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Location: Norfolk, Connecticut
Great Mountain Forest (GMF) encompasses more than 6,000 acres of contiguous forestland in the towns of Norfolk and Canaan, Connecticut. GMF promotes the working forest as a renewable resource, as a habitat for wildlife and as a classroom for training and education. GMF is committed to leaving the forest better than found, passing on all it learns to others, and providing a sanctuary for those who love the woods. GMF’s primary resource is its land, a unique working forest with a history of active management that dates to the early 20th century, and its long-serving and dedicated staff.
Overview of the Organization and Programs
GMF is owned and managed by The Great Mountain Forest Corporation, a not-for-profit 501(c)3 private operating foundation. It was established in 1962 by Edward and Elisabeth Childs to further their mission of promoting sustainable forestry and land management. In 2003, the land was permanently protected under the largest conservation easement in southern New England, when development rights were sold under the Forest Legacy Program of the U.S. Forest Service. GMF’s 6,300 acres are managed with several goals in mind: the production of a wide range of forest products; the conservation and protection of watersheds; creating and maintaining healthy populations of both game and non-game species; scientific research; and education.
GMF’s Board of Trustees recently completed a strategic plan that envisions taking on the challenge of advancing new forest management for southern New England. That vision recognizes the broad range of ecological and economic benefits provided by forests, and the broad diversity of interests of different forest landowners. The long history of silviculture and forestry research at GMF provides a foundation for exploration of a progressive new forestry in the region, with programs that include identifying new markets and sustainable forest products, promoting research and forestry demonstrations, and public outreach and education for both land owners and land managers.
GMF, which employs four full-time staff (including the Executive Director position), is overseen by a Board of Directors, currently comprised of fifteen civic and community leaders. Historically, the organization’s annual operating budget has been approximately $425,000. With the recent sale of more than 277,000 tons of forest offset carbon credits, GMF anticipates its endowment will grow from approximately $3.3 million to $6 million, and, as a result, the organization’s annual budget will likely increase by about 30%, to $550,000.
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About Connecticut Cannabis Innovation and Research Center (CT Can)
CT Can is a newly launched Connecticut-based research and innovation center supporting the medical and scientific study and application of Cannabis, its various applications, and cannabis-related technologies. CT Can seeks to develop a data-driven model to promote the best research and raise funds for new studies. It hopes to create a nexus for science-based collaboration across the world in the cannabis space. This exciting new Executive Director position is an opportunity for an entrepreneurial, energetic, collaborative, science and research savvy person to help launch the organization, raise funds, and begin the journey of reaching its interesting goals.
The Model
CT Can plans to build a clearinghouse of Cannabis-related medical and scientific research, as well as provide seed money, grants, and funding for medical and scientific cannabis research across the following (but not limited to) disciplines: agricultural research, medical effectiveness of cannabis, Cannabis as medication, the isolation of compounds in the cannabis plant, pain management, user addiction, Opioid addiction, strain testing, mechanisms for most effective delivery, and health and consistency product testing devices. It will consolidate and track patient and outcome data connected to cannabis and its use. Creating networks and synergies among researchers and innovators in the cannabis space is an important outcome as well.
Of note, CT Can is not a policy or advocacy group. It is explicitly not for or against the use of legal cannabis or its legalization, and it is a non-political and non-religious organization.
Private donations support CT-CAN’s launch. This position will be its first full time staff; administrative/fiscal support is available. The work is CT-based and offers flexibility in where the executive resides.
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Location: Hartford, Connecticut
Website: South Park Inn
Founded in 1984, South Park Inn has been a leading provider of shelter and alternative housing solutions for men, women and children in the Hartford, Connecticut metropolitan area who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Its beds for women and families are a critically important part of Hartford’s fabric of services. On a given night, nearly 150 people are sleeping in a bed at one of South Park Inn’s facilities. South Park Inn is a member of the Greater Hartford Coordinated Access Network and an integral member of the region’s mission to end homelessness. Its mission is to serve people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness who lack the means to provide for themselves the most basic of human needs: a safe place to live.
