Executive Director

Our Mission: Verde serves communities by building environmental wealth through social enterprise, outreach and advocacy.

The Opportunity

Verde is seeking our next Executive Director! Founded in 2005, we are a BIPOC-led environmental justice nonprofit organization. We are rooted in NE Portland’s vibrant Cully neighborhood, which is our base for building environmental wealth through collaborative campaigns and innovative projects involving public, private and nonprofit sector partners. Verde’s work is grounded in our values of community, sustainability, equity, creativity, responsiveness and collaboration (See p. 2 for more about our work).

Our next Executive Director will continue Verde’s tradition of servant leadership with a justice lens and have strengths in vision, systems thinking, advocacy, communications, relationship building with diverse partners, and sharing and building power.The Executive Director will lead Verde’s 501-c3 and c4 organizations, and will bring experience working with the low-income and BIPOC communities Verde serves.

Verde’s incoming Executive Director will succeed Candace Avalos, who served in the role for three years and was just elected to serve on Portland’s City Council representing East Portland (District 1).

Executive Director Leadership Profile

We are seeking the following experience, capabilities and qualities:

• Relationship Building: A commitment to become part of Verde’s vibrant relational network and help maintain it. Track record of building relationships with diverse partners, ranging from grassroots leaders and neighbors to elected and appointed officials.
• Vision and Systems Thinking: A creative and strategic thinker. Able to align short-term actions with a longer-term vision of systemic change—bending the arc toward social, economic and environmental justice.
• Communication: Excellent communication skills including: making public presentations; connecting one-on-one in person and online; and representing Verde in coalitions, with community partners and other nonprofits, and with elected and appointed government officials.
• Political Acumen and Advocacy: Experience with advocacy including developing and implementing campaigns. Ability to navigate a very public role as our Executive Director. Willing to speak truth to power.
• Entrepreneurial Mindset: Willing to take calculated risks, undertake and learn from experiments, and actively seek out new opportunities and resources.
• Building and Sharing Power: Committed to building the leadership capacity of Verde staff and grassroots leaders in the communities we serve; a track record of sharing leadership with others.
• Team Leadership: Able to confidently manage, lead and support a young and dynamic leadership team in a growing organization. Experience building and modeling an inclusive and accountable culture.
• Personal Qualities: A servant leader who puts mission and community ahead of personal ego, and is approachable, creative, humble, transparent and confident.
• Other: Bilingual Spanish-English and Environmental Justice background are preferred. Business acumen will also be helpful as we prepare to grow the Verde Builds enterprise.

About Verde

Verde has a talented professional staff of 26, a dedicated community-based board of directors, and an annual budget of approximately $5 million, including contributions (51%), grants (40%) and contracts (9%).

Working with our partners, significant recent accomplishments include:

• With robust statewide advocacy, we had significant legislative wins on historic energy justice bills, emergency heat relief, and renters’ rights to cooling. Verde recently launched a 501-c-4, Verde Action, to enable a broader range of advocacy efforts including base building and electoral political strategy going forward.
• Verde played a leadership role in the creation of Portland Clean Energy Fund, which now generates $40 to $80M in annual investments in low income and BIPOC communities.
• Launched in 2023, our Water Justice Leadership Institute engaged diverse emerging water leaders and community members in creating a robust action plan for a sustainable and equitable future.
• Through our PDX Solar collaboration, 150 low-income families in the Cully neighborhood now receive a 40% reduction in their energy bills without the upfront costs of renewables.
• Through Lideres Verdes, which is going strong after 15 years, we continue to grow Latinx community leaders.

Verde’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice

Environmental issues disproportionately affect Black and Brown communities. Verde has a history of building and following the leadership of the people most impacted. As we build environmental wealth, we include BIPOC in planning, investments and decision-making. Internally we continue to dedicate resources to address anti-blackness, racism, colorism, colonialism and patriarchy. Our staff and board of directors reflect the demographics of the communities we serve and many live within the community.