Executive Director

Full job description here: ED job description

Details on applying: Application process

Statement on experience, qualifications, and inclusivity

Crow’s Path is wholly committed to creating, sustaining, and advocating for a safe, welcoming, and respectful community where staff and participants can show up as their full and wild selves. Our staff come from different backgrounds and have taken many different paths to become mentors in our programs. As much as we value practical experience and education backgrounds in hiring, we also value and weigh life experience, knowledge, and soft skills in our hiring process.

Research shows that people from marginalized groups (women, LGBTQ+, and people of color) are less likely to apply for jobs when they do not meet the listed criteria in the job description. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply, including people of diverse races, ethnicities, religions, languages, abilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and ages even if you believe you do not meet all of the desired qualifications.

The opportunity

Crow’s Path has built a strong organizational foundation and holds an ambitious vision for the future (see A Day in the Life for a narrative description of our long term vision for Crow’s Path). Teage O’Connor, Crow’s Path’s founder, has served as Executive Director since our inception. As the organization prepares for a new phase of growth and impact, Teage will be moving into a role focused on strategy and program design and we seek a new Executive Director who can lead the organization in this next chapter – ensuring the continued sustainability of our existing work, enhancing the accessibility of our programming and organization for families and staff, and turning our vision for the future into reality.

Core responsibilities

The Executive Director will provide leadership and direction to advance the organization’s mission, reporting to the Board of Directors and collaborating closely with our talented and passionate staff.

The Executive Director will focus in the following areas:

Leadership and Culture

• Manage staff, oversee goal-setting and work performance, and ensure staff receive the feedback, support, and information to thrive in their work
• Sustain and strengthen a culture of collaboration and innovation among staff, built on a practice of distributed leadership where staff are empowered to experiment and make decisions on the work they lead

Human Resources

• Ensure Crow’s Path has the right staffing and resources to advance its mission
• Enhance Crow’s Path’s HR practices and policies to ensure they align with the organization’s values and promote staff retention and well-being, including strengthening the organization’s compensation practices

External Affairs

• Develop and execute comprehensive fundraising strategies to secure financial support from diverse sources, including individual donors, foundations, corporations, government, and local businesses
• Secure new funding and physical resources to realize our 5-10 year vision of creating a full-time elementary school, including the potential purchase of land
• Build and maintain strong relationships with community leaders, partners, and external stakeholders to expand the reach and effectiveness of Crow’s Path’s programming, in close collaboration with program staff

Board Development

• Support the process of building and strengthening the board, including the recruitment and onboarding of new board members
• Partner with the board to co-create a board culture and board/staff relationship that effectively supports the long term vision of the organization

Financial management and risk

• Oversee Crow’s Path financial management, budgeting, and multi-year financial planning to meet current needs and future vision
• Ensure Crow’s Path is compliant with all applicable laws and regulations and that the organization takes appropriate steps to mitigate risk

Operations

• Ensure Crow’s Path has the operational infrastructure for staff to be successful in their work, including internal communication, collaboration, technology, facilities, data, and program operations
• Create and lead the execution of operational plans to realize Crow’s Path’s multi-year vision, which includes the opening of an elementary school

Program

• Provide thought partnership to the program staff and founder on program design and implementation

Financial state and priorities

Crow’s Path operating budget in FY23/24 was approximately $430k, though this will jump to $450-500k in FY25 as our preschool – which is wrapping up its first full year of operation – expands its capacity. Through deliberate, thoughtful program design and budgeting alongside a measured and patient approach to growth, our established programs are self-sustaining in their current structure. Future resource mobilization will be critical to supporting organizational priorities for advancing our mission and bringing our budget and practices into closer alignment with our values, including around program accessibility, program expansion, and staff compensation.

Qualifications

Our ideal candidate will hold experience and knowledge in the following areas:

• Passion for the mission: passionate about Crow’s Path mission to connect people to wildness; experience with educational programming preferred but not required
• Organizational leadership: Minimum of 3 years of nonprofit leadership experience, including managing a staff in a collaborative, entrepreneurial environment
• Financial management: Knowledge of nonprofit financial management, budgeting, and reporting; ability to use financial information to support organizational decision-making
• Fundraising: Expertise in creating and executing comprehensive fundraising strategies; proven ability to cultivate and maintain relationships with a diversity of funders including individual, foundations, and businesses

In addition, they will possess the following:

• Authentic leadership: Demonstrates high levels of self-awareness, leading with authenticity and transparency, openly sharing successes and challenges, and creating a culture where learning and vulnerability are valued
• Communication: Communicates clearly, honestly, and persuasively to internal and external audiences, serving as a compelling champion and building trust and credibility
• Decision-making: Practices effective, inclusive decision making that advances the mission of the organization by drawing on data and feedback, while also recognizing where decisions can be made by others and fostering an environment of distributed leadership where staff are empowered with the skills, information, and authority to make decisions to advance the work they manage
• People management: Ability to support and coach others to succeed in their work, building and nurturing a high-performing team that encourages collaboration, innovation, and mutual support
• Project management: Can plan and manage many complex projects simultaneously, working closely with others to gather input, build buy-in and participation, manage conflict, keep stakeholders informed, and deliver high quality results
• Organization and follow through: Demonstrates strong organization and time management skills, managing multiple responsibilities efficiently, creating effective plans and processes, and following through on commitments made
• Prioritization and adaptability: Ability to evaluate tradeoffs and decide how to prioritize staff time and financial resources towards areas of highest organizational need, as well as flexibly adapt when new needs, opportunities, or information arises

Hours: This is a full time position that allows for a flexible schedule.

Compensation and benefits: The salary range for this position is $68-78,000. As emphasized in this job description, expanding Crow’s Path financial resources to strengthen staff compensation and benefits is a key priority for the incoming Executive Director. Assuming successful resource development that enables the organization to prioritize compensation increases for program staff, there is also opportunity for growth in the Executive Director’s compensation over time.

Location: In person in Burlington, VT, though much of the work can be done remotely.

To apply: Please submit a resume and cover letter to Teage O’Connor (teage@crowspath.org).