Executive Transition
South Park Inn was led for several decades by an Executive Director who was also the organization’s co-founder. This long-tenured executive stepped down in March 2018 and the organization has employed an interim executive to support operations during the transition.
The Board of Directors of South Park Inn seeks a dynamic professional with a collaborative leadership style, excellent communication skills and the passion and competence for engaged leadership both internally and with partners in the wider Hartford system of homeless services. The board seeks an individual whose career demonstrates deep commitment to values shared by South Park Inn to lead this highly effective organization as it plans to extend its impact.
Organizational Programs and Services
South Park Inn undertakes a suite of high impact programs and services designed to effectively implement its mission and support key strategic aims.
- Emergency Shelter with 85 beds
- Permanent Supportive Housing site with 35 beds
- Fast growing respite care program for care of hospital patients after discharge
- Well regarded programs focused on the needs of Veterans
- Homeless Outreach
Strategic Opportunities and Challenges
South Park Inn has had only two executive directors in the last 35 years and faces an important and exciting juncture in its organizational history. While recent developments in the policy and funding environment have resulted in the loss of important funding streams, South Park Inn has rapidly innovated new programs with strong funding. To take hold of these developments the organization undertook an intensive review process throughout fall and winter 2017-18 and completed a new three-year Strategic Plan in March 2018. The Executive Director will be charged with providing both guidance and effective partnership with the board, committee chairs, staff and other regional leaders to navigate newly-developed strategic decisions. In addition, high priorities for the next executive director include:
- Managing effectively and efficiently the daily operations, together with the incoming Director of Programs, of a mission-driven $2 million nonprofit organization, and directing and empowering a team of skilled and dedicated professionals committed to serving those at risk of homelessness;
- Working energetically with and supporting South Park Inn’s new development director to identify further grant opportunities and donor segments;
- Pursuing further business development and growth of the organization’s new and promising respite program which partners with local hospitals to support patient transitions;
- Conceive and implement, together with the Program Director, more data driven, next generation quality assurance and administrative systems;
- Partner effectively and exercise leadership within the Greater Hartford and Connecticut wide peer and funder ecosystem of homeless services.
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Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC) began 50 years ago as the Task Force for Children Out of School, investigating the exclusion of large numbers of children from Boston’s public schools. An ensuing report led to the first bi-lingual education and first special education laws in the nation. Since then, MAC has established itself as an essential child advocacy and education reform organization within the state. Its roles include:
• Primary organization protecting the educational rights of children with disabilities and their families.
• Statewide and national leader in the growing movement to create trauma-sensitive and safe and supportive schools, benefitting all students.
• Leader of a statewide coalition to reform school discipline laws.
• Leading statewide advocate to expand educational opportunities for children on the autism spectrum.
• Lead advocate in creating access to higher education statewide for students with intellectual disabilities and autism.
• Statewide support center in the civil legal aid network for children’s rights.
Overview of the Organization and Programs
Since its inception as the Task Force on Children Out of School under the leadership of founder Hubie Jones, MAC has played a critical role in the enactment of Massachusetts’ first special education law, which, in turn, served as the model for the first federal special education law, passed in 1975. To this day, MAC still employs the unique multi-strategic approach to advocacy pioneered by Hubie. Strategies include case advocacy; administrative and legislative advocacy; generating and publicizing reports on high-impact issues; coalition building; fostering empowerment of families, youth and community leaders; technical assistance and training; and, when necessary, litigation. MAC acts to hold public institutions accountable and prioritizes systems change in order to achieve the greatest impact for the most children. Simultaneously, through its Helpline, case advocacy and trainings, MAC works to ensure that the needs of individual children are met.
MAC’s major projects include:
•The Autism Center– Launched in 2002, The Autism Center works with partners and elected officials to create laws and regulations to ensure that children and young adults with autism spectrum disorders obtain the services and resources they need in order to reach their full potential. The Center works to empower parents to be a voice for their children by providing legal services, advocating for their children, and providing community workshops and online resources to help parents understand their rights.
