About Communities Resist
Founded in June of 2019, Communities Resist is a growing organizing and legal services team combating displacement, structural injustice, and social disenfranchisement through affirmative litigation before housing, state, and federal courts as well as administrative agencies across NYC. The organization brings innovative legal strategies in partnership with community-based organizations and leaders to represent low-income tenant associations confronting predatory landlords and developers harassing low-income residents and seeking to vacate buildings; individuals and families facing evictions; low-income tenant co-ops seeking to reinforce and sustain themselves; community institutions facing closures or adverse actions due to extraordinary market pressure and neighborhood displacement; low-income tenants in fair housing litigation; as well as community groups involved in struggles against pervasive housing discrimination, neighborhood segregation, and other issues critically affecting the future of their communities.
Since 2019, Communities Resist have grown from serving over 1,000 households a year to a $4.3M organization with 24 full-time staff members serving over 4,000 households across NYC with a focus on Brooklyn and Queens. Communities Resist is one of the largest and leading organizing and legal services organizations representing groups of tenants and is positioned for exponential growth and plans to expand its programs and services further across NYC.
Learn more about Communities Resist at here.
The Opportunity
Communities Resist is seeking a talented and committed Executive Director to provide leadership and organizational direction to ensure that Communities Resist achieves its mission and to lead the organization into its next phase of growth and impact. Communities Resist is seeking an experienced nonprofit leader to work with the Board and staff to create a sustainable strategic plan in response to growing community needs and execute that strategy with strong programmatic, financial, and operational processes. The Executive Director will also work closely with a growing and diverse board to diversify and strengthen the organization’s funding base in support of program growth. They will serve as a primary external presence for the organization, developing partnerships, increasing visibility, and building leadership throughout NYC. This is an exciting opportunity for a strong and experienced executive to provide critical leadership in a growing organization while also ensuring the highest quality of services to the community and our clients and families.
The Executive Director is responsible for the successful leadership and management of Communities Resist in line with the strategic direction set by the Communities Resist board. This position requires experience and ability to lead a workplace that is growing rapidly in clientele, budget, and staff, and able to take on the challenges of sustaining and growing a fast-paced new organization while providing the highest quality of services to the community and our clients and families.
The following represent major essential and secondary duties of the position; however, the below is not intended to be all-inclusive.
The Executive Director’s responsibilities include:
Leadership and Management
- Provide vision and work collaboratively with the Board of Directors and staff to set strategic direction for the next phase of Communities Resist’s work that centers the organization’s core values and mission.
- Manage, lead, and direct, either directly or through levels of supervision, all employees, programs, and projects of Communities Resist.
- Ensure ongoing programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and systems; recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals.
- Identify, recruit, train and develop a talented team of employees who can lead critical programs and manage strategic business functions.
- Monitor operations and ensure employees and business practices comply with regulatory and legal requirements.
- Develop the organizational culture and promote transparency and collaboration throughout the organization.
- Identify potential risks and opportunities within the organization and its environment to protect business interests.
- Represent the company at social and funder events in ways that strengthen the brand and communicate the organization’s message.
- Participates in the development of organizing and housing programs based upon community needs.
- Develop and maintain strong relations with all stakeholders including the communities we serve, clients, local government officials, non-profit organizations, vendors, and others to build awareness of the impact of Communities Resist’s work and pursue new, creative approaches to expanding/improving programs.
- Represents Communities Resist on a local, statewide, regional level to promote community awareness of housing programs and services.
- Monitoring the yearly strategic plan and reporting outcomes at each board meeting.
Board Management
- Collaborate with the board of directors to identify, create and implement strategic plans to actualize organization’s objectives.
- Identify, recruit, and onboard new board members.
- Develop, present, and propose agenda issues and items and accompanying recommendations related to visions, goals, programs, policies, contracts, and budgets to the Board.
- Regularly prepares and presents related progress and activity reports.
- Implement Board directives, policies, and strategic plans.
- Ensuring the board received quarterly reports prior to the scheduled quarterly board meetings.
