Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO)
Bailey and Sullivan Leadership Institute National Fellowship Program
Curriculum Developer Request for Consultants
About BAEO
The mission of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) is to actively support parental choice to empower
families and increase quality educational options for Black children. BAEO believes all children deserve equal
educational opportunity. We focus on providing these opportunities to low-income and working class
Black families whose children are in the greatest academic need.
We support a wide array of educational options including charter schools, tuition tax credits, means-tested
vouchers, private school scholarships, home schooling, public private partnerships, Black independent
schools, access to high quality supplementary educational services and effective innovations in
traditional public schools.
Since our founding in December of 1999, BAEO has grown to become the preeminent national
organization for Black people who support parental choice. In our seven-year history, we have learned
many lessons about the difficulty of creating, implementing, and sustaining effective parental choice
programs. It is our intention to stay focused and remain relentless in our efforts to bring value to the
movement that is dedicated to empowering low income and working class parents to be able to choose
the best educational environment for their children.
Program Overview
The BSLI National Fellowship Program is a nine-month, part-time program designed for participating
fellows to develop personally and to give back to the parental choice movement in a real way. The
primary objectives of the NFP are to:
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Recruit and train a cadre of Black leaders representing parents, k-12 educators, and advocates
from cities and states with existing efforts to expand parental choice and increase quality
educational options.
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Maintain a minimum cohort of four (4) fellows per year in a nine-month, part-time program of
leadership coaching, seminars, and apprenticeships.
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Develop a series of Leadership and Action seminars to deliver curriculum in the following
categories of learning: History of Black Education, Politics of Parental Choice, Social
Entrepreneurial Leadership Ethics, Communication and Media Advocacy, Community
Organizing and Coalition Building.
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Connect each fellow to a local, state and/or national parental choice organization to fully
experience the successes and challenges of parental choice work.
The pilot cohort of the National Fellowship Program will consist of four (4) fellows. The program will
grow to a maximum cohort size of fifteen (15) by the fourth year of implementation.
Report Structure
The Curriculum Developer will report to the Director of Strategic Initiatives.
Position Description
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The Curriculum Developer is responsible for the organization of Leadership and Action seminar topics,
identification and selection of seminar trainers and speakers, and on-site management of fellows and
program guests during Leadership and Action seminars. Below is a brief description of the seminars.
Leadership Action Seminars. The Fellowship will launch with a one-week Leadership and Action
Seminar. This one-week intensive seminar will focus on personal transformation and teambuilding.
Fellows will have an opportunity to explore their personal strengths and weaknesses, network with
each other, and develop the first drafts of their leadership action plans. This shared experience at the
start of the program will give fellows an opportunity to work together building relationships they can
return to throughout the NFP.
Subsequently, fellows will attend three (3) three-day retreats throughout the year. The NFP will offer
a seminar series consistent with the defined categories of learning: History of Black Education,
Politics of Parental Choice, Social Entrepreneurial Leadership Ethics, Communication and Media
Advocacy, Community Organizing and Coalition Building.
The Curriculum Developer will also work with the national management team to facilitate and monitor
the implementation of the experiential practicum taken by fellows during the program. Fellows will
complete a three-week experiential practicum designed to help them apply the information, skills and
relationships developed during the NFP. Each Fellow will be assigned to work with a partner
organization identified by BAEO to assist with a research project, outreach effort, or advocacy campaign.
Primary Responsibilities
The Curriculum Developer will be responsible for the following:
 Coordinating and ensuring high quality implementation of the Foundations curriculum;
 Managing the selection of presenters who will provide high-quality readings, pedagogy,
teaching, and assessment for the Leadership and Action Seminars;
 Liaising with and serving as BAEO contact for presenters/trainers, from course
design/development through implementation, including creation of learning objectives, syllabi
and appropriate seminar materials, facilitating pre- and post-seminar evaluation and providing
reports following each seminar;
 Monitoring the overall quality of training, progress of collective mastery of learning objectives,
fellows quality of life during training, and collection of and response to feedback shared by
fellows, presenters, and leadership coaches; and,
 Communicating regularly with Leadership Coaches for feedback on seminar development,
monitoring fellows’ collective and individual learning needs and concerns.
Qualifications:
The Curriculum Developer will be an experienced facilitator and program designer that is driven by the
following assertions about what makes an individual an effective parental choice leader:
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Belief in the Capacity of Black Children
Belief in the Capacity of Low Income and Working Class People
Strong Leadership Foundation
Attention to Vision and Pragmatism
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Furthermore, the Curriculum Developer must demonstrate the following:
 Experience managing and creating intergenerational learning communities
 Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with strong ability to work as a team member
and interact with diverse constituencies
 Excellent project management, organizational and problem-solving skills with meticulous
attention to detail within the context of the larger strategic goals
 Ability to take initiative and anticipate work flow and tasks
 Strong sense of personal responsibility and accountability for delivering high quality work
 Fluency in all Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint) and basic Web
browsers and searches required; familiarity with more advanced database packages a plus
 Experience with non-profit and/or education reform organizations a plus.
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