, donors, and CBO's.
  • Supervised and coached 10 staff in their respective site management using SMART goals and adaptive leadership practices. Trained over 300 educators on mental health curricula & DEI.

Associate Program Director

Peer Health Exchange
07.2017 - 04.2018
  • Directed planning & full-scale implementation of and partnership operations across 5 boroughs, managing a budget of $120k- reaching over 5k young people and finalizing over 50 distinct partnerships.
  • Managed a team of three program managers directing individual sites to achieve organizational outcomes. Managed local board program reporting and supported foundation relationships.
  • Directed a new program pilot, captured learnings, liaising with National team to transition pilot to national implementation & established new standards for program quality.
  • Delivered equity-focused workshops for staff and volunteers. Built cross-team synergy with development, innovating on marketing engagements to elevate mission.

Program Operations Associate

Brooklyn Explore Charter School
10.2016 - 06.2017
  • Managed day-to-day schoolwide operations, communications, programming and event planning.
  • Coordinated eight teacher teams and enforced academic and data policies.
  • Developed and delivered staff presentations and equity-focused PD sessions.
  • Researched and cultivated partnerships with external programs for the school community, managed relationships with third-party vendors/resources to improve overall institution performance and address stakeholder needs.
  • Wrote proposals and reports, pitching ideas for CBO partnerships and responsive initiatives aimed at advancing goals of the institution, such as: addressing chronic absenteeism & social-emotional learning advancement.

English & Special Education Teacher

CIS 303 Leadership and Community Services
07.2014 - 08.2016
  • Lead English Language Arts (ELA) teacher in integrated collaborative teaching (ICT) and 12:1:1 settings.
  • Designed anti-racist, culturally responsive curriculum and used tech and multimedia to increase engagement and academic outcomes.
  • Regularly analyzed assessment data to inform instructional design.
  • Managed IEP caseload and ensured compliance with NYS regulations.
  • Acted as a coach and thought partner to colleagues to implement universal design principles and differentiation in curricula.

Lead Research Assistant

City University of New York Service Corps- Healthy CUNY
08.2013 - 06.2014
  • Co-led research on CUNY campus food environments for public health policy development.
  • Designed metrics, conducted field research, and performed statistical analysis with SPSS.
  • Developed systems to improve team accountability and meet deadlines.
  • Managed research team and supported proposal writing and final reporting

Education

Master of Science - Education

Fordham University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
New York, NY
05.2016

B.A. - Psychology, Philosophy

City University of New York (CUNY)- Herbert H. Lehman College
Bronx, NY
05.2014

Skills

  • Strategic Planning & Visioning
  • Program Development & Evaluation
  • Partnership Development
  • Donor & Foundation Relationships
  • Organizational Development
  • Quality Improvement
  • Team Management
  • Change Management
  • Human Resources Management
  • Public Speaking & Training
  • Coaching & Counseling
  • Data Management & Analysis
  • Microsoft Office, Google Suites, Salesforce CRM

Professional Development Affiliation

  • Leadership Fellows New York, Senior Fellow (2024)
  • College Access Consortium of New York, Member
  • Princeton AlumniCorps, Emerging Leaders Alumni (2018-19)
  • Honoree: WELL Campaign, School Wellness Champion
  • Teach for America, New York Alumni (2014)

Timeline

Senior Director of Programs

Futures Ignite
03.2023 - 06.2025

Director of Business Development

Youth Communication
01.2022 - 03.2023

Director of Strategic Growth, Northeast

Peer Health Exchange
10.2020 - 07.2021

NYC Program Director

Peer Health Exchange
04.2018 - 10.2020

Associate Program Director

Peer Health Exchange
07.2017 - 04.2018

Program Operations Associate

Brooklyn Explore Charter School
10.2016 - 06.2017

English & Special Education Teacher

CIS 303 Leadership and Community Services
07.2014 - 08.2016

Lead Research Assistant

City University of New York Service Corps- Healthy CUNY
08.2013 - 06.2014

Master of Science - Education

Fordham University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

B.A. - Psychology, Philosophy

City University of New York (CUNY)- Herbert H. Lehman College

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