•Children’s Law Support Project (CLSP)– MAC throughCLSP identifies and addresses otherwise untended legal needs of Massachusetts children from low-income families, particularly those needs related to education. MAC through CLSP also serves as the statewide support center in the civil legal aid network for children’s rights.
•Racial Equity and Access Project (REAP)– The overarching goal of REAP is to eliminate gaps in opportunity and achievement for Black and Latinx students in Boston, including those living in poverty, immigrant students, English language learners, and students with disabilities. The project’s primary focus is to disrupt the “school to prison pipeline.”
•School Discipline Project– Rooted in the passage of the Education Reform Act of 1993 and Chapter 222 in 2012, MAC’s School Discipline project focuses on school exclusion and the effects of zero tolerance policies and practices, particularly among students of color and students with disabilities.
•Special Education– As the leading voice on behalf of children with disabilities within the State, MAC conducts effective legislative, administrative and case advocacy, develops training curricula to empower parents and youth, provides technical assistance and representation to low-income parents, convenes statewide coalitions, and mobilizes parents and advocates to defend special education.
•Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI)– TLPI is a nationally-recognized collaboration between MAC and Harvard Law School. Its mission is to ensure that children affected by family violence and other adverse childhood experiences succeed in school.
•The Boston Special Education Transition Project (B-SET)– The goal of B-SET is to increase inclusive workforce and post-secondary education placements and opportunities for Boston youth with disabilities, of all types and severities, while enrolled in school and after exiting.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, MAC is overseen by a volunteer board of directors, currently comprised of 14 community, legal and education leaders. MAC’s annual revenue is approximately $1.6 million. The organization employs approximately 20 staff members, fellows and interns, who work from its headquarters on Kingston Street in Boston and in Cambridge at Harvard Law School.
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Urban Edge (UE), a 501c(3) nonprofit corporation, is a national leader in the community development field, known for innovation and excellence. With its heart in Egleston and Jackson Squares, a vibrant, inclusive and culturally and economically diverse area of Boston, UE works with others across the City of Boston and region to promote high quality, sustainable and affordable communities. Public, private and non-profit entities turn to UE for its advice and expertise, and as a partner in undertaking complex and transformative urban projects.
Overview of the Organization and Programs
UE is a community-led and -represented, non-profit community development corporation (CDC) founded in 1974 by Boston community leaders to fight redlining, combat the effects of real estate speculation and the displacement of low- and moderate-income families, celebrate and maintain the racial and ethnic diversity of the neighborhoods and ensure community control of development.
For over forty years, UE has proactively contributed to neighborhood revitalization by developing and preserving high quality affordable housing and commercial space in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and other neighborhoods of Boston. In addition to three projects currently in development and a robust pipeline, UE’s existing portfolio of affordable housing consists of over 1,300 units in the following Boston neighborhoods:
• Roxbury – 811 units at 12 sites
• Jamaica Plain – 108 units in 5 housing sites
• Dorchester – 319 units in 5 housing sites
• Mattapan – 89 units in 2 sites
Beyond the bricks and mortar, the organization has built a stellar reputation as a community-builder and has shown dedication to resident engagement and leadership at all levels of its organization. To support the needs of residents and others living in the community, Urban Edge offers a wide range of innovative programs that build financial skills and resiliency, promote and support sustainable homeownership and increase access to needed community resources and services. Program highlights include the following:
Housing and Homeownership
• Credit Counseling Boot Camp
• Financial Coaching
• First-Time Homebuyer Education Counseling
• Foreclosure Prevention Counseling
Other
• Family Supports
• Strong Start Program
• Student Loan Borrower Repayment Counseling
• Summer Youth Jobs
• Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Center
UE is overseen by a Board of Directors, currently comprised of 22 civic, community, neighborhood and resident leaders. UE’s annual revenue is approximately $30 million, $5 million of which is related to general operations, with the remainder related to housing owned by UE. The organization employs approximately 30 staff members, the majority of whom work from its headquarters on Columbus Avenue in Roxbury.
