Leaders of the long-term education initiative Cradle to Career are looking to fill two top positions that will guide the direction and focus of the entire program.

The initiative is currently accepting applications for the executive director, said District 202 Superintendent Eric Witherspoon, who serves on the program’s planning committee. At the same time, the group intends to search for a data specialist to analyze numbers in different areas such as education, health and workforce.

Cradle to Career is a community-wide effort that aims to mobilize the resources and and assets of Evanston organizations to ease children’s transition to adulthood. The initiative requires the leadership of a few people to regulate the abundance of community members involved in the various parts of the program, including those from nonprofits, school districts and businesses, Witherspoon said.

“To actually make it work, we were going to have to have a very small staff that would actually provide the structure and the organization and the facilitation to get all of the programming going,” he said.

The executive director will be in charge of trying to unite the different entities, including staffing committees, leading communications and developing a comprehensive strategy, Witherspoon said.

Witherspoon said Cradle to Career is looking for someone who has held a leadership position for at least 10 years in a similar type of collective impact organization,whether it’s a local person familiar with the Evanston community or someone just as qualified from across the country.

The initiative runs on the vision that “by the age of 23, all Evanston young adults will be leading productive lives, building on the resources, education and support that they and their families have had to help them grow into resilient, educated, healthy, self-sufficient, and socially responsible adults.”

The executive director will report to a three-person human resources committee that will delegate tasks to the more than 20 partners that have signed on and donated money towards Cradle to Career, Witherspoon said.

After the hiring of the executive position, which Witherspoon anticipates will happen by November, Cradle to Career will let the new person become acquainted with the position before starting the search for the data specialist. The analyst will be responsible for compiling data and numbers that will show those involved in the initiative which areas need to be focused on and the effectiveness of ongoing efforts.

“Within these clustered areas, we’re identifying specific metrics,” he said. “We’re measuring them not simply to put them on a dashboard or a spreadsheet, but to help guide the work and show us … if we’re getting results with the solutions that we’re working on.”

Cradle to Career was first introduced to Evanston in October 2012 at a meeting among city leaders. Since then, leadership has gathered partners from all walks of the Evanston community. Aldermen approved a $50,000 contribution toward the initiative at a city council meeting in September.

Witherspoon will be accepting applications for the executive director position until Oct. 6. He expects to employ a data specialist by spring 2015.

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