Charles & Helen Schwab Foundation
POSITION DESCRIPTION: Program Officer - Education
SAN FRANCISCO, CA January 5, 2026
The Opportunity
The Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation is seeking a dynamic, highly knowledgeable education professional as its new Program Officer - Education. Reporting to the Senior Program Officer, Education, the Program Officer will be a key member of the Education team and will have the opportunity to help shape the implementation and evolution of the Foundation’s education strategy.
The Program Officer - Education will: 1) manage day-to-day relationships with and progress of a set of the Foundation’s grantees; 2) source and conduct due diligence on prospective new grantees, including making funding recommendations to the CHSF team and our trustees; 3) collaborate and build partnerships and coalitions with peer funders and other key stakeholders; and 4) work with the CHSF team as a whole to ensure we are effectively supporting our grantees, maintaining alignment and fidelity to the Foundation’s mission and strategy, and maximizing our impact.
The new Program Officer, Education must believe in the Foundation’s mission and vision and be passionate about the power of public education to be an instrument of racial equity, economic mobility, and individual and community transformation. Candidates must also have: 1) at least eight years of professional experience in K-12 public education, in particular working directly with or in service of low-income students, families, or communities; 2) a comprehensive understanding of the factors affecting K-12 public education in the United States, with particular knowledge of the public charter school movement, teacher professional learning, and evidence-based instructional improvement strategies; 3) a track record of accelerating innovation in K-12 schools through instructional models, technology, and learner-centered approaches that elevate student agency and real-world preparedness; 4) experience building career-connected learning programs and connecting the K-12 education system to postsecondary pathways to college and career success for low-income students. The ideal candidate must also be a strategic thinker who asks questions, makes connections across organizations and systems, anticipates roadblocks, proactively identifies solutions, and is an excellent communicator, both in writing and verbally.
About the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
The Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation (CHSF) envisions a world in which all people lead fulfilling and choice-filled lives. CHSF funds solutions in education, housing, and employment that increase economic power and well-being in historically marginalized communities. We prioritize innovative approaches that advance racial equity and remove systemic barriers that perpetuate generational cycles of poverty. The Foundation has a long history of supporting K-12 and higher education, human services, civic and cultural life, and programs serving students with learning differences. In March 2023, the Foundation’s board of trustees approved a new strategic plan that focuses on public education nationally and housing and homelessness in the Bay Area. CHSF is a private family foundation and is independent from the Charles Schwab Corporation and from the Charles Schwab Corporate Foundation.
Our education work is anchored in the belief that all families, especially those from historically marginalized communities, should have the power to choose from a diverse set of schools that meet their children’s academic and emotional needs. We focus on the creation and growth of public charter schools that are driving significant learning gains for low-income children of color. To complement our schools-focused work, we fund human capital programs, advocacy efforts of parent-led and community-based organizations, and innovations in school design and the future of learning. We also focus on ensuring students have the preparation and agency to pursue pathways of their choosing to post-secondary success by supporting better, faster, cheaper, and more equitable routes to a degree and/or professional credentials and certifications.
We believe in the promise of public education as the great equalizer. For too many, that promise remains illusory. Educational attainment dramatically impacts positive life and societal outcomes. Yet student outcomes remain unacceptably low, and the pandemic worsened the achievement and opportunity gaps that have persisted for decades.
Our focus areas include the following:
Schools. Our education work is anchored in the belief that all families, especially those from historically marginalized communities, should have the power to choose from a diverse set of schools that meet their children’s academic and emotional needs. We focus on the creation and growth of public charter schools and networks that are driving significant learning gains and long-term outcomes for low-income children of color.
Human Capital. We believe that great schools are reflections of great educators and that the educators in our schools should better represent the backgrounds and experiences of the students and families they serve. Our human capital work focuses on efforts to diversify the educator workforce and better recruit, support, and retain teachers and leaders.
Innovation. We believe that the one-size-fits-all industrial model of public education is inequitable and inadequate to prepare students to thrive in the 21st-century economy and world. As a result, we also focus on innovations in school design and the future of learning that can accelerate the transition to a more flexible, relevant, equitable, and student-centered system.
Parent & Community Power. We believe that those most directly impacted by continued educational inequity must lead the fight for change. Our parent and community power work focuses on transferring power to parent-led and community-based organizations that demand better outcomes and options for their children.
Post-Secondary Multiple Pathways. All students should have the preparation and agency to pursue pathways of their choosing to success in life. We believe in the power and promise of a college degree as the most reliable path to create economic power and reduce inter-generational poverty. We support programs that aim to increase college access, persistence, and completion for low-income and first-generation students, with an emphasis on ensuring that the degree actually translates to strong first jobs and stable careers. We also believe that students and young adults need multiple post-secondary pathways that are more responsive to their real-world experiences and challenges. As a result, we support innovative models breaking down the traditional walls between high school, college and career so that more low-income students of color can pursue faster, cheaper, and more equitable routes to a degree and/or professional credentials and certifications.
Our Grantmaking Approach
We center our grantmaking on two core principles.
Racial equity. While we organize our work around two distinct program areas, we view racial inequities in our public schools and in our housing policies as inextricably intertwined. We prioritize racial equity in our grantmaking to address historically rooted and ongoing disparities in educational access and outcomes, economic mobility, and stable and affordable housing. We intentionally invest in solutions that seek to redress these disparities and in organizations led and informed by people of color who are most proximate to the work and have the most at stake in change and progress.
