Executive Director

Cambridge, MA, United States

Enroot empowers immigrant youth to achieve academic, career, and personal success through inspiring experiences. We support recently-arrived immigrant students during their eighth grade and to college years as they learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, and set roots in a new community. We strive to create a sense of belonging for our students through a network of relationships, including mentors, tutors, volunteers, and community partners as well as our staff. Each student identifies their own vision for their future in school, career, and life, and we support each student through a variety of activities, including paid internship experiences, academic tutoring, mentoring relationships, out-of-school-time activities, and college success support. Enroot alumni graduate from high school with substantially increased self-confidence, advocacy, and leadership skills.

Enroot is proud to have helped English Language Learners succeed for 28 years through our proven, comprehensive wrap-around program model. We grew out of Cambridge Community Services, which was established in 1938 and operated a range of programs, including the City Links program for immigrant students that ultimately became the foundation for our current program model. In 2016, we made a strategic decision to focus the organization entirely on our direct-service work with immigrant students and rebranded as Enroot. Since then, we have expanded to serve more than 200 students, including individuals in eighth grade through high school in Cambridge and Somerville and at 15 college campuses. We are now operating with a dedicated team of 12 full-time staff members as well as approximately 150 volunteers, a budget of approximately $2M, and an endowment of approximately $12M. Our funding portfolio is diverse, with approximately 30% from private foundations, 30% from corporate foundations, 20% from government, 10% from individual donors, and 10% from corporate sponsorships. We have built our endowment in order to position Enroot for future sustainability. To learn more about our program and the students and values that drive our work, please visit https://www.enrooteducation.org/.

Diversity, Belonging, Inclusion, and Equity at Enroot

At Enroot, we are deeply committed to advancing Diversity, Belonging, Inclusion, and Equity in all of our work. At the heart of our work is creating a sense of Belonging with immigrant students. We continue to build an inclusive environment where all team members feel a sense of belonging and are included as full partners in pursuit of this mission, and our staff and Board are made up of a highly diverse group of individuals, many of whom share lived experiences with the students we serve. We are an organization committed to disrupting and dismantling the oppressive power structures and systemic barriers immigrants must navigate. With humility, we are committed to ongoing learning and understanding as we embark on our own racial equity journey. This drives every decision we make, and every action we take, in pursuit of equity for immigrants. We believe a diversity of voices fosters innovation and creativity, leading to better decisions and outcomes for immigrant students, families, and communities. Enroot is an equal opportunity employer and as such, we do not discriminate on any basis protected by law.

The Executive Director Opportunity

We are excited to welcome a new Executive Director who will provide vision, leadership, and passion for our mission. Our next leader will work with staff and Board to guide our organizational strategy, ensuring we have the resources and infrastructure necessary to meet our goals. Acting as our primary external champion, the Executive Director will lead our fundraising and partnerships strategy to increase visibility for our work and deepen our relationships.

As the leader of a talented, mission-motivated team, the Executive Director will provide guidance, management, and support to our staff, ensuring a healthy organizational culture that fosters high performance and opportunities for growth and development. In their role as a steward of our values and culture, the Executive Director will support us in centering our commitment to Diversity, Belonging, Inclusion, and Equity in all aspects of our programming, operations, and relationships.

Key Responsibilities:

Organizational Leadership

• Lead our team of staff and Board in assessing the organization’s strategic direction, identifying opportunities to make adjustments and supporting change as needed

• Collaborate with staff to refine and focus work plans in line with our strategic direction and support ongoing progress toward goals

• Work with the Senior Director of Program to ensure we approach our program strategy with a commitment to continuous improvement

• Ensure effective data collection and evaluation practices that can be used to measure and communicate the impact of our work and inform opportunities to strengthen our work

• Work in partnership with key Board, staff, and consultants to ensure effective strategies and practices for our financial, human resources, and operational management needs

Team Leadership and Culture-Building

• Maintain a supportive and empowering work environment for our diverse team of mission-oriented staff and foster ongoing growth and development for our team members

• Provide leadership as we continue to build Diversity, Belonging, Inclusion, and Equity into all facets of our culture and operating norms; position the organization to continue to be a healthy and welcoming environment for students, staff, and Board members who represent a diversity of identities and lived experiences

• Supervise the Senior Director of Program, Senior Director of Development, and Director of Operations, ensuring that leadership team members have the guidance and support they need to fulfill their roles and manage their teams toward high performance

Development

• Lead the development team to carry out a comprehensive fundraising strategy for Enroot that generates approximately $2M/year; in particular, provide leadership for growing our individual donor program

• Play a leading role in donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship across a variety of types of funders, collaborating with development staff and Board members to build donor relationships

Partnerships and External Relations

• Cultivate relationships in Cambridge and Somerville including contacts in city and school district administration and in the business community, as well as with potential volunteers

• Position Enroot for partnerships with other organizations that serve our communities, identifying mutually beneficial opportunities to work together in support of common goals and purpose

• Raise awareness of our work and the Enroot brand, leveraging opportunities to share our perspective and expertise on immigrant student experiences through activities such as public presentations and media engagements

Board Governance

• Lead recruitment to support a strong, diverse pipeline of prospective Board members

• Promote active Board involvement, including providing information necessary for the Board to make informed decisions and fulfill its responsibilities

• Ensure appropriate preparation and support for Board and Committee meetings

Candidate Profile

As a strong candidate for the Executive Director position, you will demonstrate many - though perhaps not all - of the following skills, experiences, and characteristics:

• You believe that all immigrant students can succeed at the highest level and that our country will be strengthened when we invest resources in supporting them.

• You bring a high level of cultural competency to building relationships across and among diverse communities, with particular awareness and sensitivity to the institutionalized racism and classism that faces low-income and immigrant communities.

• You have a demonstrated pattern of success in leadership at the organizational, departmental, or program levels, including experience building and implementing strategic plans, managing teams, and developing and managing budgets.

• You bring prior success in nonprofit fundraising, including cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding donor relationships. A persuasive and engaging communicator, you are able to connect with and inspire a wide range of audiences.

• You are skilled in leading teams or organizations through change.

• You are a strategic thinker who can guide a team from vision to action, establishing appropriate goals and work plans and addressing barriers to success.

• You are an adaptive staff manager and have a strong track record of fostering an equitable, sustainable, and positive work culture, encouraging staff to practice self-care and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

• You are committed to advancing Diversity, Belonging, Inclusion, and Equity as an organizational leader.

• Fluency in a language or languages other than English is considered a benefit.

The salary range for this position is set between $140,000 and $160,000, commensurate with experience. Enroot offers a comprehensive benefits package and generous paid time off policy.

Contact

Cassie Scarano, Kirstin Griffiths, and Ariella Pasackow of Koya Partners are partnering with us on this search. To express your interest in this role, please submit your materials via https://apptrkr.com/4975868. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.

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: http://diversifiedsearchgroup.com/our-brands/koya-partners/.

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