- Evaluate organizational structure, job classifications, salary comparability, performance evaluations, etc. and make recommendations to the Board for improvements and progress while maintaining the organization’s positive relationships with its employees and stakeholders.
Financial Management
- Monitor financial performance, ensure the maintenance of effective financial systems and provide timely reports to the Board of Directors.
- Grow and diversify revenue streams and effectively steward funds to ensure sound financial planning and management.
- Represent organization to potential funders to garner new opportunities to promote organization’s services and objectives.
Fundraising and Communications
- Oversee all fundraising initiatives including development of materials, relationship-building with donors and funders, management of fundraisers and annual galas.
- Ensures consistent organizational presence and leadership in social network sites, the website, and other communications with supporters.
- Ensures consistent and clear organizational communications with traditional and non-traditional media outlets that represent the organization’s point of view.
- Interface directly with media, public and private groups, boards, commissions, and professional associations.
- Make presentations to groups and/or individuals to promote organization’s services and objectives.
- Develop or oversee the development of brochures, reports, news releases, and other information and/or marketing documents.
- Use external presence and relationships to garner new opportunities.
- Oversee new grant proposals and required quarterly or yearly reports as required.
- Track all grant activity and submit on a quarterly basis for all grants.
Planning and Expansion
- Design the city-wide expansion plan and complete strategic business planning process for the program expansion.
- Begin to build partnerships in new service areas, establishing relationships with funders, and political and community leaders at each new service site.
- Be an external local and state presence that publishes and communicates program results with an emphasis on the successes of the program as a model for city and state-wide replication.
Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate will have the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:
- Commitment to Communities Resist’s model of organizing of providing the highest quality of legal services representing tenant associations in high impact affirmative litigation cases across NYC.
- At least 10 years of professional experience in positions of increasing responsibility; nonprofit leadership experience as Executive Director or manager strongly preferred.
- J.D., MBA, or master’s degree from an accredited college in economics, finance, accounting, business or public administration, human resources management, or a closely related field, preferred.
- Track record of effectively leading and scaling a performance-and-outcomes-based organization and staff.
- Ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth.
- Strong strategic fiscal management, oversight, and budgeting skills with ability to advance strategic and financial priorities and opportunities.
- Strong understanding of social justice housing issues.
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse communities and stakeholders.
- Excellence in organizational management with the ability to develop a high-performance team, achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget.
- Demonstrated success collaborating with a board of directors and engaging and leveraging the board to advance strategic imperatives and fundraising.
- Experience in fund development, including both grant seeking and management, and cultivating and soliciting individual and institutional donors.
- Strong fundraising experience with the ability to engage a wide range of diverse stakeholders.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills.
Communities Resists offices currently work on a hybrid model of in-person and remote work. The office is based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Staff are expected to be in the office three days a week.
Compensation & Benefits
Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience and skills. The salary range for this role is $145,000 - $175,000 with a generous benefits package.
Contact
Koya Partners has been exclusively retained for this engagement, which is being led by Trisha Sutrisno and Shelby Woods. Express interest in this role by filling out our Talent Profile. All inquiries and discussions are strictly confidential.
Koya Partners l Diversified Search Group 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.
Communities Resist is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or any other applicable legally protected characteristics.
About Koya Partners l Diversified Search Group
Koya Partners, a Diversified Search Group company, is the nation’s premier search firm dedicated to mission-driven leadership. Since its founding in 2004, Koya has had an exclusive focus on mission-driven clients and was founded on the belief that the right leader can transform an organization and have a deep and measurable impact on our world. Koya works with nonprofits & NGOs, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.
Diversified Search Group is consistently recognized by Forbes on its top 10 list of “America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms” and is an industry leader in recruiting transformational leaders for a changing world. The firm is deliberately different in its approach, with best-in-class teams who have decades of experience in cultivating inclusive leaders, understanding the dimensions of diversity, and building equitable teams.
Learn more about Koya Partners l Diversified Search Group via the firm's website.