Category: 
Job


Location: Asheville, NC

Executive Director

Salary: $72,000 to $77,000

Closing: August 1, 2023

Position Summary
Thrive Asheville is seeking a dynamic, innovative and experienced leader to guide our vital organization from rapid growth to maturity, ensuring that Thrive Asheville becomes a preferred partner for collaborative, cross-sector efforts that significantly improve our city and county. The Executive Director will lead a mission-driven organization while overseeing a small, accomplished staff of four and additional contracted experts, along with an engaged Board of Directors made up of 12 community leaders. The Executive Director will build on strong early results, and utilize a new strategic plan to establish Thrive’s agenda for action on issues that shape our community’s future, including housing, tourism and other challenges to be identified. Thrive’s Executive Director will be a key player in building a more equitable and resilient community, operationalizing the organizational values of equity, integrity, collaboration, innovation, and impact. We prefer executive director applicants with local knowledge but we also welcome transplants with civic leadership expertise who have experience with the challenges and opportunities that need addressing in Asheville.

About the Role
As Executive Director, you will be responsible for ensuring the organization’s financial and operational health while overseeing partnership and community engagement, program operations, outcomes, strategic growth, and board management.

Skills and Experience

  • Relationship-builder and constituent manager - Skill in developing deep and influential relationships with community leaders, board members, donors, and other key stakeholders and constituencies (including elected officials, tourism and business leaders, etc).
  • Nonprofit leader - Experience as a nonprofit senior leader who has managed staff and navigated organizational complexity and evolution.
  • Strategic communicator - Expertise as a strategic facilitator and communicator who distills complicated information into compelling messages across platforms that increase understanding and organization support. Experience in design of meetings and group facilitation processes that build agreement and action.
  • Successful fundraiser - Proven track record in diversifying funding streams and donor portfolios to include both institutional and individual donors.
  • Finance and human resource manager - Budgeting, investment and human resource allocation expertise.
  • Equity leader - Deep knowledge of disparities and the role of history and systems in perpetuating inequities. Aptitude for leading and managing others through a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Results-orientation - Past record of effective planning, tracking and achieving outstanding results.
  • Bachelor’s degree required; MA or other advanced degree, and/or significant business, public or nonprofit sector experience strongly preferred. Education about and experience with the interconnections of public policy, business, and civic life is helpful.

Primary Responsibilities
Organizational Strategy and Leadership

  • Maintain alignment between the overall vision, mission, and core values of the organization and our plan of education, implementation, and advocacy.
  • Lead as a strategist to expand Thrive’s relationships, influence and impact on pressing challenges facing our community.
  • Ensure effective systems are in place to track progress to goals, regularly evaluate program components, and communicate outcomes to the board, funders, and other constituents.
  • Develop, maintain, and support a strong working relationship with the Board of Directors to define and implement governance best practices.
  • Seek board involvement with strategic direction for ongoing operations.

Communication and Advocacy

  • Oversee the development and distribution of excellent communication materials - digital, print, website, social media, newsletters, etc. - that articulate the goals, challenges and accomplishments of Thrive.
  • Be the lead spokesperson for Thrive Asheville via excellent verbal and written communication skills and experience.
  • Lead the development of outreach to varied audiences (citizens, leaders, partners, etc) that promotes the learning and actions being pursued by Thrive.

Fundraising and Development

  • Refine and enhance Thrive’s fundraising strategy, including short and long-term goals for individual donors, business support, and grants.
  • Partner with staff and board in the achievement of fundraising goals.
  • Manage, cultivate, and retain a solid donor base through quality relationships.

Systems and Operations

  • Ensure that standard and effective operating processes and procedures are in place for delivering on organizational goals and responsibilities.
  • Manage Thrive’s annual operating budget of $450K+
  • Manage Thrive’s systems and processes related to human resources, staff benefits, payroll, etc.
  • Oversee compliance in collaboration with an external accounting firm and contracted legal counsel.
  • Lead evaluation of impact to inform future planning and investment.

People Development and Cultural Leadership

  • Hire, manage, lead, retain, and empower a diverse and high-performing team enabled by a culture rooted in the mission and values of the organization. (A sample staff makeup would be three to four employees and two or three part-time contractors or consultants.)
  • Create policies and practices that foster diversity, equity, and inclusiveness to ensure inclusive and equitable staff experiences.
  • Invest in and support talent to build successors for key roles, contributing to the sustainability of the team and organization.

How to Apply
Please submit your resume and responses to the following prompts to search@thriveasheville.org In your cover letter, please address the following:

  1. Why are you the right person to be Thrive Asheville's next Executive Director?
  2. Describe a situation where you provided strategic leadership that led to community change.
  3. Thrive Asheville believes that prioritizing and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is necessary for achieving our mission and vision. In what ways have you utilized a DEI lens in your previous work?
  4. What experience do you have working in fundraising? Please share your most significant related "win."