Did you know that YOU are a part of the Jumpstart Field Operations & Strategy (FOS) department? Every Corps member from Atlanta to San Francisco, from Washington, DC, to Washington state is a part of the FOS team. The FOS department’s mission is simple: to strengthen and increase the positive impact that Jumpstart has on children. FOS provides support to Jumpstart sites across the country by integrating best practices from programs across the country, leveraging staff expertise, and growing a culture focused on collaboration and continuous improvement.
FOS works to maximize the services we provide to children, families and communities. Aside from Corps members, the department also includes site managers, operations managers, program directors, senior directors of programming, and community-focused staff:
- Program directors each manage a number of sites and site managers. They meet with site managers regularly to provide training, technical assistance, problem solving, and planning support.
- The community-focused staff are located in key cities across the country and their job is to grow Jumpstart’s impact and presence in the community. They coordinate family engagement activities, participate in city-wide initiatives, and help work on plans to expand Jumpstart’s program in the area.
- Operations managers work with both the FOS department and the Development department (Jumpstart’s fundraising team). They help keep things organized by managing data, tracking budgets, and working on a variety of special projects.
- The senior directors of programming are responsible for managing teams of program directors, operations managers, and community-specific staff around the country. They also serve as Jumpstart representatives with our local partners and on community-based coalitions and committees.
- Finally, the vice president of Field Operations & Strategy leads the entire department. The VP represents FOS on Jumpstart’s Leadership Team, sets priorities for the department, and provides support to all members of the team so that they can grow in their roles, ensuring they have the tools they need to be successful.
All together, these Jumpstart staffers spend a lot of time exploring what is working well at each site and what challenges are pervasive across the country. They develop new resources, collaborate with other Jumpstart departments, and connect site managers with their colleagues to problem solve together and share best practices. Throughout the year, different members of the FOS department may come and visit your team in session or at a team planning/team leader meeting. Using information from these site visits alongside data like the Corps Member Survey results, recruitment goals, and child attendance, the FOS team is able to draw a clear picture of what is happening at each Jumpstart site, all with an eye toward working together to make sure we are making a real difference for the children we serve.
At the heart of this, the most important role in the Field Operations & Strategy department is yours.
Corps members bring the Jumpstart program to life each and every day. It is your commitment to increasing the number of children who are prepared for kindergarten that will ultimately make a difference for the children in your Jumpstart classrooms. As you build relationships with your partner children, grow their vocabularies through reading and rich conversations, and encourage them to explore their world, the Field Operations and Strategy department will not only be cheering you on but also working hard to ensure that you and you team have the resources that you need to be successful.
Thank you for everything you do to help young children prepare for success!
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