About GreenLight Fund
Founded in 2004, GreenLight Fund is a national nonprofit with a local focus that partners with communities to create opportunities for inclusive prosperity. In our 12 sites, we facilitate a community-driven process that matches the local needs of individuals and families not met by existing programs, to organizations with track records of success elsewhere in the country. Working with communities, we identify, invite in, and launch proven organizations, providing collaborative support so they can quickly take root and deliver change. Everything we do is designed to remove barriers to inclusive economic opportunity all too often rooted in racial inequities.
Our impact increases exponentially as we address one specific, community-identified need each year, in each GreenLight site. Since 2004, we have launched 45 portfolio organizations across 12 sites, invested $31M, and attracted an additional $206M from other funding sources, reaching more than 560,000 individuals and families in 2022 alone.
GreenLight Fund is headquartered in Boston, with sites in Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Newark, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Twin Cities. GreenLight is continuing to expand by adding one new site each year.
GreenLight Fund continues to grow strategically, with a focus on deepening community impact, growing to new cities, building our learning capacity, building strategic partnerships, and centering equity in all that we do.
To learn more about GreenLight Fund’s work, please check out our video and visit our website.
The Executive Director Opportunity
GreenLight Fund is currently seeking a dynamic, passionate, and collaborative Executive Director to lead the launch and establishment of GreenLight Denver. This founding leader will build the GreenLight Denver Selection Advisory Council and run the diligence and selection process which includes a community-driven process to identify priority needs, select organizations to address the needs, fund these organizations to expand to the community, and support them as they launch and grow. In addition, the Executive Director will steward and secure funders and other resources to support GreenLight Denver and its portfolio organizations and engage a wide variety of constituents in this work.
This is a fantastic opportunity for a results-oriented and inspiring leader to work autonomously in Denver, with the support of the National office, to bring proven models of growing, high-performing nonprofits to Denver and to engage individuals, funders, and companies to create meaningful community impact. The Executive Director will lead implementation of GreenLight’s Method of impact in Denver, partner with peers across the country to find and spread what works and support the national GreenLight network.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:
Programmatic Leadership:
- Lead a community-wide Selection Advisory Council to advise on identifying Denver’s high priority community needs, and the vetting and selection of portfolio organizations that can powerfully address them.
- Bring an awareness of and collaboratively build on efforts already undertaken in Denver to identify and address community needs
- Run an annual selection process through a racial equity lens to identify organizations with potential to have a significant impact on community needs, conduct rigorous diligence and deep landscape analysis on prospective partner organizations, and select one organization annually for GreenLight Denver support.
- Engage the voice of community members with lived experience navigating poverty in determining priority needs and solutions.
- Serve as an active local advisory board member for portfolio organizations.
- Act as a strategic thought partner to and connector for local portfolio organization Executive Directors and boards on a broad range of strategic and operational issues.
External Relations and Fundraising:
- Represent GreenLight Denver externally and cultivate a network of trusted relationships with community leaders, entrepreneurs, the private-sector investor community, philanthropic partners, government officials, nonprofit and business leaders, and prospective partner organizations.
- Actively steward GreenLight Denver investors, secure event sponsorships, and lead all stages of the fund-raising cycle with support from GreenLight’s National team.
- Secure critical resources, financial and otherwise, for GreenLight Denver and portfolio organizations, and actively and thoughtfully steward these relationships over time.
- Over time, provide support to the portfolio organizations GreenLight Denver brings to the city.
- Create and manage events to launch new portfolio organizations to the region and build awareness of and support for portfolio organizations.
Organizational Leadership:
- Participate actively in the GreenLight network of site Executive Directors and local and national staff to share best practices, knowledge of promising social innovation, and strategies to build the network and collaborate to find and support GreenLight organizations.
- Help execute the organization’s Strategic Plan over the next 3 years to deepen community impact, grow to new cities, build our learning capacity, build strategic partnerships, and center equity in all that we do.
- Effectively hire and lead a small local team (1-2).
Candidate Profile
The Denver Executive Director will be an innovative and collaborative leader with compelling presence and exceptional communication and relationship-building skills. While no one candidate will possess every quality outlined for this position, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional qualifications and personal attributes:
- Authentic passion for GreenLight’s mission and commitment to the Denver community.
- Proven commitment to bringing a racial equity lens to their work and deep understanding of how systems of oppression have affected communities experiencing poverty.
- A successful track record in entrepreneurial environments holding positions of increasing complexity and responsibility.
- Demonstrated experience developing effective working relationships with people from a wide array of backgrounds with a collegial and team-building approach that puts others at ease, engenders trust, and is grounded in community needs.
- Experience and relationships in the Denver philanthropic, nonprofit, business and/or public sectors, as well as knowledge of the critical social issues affecting low-income residents in the area.
- Familiarity with nonprofit and/or philanthropy sectors, ideally with knowledge of the social innovation world and results-oriented, evidence-based program design; passion for and demonstrated commitment to social entrepreneurship and social change.
- Strong analytical skills and experience with due diligence and/or grant-making processes.
- Superb verbal and written communication skills and the ability to represent GreenLight Denver and portfolio organizations in a professional, engaging, and dynamic manner.
- A track record of securing financial resources from a variety of sources, building awareness of and support for important endeavors, and successfully cultivating and stewarding donors over time.
- Experience building and managing pipelines, especially with donors and/or programs.
- Creative, collaborative, entrepreneurial, and action-oriented with an eagerness to roll up one’s sleeves and work hands-on to grow organizations.
- Bachelor’s degree is strongly preferred but not required.
Compensation & Benefits
The salary for this position is $125,000. The compensation package also includes the following:
- Health Insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield (80% paid by GreenLight)
- Dental and Vision Insurance through Guardian (80% paid by GreenLight)
- Full coverage of all mental health visits through Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Safe Harbor 401k. GreenLight will match 100% of the first 3% of salary and 50% of the next 2%
- Short and Long-term disability and Life insurance fully paid by GreenLight Fund
- 11 company-wide holiday closings and 3 floating holidays
- Generous PTO and parental leave
- Up to $75 per month of cell phone reimbursement
- Up to $100 per month of WiFi reimbursement
- Up to $1,500 per year for professional development
- Access to Holisticly (40 Holisticly Credits per Month)
The work environment for this role in flexible. While based in the Denver area, the Executive Director could work remotely from home or could explore office space for a hybrid arrangement.
Greenlight Fund is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBT applicants.
Contact
Koya Partners has been exclusively retained for this engagement. To express your interest in this role, please submit materials here. Materials should include a thorough resume and compelling letter of interest. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.
Koya Partners is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email NonprofitSearchOps@divsearch.com. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
About Koya Partners
Koya Partners, a part of Diversified Search Group, is a leading executive search and strategic advising firm dedicated to connecting exceptionally talented people with mission-driven clients. Our founding philosophy—The Right Person in the Right Place Can Change the World—guides our work as we partner with nonprofits & NGOs, institutions of higher education, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.
For more information about Koya Partners, visit www.koyapartners.com.