Executive Director

Executive Director

ABOUT FIRESIDE PROJECT

Fireside Project is a nonprofit that is dedicated to, and focused like a laser on, systemic change in the psychedelic field in the domains of equitable access to psychedelic support, harm reduction, diversity. Our Psychedelic Peer Support Line and our Fireside-Certified™ Psychedelic Coaching program are the engines to bring about the change we seek in the world. We are seeking a new Executive Director to build on what the Founder has established over the past five years, and take Fireside Project to the next level of success and impact.

Since our launch in April 2021, we have:

• Become the go-to support resource for people during and after psychedelic experiences. We have supported 30,000 callers, trained 600 volunteers over half of whom have been from marginalized communities; and provided over tens of thousands of hours of support. Consistent with other established national helplines, we expect to have one million calls per year by the end of the decade. This story in WIRED magazine illustrates the impact that just one call can have. Meet the Psychedelic Boom’s First Responders | WIRED
• Created a national safety net reducing reliance on emergency services and helping people avoid physical and emotional trauma. Our study with Dr. Rachel Yehuda helps demonstrate our harm-reduction impact and illustrates why we are a critical part of the psychedelic field’s foundational infrastructure. Reducing the Harms of Nonclinical Psychedelics Use Through a Peer-Support Telephone Helpline | Psychedelic Medicine
• Launched our best-in-class psychedelic coaching program. This is a telehealth platform that offers paying clients the option to pick a coach and receive long-term support from the moment they say yes to a journey until integration feels complete. Ours is the only coaching service to train, hire, and provide ongoing clinical supervision to our coaches, all of whom must go through a 30-step, 300-hour certification process. Our coaching program has begun to show that this accessible modality can play a critical role in the psychedelic continuum of care as a supplement or alternative to traditional psychotherapy.
• Created a robust platform for psychedelic research. Because we speak to thousands of people, we have an unparalleled capacity to learn about all aspects of psychedelic healing. We have completed one study and have another in progress, a collaboration with Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital exploring the effectiveness of our coaching program.
• Created a more diverse psychedelic field. Over half of our volunteers identify as being from marginalized communities. Since June 2022, we have provided callers who are BIPOC, transgender and/or military veterans the choice to integrate with a volunteer sharing that aspect of their identity.

Looking ahead, we have set the following goals for the coming years:

• Become financially self-sustaining by scaling our coaching program and continuing our transition to a paid training program. Volunteering on our support line is one of the best hands-on training programs in the psychedelic field. To help us become a financially self-sustaining organization, we will transition from a volunteer-run support line to one staffed by paid students, while providing scholarships to people from marginalized communities. To make this one-year training program more attractive to aspiring practitioners, we would offer a variety of tracks, depending on the practitioner’s desired career path and state of residence. We’re also exploring other revenue streams such as: 1) Continuing Education (CE) courses to members of the public; 2) contracting with the VA to handle overflow calls from military veterans; and 3) becoming a site for aspiring clinicians to work towards their clinical hours requirement; and 4) securing federal and/or state public funding.
• Reach one million calls per year. We aspire to continue to increase our call volume every year, eventually reaching a call volume of over one million calls per year. This would be consistent with that of other well-established national helplines.
• Conduct more cutting-edge psychedelic research. We have spent the last two years building a custom software platform that can record anonymized conversations, use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze conversations, send customized post-call surveys based on the content of the conversation, and more. We intend to expand our academic partnerships to conduct research that advances the psychedelic field.

At Fireside Project, our devotion is to the fulfillment of our mission—to help all people reduce the risks of their psychedelic experiences. Founded by a former government lawyer who litigated 2 lawsuits on behalf of the People of the State of California, Fireside Project applies many of the same tools to the pursuit of our mission: rigor, diligence, accountability, creativity, and humility.

Job Title: Executive Director (ED)

Terms: Full-time permanent role with a 90-day trial period

Compensation: $175,000 to $200,000 annual salary depending on experience; PTO, medical, dental, and vision insurance

Location: Remote. US residency required. Two or three in-person staff meetings per year in various locations throughout the US. Occasional travel to conferences and donor meetings.

Citizenship: Must be a US citizen

Job Summary: We are seeking a dynamic and visionary leader to serve as the ED of Fireside Project. The ED will be responsible for continuing Fireside Project’s trajectory to reach the goals outlined above.

Responsibilities:

Leadership and Strategic Direction

• Design and Implement long-term strategic plan to reach the goals set forth above;
• Set and monitor annual and quarterly goals for organizational growth, financial sustainability, and programmatic impact;
• Provide strategic leadership and inspiration to staff, volunteers, and the community;
• Represent Fireside Project publicly in a variety of contexts;
• Cultivate a culture of diversity, equity, and belonging;

Financial sustainability

• Work towards making Fireside Project self sustainable through the cultivation of multiple revenue streams;
• Deepen relationships with existing donors and expand our philanthropic network;
• Secure public funding at the federal and state level, once it becomes available;
• Draft and submit funding proposals;
• Expand revenue-generating programs

Operational Management

• Ensure that the quality of support provided to our callers, and the quality of training provided to our call takers, continue to improve;
• Oversee our Chief Operating Officer, who manages the organization’s day-to-day operations, including financial management, program development, and human resources;
• Oversee the Leadership Team, which consists of the COO, Operations Manager, IT Manager, and Training Manager;
• Work with outside counsel to ensure compliance with legal matters;

Expand the reach and improve the quality of the Psychedelic Support Line

• Ensure the continued year over year growth of support line call volume and caller satisfaction scores;
• Hire and manage a Director of Marketing and work with them to expand our outreach infrastructure and further position our brand and services as the most recognized and successful psychedelic support organization in the field;
• Hire and manage a Director of Training in order to continuously improve the quality of training provided to supervisors and call takers, and the quality of support provided to callers;

Further psychedelic research

• Leverage Fireside Project’s unique, massive data set to identify and conduct high-impact studies with university partners. All studies should further Fireside Project’s mission and produce evidence that supports our efforts to secure public and private funding;
• Oversee Fireside’s Director of Research to ensure successful completion of current study with Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Qualifications

• At least five years of significant leadership experience, preferably at a non-profit organization of similar or larger size (i.e., annual budget over $1.5M);
• Track record of fundraising and managing major donor relationships, and proven success in securing five-, six-, and seven-figure gifts;
• Experience building and scaling sustainable and revenue-generating services;
• Experience overseeing the development or implementation of marketing plans;
• A deep devotion for Fireside Project’s mission, vision, and guiding principles Peer Support Staff & Psychedelic Coaches – Fireside Project;
• Visionary mindset, capable of identifying new opportunities and taking action on them;
• Systems thinker;
• Deep understanding of the psychedelic field;
• A belief in the foundational role that peer support and coaching should play in the psychedelic field;
• Experience working alongside clinicians and basic knowledge of mental health services;
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills;
• Exceptional relationship-building skills;
• Ability to thrive in an entrepreneurial and growing environment;
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Fireside Project is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to fair hiring practices. All hiring decisions at Fireside Project are based on business requirements, job needs and individual qualifications. Each candidate is considered without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexuality, national origin, age, disability, genetics or any other protected status.

To apply

Please fill out the application, which you can find here Apply to Join the Team at Fireside Project. We will conduct interviews on a rolling basis. The position will remain open until filled. Final-round candidates should expect an in-person interview with the current ED, who is also the Board Chair.