Executive Transition
From its inception through 2014, UE was very successfully led by its founding CEO and then by a successor CEO, who was a long-serving senior leader before she assumed leadership of the organization. After the departure in June 2018 of UE’s first “external” CEO (who led the organization for three years), UE has been led by an interim CEO, Marty Jones, who will remain in place until a permanent CEO is named.
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The Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence (The Alliance) is a 501 (c)(3) statewide coalition of nine individual sexual assault crisis programs – or “member centers”– that encompass all corners of the state with headquarters in East Hartford, Connecticut. Since its founding in 1982, The Alliance has grown to be a pivotal organization in the movement to end sexual violence and expand high-quality trauma-informed services to sexual violence survivors throughout the state of Connecticut.
The Alliance is proud of the many strengths it has built over the nearly 40 years of its work: a strong reputation as the go-to expert on issues related to sexual violence, a solid funding base of government support that increased even during the recent years of government cutbacks, a victim-centered focus throughout its work, a consistent track record of legislative wins, robust community partnerships and alliances, a new prevention-focused brand, outreach to and engagement of men and marginalized communities, high-quality and active training and education efforts, significant work in the Latinx community and on college campuses, significant investments in task forces and collaborations with the justice and health care systems and a nationally-recognized post-conviction victim advocate program.
The Board of Directors of The Alliance now seeks a new executive to build on its considerable strengths, successfully address its challenges, work toward securing an even more resilient future and lead the effort to realize its mission to end sexual violence. The new leader of this flagship organization will take the reins at an exciting time and has the opportunity to lead The Alliance to a new level of leadership in the movement to end sexual violence.
Overview of Programs and Operations
The mission of the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence is to create communities free of sexual violence and to provide culturally affirming, trauma-informed advocacy, prevention, and intervention services centered on the voices of survivors.
The Alliance works to fulfill its mission through the following core activities:
Support of nine member centers
The Alliance supports its nine member centers by providing them with pass-through funding, training, and coaching and advising. It also designs and promotes standards for member centers and key stakeholders. Each member center provides intervention and advocacy services to people of all ages through 24-hour crisis hotlines in English and Spanish, crisis counseling, safety planning and accompaniment, advocacy and emotional support through the criminal justice and health care systems. These services operate free of charge 365 days per year.
Public policy advocacy
A keen focus of The Alliance is on impacting state policy related to sexual violence. To that end, a full-time policy director, with strategic support from the executive director, is very active in advocating for system change through legislative action.
Post-Conviction Victim Services Program
The Alliance has developed a statewide Post-Conviction Victim Advocate Program that provides support to victims after their offenders return to the community. This program is nationally recognized for its highly collaborative model that brings together probation and parole officers, sex offender treatment providers and victim advocates.
Prevention through education, training and outreach programs
The Alliance is the state’s leading provider of sexual violence prevention education and training programs with specialized campaigns and programs for men and youth that have reached over 50,000 people throughout the state each year. The Alliance’s new Training and Advocacy Center focuses on professional skills and best practice for certified sexual assault crisis counselors and advocates, first responders and allies.
Legal Services Program
The Alliance recently acquired the Victim Rights Center of Connecticut, or VRCCT, which brought legal services of four attorneys in-house to survivors and capacity building to member centers to help assess the legal needs of the victims they serve.
Movement building
The Alliance spearheads caucuses and councils where sexual assault victim advocates and allied professionals can discuss and learn from their unique perspectives, identify emerging trends and make recommendations on policy and community issues: Queer Caucus Against Sexual Assault, Women of Color Caucus Against Sexual Assault, Men’s Advisory Council, Member Advisory Committee and Victim Survivor Advisory Council. The Alliance also continues to coordinate the Connecticut College Consortium to End Sexual Violence, a partnership between private and public universities and The Alliance and its member centers.