Doubling down and breaking new ground. We are committed to investing in what we know works. We support proven models that aspire to grow and increase their impact. At the same time, we know that without new approaches, we will continue to see the same results. We also seek opportunities to be founding or early supporters of innovative efforts to reimagine existing solutions and seed or scale new ones.
WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE BELIEVE
We are a small, dynamic team with diverse experiences and perspectives. We are former public school teachers, school leaders, school systems administrators, public health researchers, policy and advocacy practitioners, environmental advocates, and long-time philanthropy leaders. We are motivated by working to break the correlation between zip codes and positive life outcomes.
We believe that:
The problems we are trying to address are complex but fundamentally solvable.
Our work, first and foremost, is in service of and in partnership with our grantees and the individuals, families, and communities they serve.
Doing good is great, but making lasting change is better.
How we operate:
We are professional but non-hierarchical and informal. We take the work but not ourselves seriously.
We approach our work with the passion, urgency, and resilience it demands.
We work to be self-reflective and embrace a continuous improvement mindset as grantmakers and team members.
We work to be empathetic, transparent, responsive, and humble as grantmakers and team members.
Everyone’s voice and experience matters. We work to build trust that enables us to know each other and our grantees as people and be vulnerable and authentic with one another.
We work to ensure that all team members have a fulfilling work experience and opportunities for personal and professional growth.
We actively seek to collaborate with our funder peers to learn from their experiences and better leverage our collective impact.
responsibilities
Grantmaking
Identify organizations and initiatives that align with CHSF’s strategic priorities through thorough research and evaluation grounded in equitable, trust-based philanthropy.
Conduct due diligence on potential grantees, including reviewing grant proposals and proposed metrics, meeting with leadership teams, conducting site visits, and consulting with trusted partners.
Gain an understanding of comparable organizations and promising practices to assess, document, and communicate the relative strengths and challenges of potential grantees.
Write and present funding recommendations to the CHSF team and trustees.
Cultivate and manage relationships with existing and potential grantees, acting as primary contact and thought partner.
Learning, Evaluation, and Strategic Refinement
Conduct annual review of grantees in service of (1) program oversight; (2) identifying shared successes and challenges across the portfolio and leveraging those insights to support grantees in maximizing their impact; and (3) evaluating CHSF’s strategy, practices, and impact.
Help ensure CHSF's education program is as impactful and responsive as possible by proactively surfacing needs, insights, and trends across the education ecosystem that may impact grantmaking strategy and practice.
Meet regularly with grantees to understand and diagnose key organizational and programmatic successes and challenges, including progress on outcomes targets.
May have ownership over projects or initiatives within the education program or take the lead on a specialized area or other tasks associated with higher levels.
Partnerships & Relationship Management
Build relationships with a broad network of partners working in common cause.
Identify opportunities to maximize CHSF’s impact by partnering with other funders on shared programmatic, policy, or systems-change efforts.
QUALIFICATIONS
Demonstrated commitment to education equity and racial justice.
At least eight years of professional experience in K-12 public education, in particular working directly with or in service of low-income students, families, or communities.
Comprehensive understanding of the factors affecting K-12 public education in the United States, with particular knowledge of the public charter school movement, teacher professional learning, and evidence-based instructional improvement strategies.
A track record of accelerating innovation in K-12 schools through instructional models, technology, and learner-centered approaches that elevate student agency and real-world preparedness.
Experience building career-connecting learning programs and connecting the K-12 education systems to postsecondary pathways to college and career success for low-income students.
A strategic thinker who asks questions, makes connections across organizations and systems, anticipates roadblocks, and proactively identifies solutions.
Experience with program evaluation and demonstrated ability to analyze and interpret data and measure outcomes and impact.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including demonstrated ability to synthesize information, present it clearly and concisely, and make persuasive rationales for investments.
Ability and orientation to adapt and be flexible in response to the changing needs of the organizations and communities we serve.
Skilled at building authentic relationships, partnerships, and coalitions with diverse groups of people and organizations.
Strong project management skills.
Commitment to continuous learning, reflection, and growth.
Ability to work effectively on a small, entrepreneurial team, including comfort with both staff collaboration and self-direction.
Proficient with cloud-based collaborative tools.
compensation
This is a full-time exempt position. The target salary for this role is $135,000-$165,000, based on experience. CHSF also provides excellent, comprehensive benefits.
Location & Hybrid Work Arrangement
CHSF offices are located in San Francisco, CA. This position is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and locally based candidates are highly preferred and prioritized. Exceptional remote candidates may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
CHSF operates on a hybrid work schedule, with employees expected to work in the office three days per week. Candidates must be eligible and authorized to work in the United States.
The Program Officer should expect to travel approximately 10–20 days per year for conferences, funder meetings, site visits, and related activities.
equal opportunity statement
CHSF prohibits discrimination of employment, promotion, compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment on the basis of race, color, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, sex (including marital and parental status), religion, age, disability, actual or perceived gender identity or expression, weight, personal appearance, family responsibilities, genetic information, economic status, genetic information, veteran’s status, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. CHSF is an equal opportunity employer and will comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination in employment.
CHSF’s equal opportunity policy covers all programs, services, policies, and procedures of CHSF, including opportunity for employment and treatment as a CHSF employee, as well as opportunities for vendors to contract with CHSF.
TO APPLY
Martha Montag Brown & Associates, LLC has been retained to conduct this search. Interested and qualified candidates should apply by 1) submitting a resume and a cover letter describing their interest and relevant qualifications, experience, and expertise to the candidate application portal, and 2) emailing a copy of the resume and cover letter to search@marthamontagbrown.com. All correspondence will remain confidential. Questions about the search and application process should be directed to search@marthamontagbrown.com.
