Co-Executive Director, Capacity Building

About Communities Rise

Communities Rise’s mission is to foster movements to build power in communities impacted by systemic oppression. To create a more equitable system, we pursue cross-sector collaborations and provide capacity building and legal services for community organizations and small businesses.

• Cross-Sector Collaborations: We team up with funders, community organizations and community leaders to co-design, implement, and elevate initiatives for equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Capacity Building: We build capacity in community organizations working in communities impacted by systemic oppression through our nonprofit cohort program, grant writing, and fundraising clinics.
• Legal Services and Trainings: We provide legal support to nonprofit organizations and small businesses on their business legal needs through direct representation, legal clinics, and legal trainings.

About the Role

In March 2023, Communities Rise adopted a three-person Co-Executive Director team as part of our commitment to shared leadership. Each Co-E.D. position is designed to spend the majority of their time working with external partners and leading their respective departments – Capacity Building, Legal Services, and Finance/Operations. As a team, Co-Executive Directors are responsible for organization-wide budgeting, fundraising, contracts, and organizational wellness. By co-managing more traditional executive responsibilities, we’re improving our communication across teams while ensuring each Co-E.D. has more capacity to directly support our staff and programs.

Responsibilities

Executive Administration (30%): The Co-Executive Director, Capacity Building has the following organization-wide responsibilities in coordination with the other two Co-Executive Directors.

• Strategy: Develop organization-wide strategy, including strategic planning, identifying new program opportunities, cross-department collaboration, and regular communication with the Board of Directors.
• Finance: Lead the development of the annual budget, ensure grant funds are appropriately expended, serve as authorized signer on organizational accounts, and maintain the long-term financial sustainability of the organization.
• Fundraising: Partner with the Development Director on annual fundraising, including developing strategy, planning annual fundraising event(s), grant proposals and reporting, meeting with funders, and donor stewardship.
• Organizational Wellness/Human Resources: Manage human resources, including hiring, and develop policies and practices that support staff and organizational wellness.

Department Administration (55%): The Co-Executive Director, Capacity Building has department-specific responsibilities described below. Note that our current slate of contract-based work is referenced here, but these projects can and do evolve over time.

• Lead Capacity Building Team staffing strategy, hiring, and onboarding.
• Lead collaborative cross-departmental programmatic planning.
• Support planning, execution, and evaluation of a Capacity Building Cohort program, including curriculum development, cohort applicant interviews, and ensuring the timely completion of contract deliverables by program staff.
• Support planning and execution of deliverables for a capacity building design consultant contract with Communities of Opportunity, including community discussion tables, recruiting and managing facilitators for capacity building workshops, developing/promoting capacity-building tools and resources, and participating in learning community advisory tables.
• Support planning and execution of capacity building workshops serving Kent-based community organizations
• Support planning and execution of monthly fundraising and grant writing clinics by program staff, including occasionally staffing evening clinics.
• Support planning and execution of technical assistance offerings in partnership with the Development Director or external providers.
• Represent Communities Rise in the Delta Vision project, a gathering of BIPOC-led and serving capacity-builders working to map capacity building activities, collaborate, and share resources, including ensuring grant funds are appropriately expended. (Communities Rise serves as the fiscal sponsor for this project.)
• Lead engagement and data collection strategy for community organizations and community members who participate in capacity building programs for program evaluation to assess equity in programs and administer changes as needed.
• Build and manage relationships with community consultants, partners, and volunteers that support capacity building programs.
• Develop special initiatives related to advancing capacity building strategy, such as new/additional capacity building cohorts and alumni programming.
• Help plan and implement communications and marketing strategy related to capacity building programs including development of client testimonials.

Staff Supervision (15%): The Co-Executive Director for Capacity Building has the following supervisory responsibilities:

• Hold regular supervisory meetings with each Capacity Building Team staff member, including two Program Managers and one Capacity Building Coach, to support their capacity building work, including professional development, work planning, problem solving, assessing workload, and dividing new work among staff as necessary.
• Review and approve timesheets for payroll, including approving PTO requests and managing coverage of duties during leave.

Required Qualifications

• You must live and be authorized to work in Washington State. This position is currently remote, but requires occasional in-person meetings and events in Seattle.
• Alignment with Communities Rise’s mission and commitment to racial equity and centering our work around communities of color and communities impacted by systemic oppression.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint). Our office uses Google Workspace.
• This position requires the use of Salesforce for data tracking and reporting and Soapbox for event registration.
• Interest in working as a Co-Executive Director team, as well as independently.
• Three years of experience in organizational development and/or a leadership position at a community-based organization.
• Experience with nonprofit capacity building strategies as a recipient or a provider.
• Experience working on issues of social justice and race equity that includes the ability to facilitate peer-to-peer or group conversations, assess power dynamics, resolve conflicts, and adjust and respond to organizational needs as they arise for QTBIPOC communities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong administrative skills, including the ability to track small details, plan and execute short and long-term projects, meet deadlines, and support the capacity of staff in these areas.
• Demonstrated commitment to building authentic relationships with staff and communities we serve
• Demonstrated interest in and enhanced skills related to understanding and dismantling institutional racism and understanding oppression and its impact.
• Creative, flexible, and community-minded approach to solving problems and willingness to carry out the wide-ranging and often shifting responsibilities of a small and evolving nonprofit.
• Laughter and a sense of humor.