Approximately two thirds of The Alliance’s 6.7 million-dollar budget is passed through to support front line member center services. The additional funds support statewide operations and programs. The majority of The Alliance’s revenue is from state and federal government grants including Department of Justice and Office for Victims of Crime funds.
The Alliance is governed by a 12-member board of directors. Board composition includes ethnic, gender, age and racial diversity, as well as expertise in communications, marketing, higher education, sexual assault and trauma-informed interventions, psychotherapy, government relations, workforce development and risk assessment. The Alliance employs 31 staff that include a team of 14 post-conviction victim services advocates.
Executive Transition
The Alliance’s executive director of seven years is exiting the organization to pursue a new professional opportunity. An eight-member search committee comprised of both board and staff members have assumed the responsibility of managing the search.
In order to support this important transition in leadership, The Alliance’s board engaged the services of TSNE MissionWorks to facilitate an executive transition process that would be thoughtful and inclusive. Participants in the process include the entire Alliance staff and board, as well as directors and managers from the member centers, and a number of community partners/stakeholders. The Alliance’s strengths, challenges, priorities and more were identified through this process, and this information will inform the organization’s next leader, with the goal of ensuring a successful executive transition and success of The Alliance well into the future.
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Established in 1984, The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) is a nonprofit, community-based planning and organizing entity rooted in the Roxbury/North Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston. The Board of Directors of DSNI has launched a search and is actively seeking the next executive leader to build upon the organization’s esteemed history, community legacy and successes to date. This is a compelling opportunity for an innovative, collaborative and culturally astute executive level nonprofit leader with a deep understanding of community and urban place-based initiatives and a desire to lead and facilitate sustainable growth and success for all DSNI endeavors, its residents, and community partners.
Organization
DSNI’s mission is to empower Dudley residents to organize, plan for, create and control a vibrant, diverse and high-quality neighborhood in collaboration with community partners. The organization was born out of the desire of residents to reclaim and take control of their neighborhood which at the time was suffering from illegal dumping, lack of city services, and overall disinvestment and neglect caused by local and national policies that encouraged redlining, speculation, and segregated housing patterns.
DSNI’s strategic plan focuses on Development without Displacement with robust objectives that include getting additional land and development under community control, supporting resident leadership to ensure community priorities and benefits are reflected in local development projects, and utilizing creative placemaking strategies to strengthen community voice and participation in development planning processes. The organization is also focused on advocacy efforts at a local and city-wide level to create affordable housing and economic opportunities for low-income families.
As part of the recent designation of the Upham’s Corner neighborhood as an Arts Innovation District, and the City of Boston’s decision to select the neighborhood to begin implementation of the Imagine Boston 2030 strategic plan, DSNI has been selected as the City’s lead partner. This will ensure efforts to prevent displacement, to maintain housing affordability and to support small business owners. The vision is that the Dudley neighborhood sustains itself as a vibrant urban village where low- and moderate-income families can thrive and prosper and enjoy the benefits of combined efforts to revitalize the community.
For more information about DSNI and programs visit the website: www.dsni.org
Opportunity
The Executive Director (ED) oversees the overall strategy, business, programs and operations of DSNI. The ED is responsible for leading staff, community volunteers and strategic partners toward achievement of DSNI’s mission and strategic goals, and:
- Directs all fundraising efforts and financial functions
- Supports all board functions and operations
- Oversees program design, implementation, evaluation and quality
- Recommends and manages annual budget and financial functions
- Oversees real estate and asset management functions
- Manages human capital and resources for DSNI
- Represents the organization externally
The new leader will join DSNI at a critical time of complex challenges and dynamic opportunities. Rents and housing prices in Roxbury and Dorchester are rising at a higher rate than other Boston neighborhoods. The destabilizing impact of the real estate market and the displacement of many long-term residents, threaten to negatively transform the community for generations to come.
The ED also oversees and supports the strategic direction of Dudley Neighbors Incorporated (DNI) Community Land Trust, the subsidiary organization of DSNI that moves forward the community’s vision of resident control of land and permanently affordable housing.
