Hired! Charlotte Potter Joins Yestermorrow Design/Build School as Executive Director!

Pillar Search & HR Consulting is pleased to announce that Charlotte Potter has been hired by Yestermorrow Design/Build School as their new Executive Director.

Based Waitsfield, VT, Yestermorrow Design/Build School inspires people to create a better, more sustainable world by providing hands-on education that integrates design and craft as a creative, interactive process. Yestermorrow’s courses are specifically designed to demystify the designing and building processes using hands-on, experiential learning to teach students the art and wisdom of good design and the skill and savvy of enduring craftsmanship as a single, integrated process.

Raised in the Mad River Valley, Charlotte is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. She started her career as a glass artist and was most recently the Founding Programming Director of the Glass Studio at Chrysler Museum of Art. There, Charlotte founded and mentored the Assistantship program and has taught glass and new media courses at Universities and summer programs such as Penland School of Crafts and The Oxbow School.

Another facet to Potter’s practice is to bring contemporary art into the public and create opportunities for viewing art in the collective space. Potter has co-founded two performance glass troupes, Cirque de Verre and the Glass Theater as well as being a co-founder of the Neon Arts District in Norfolk, VA, the director of Grand Point Weird, a contemporary art component to the Grand Point North Music Festival in Burlington, VT. She has served on the Glass Art Society Board and was the co-chair of the 2017 Glass Art Society Conference. Her work has been exhibited internationally at galleries, museums and universities and is included in numerous public museum and private permanent collections.

As Charlotte joins Yestermorrow Design/Build School as Executive Director, she will be responsible for all aspects of the school’s operations, expanding programs and outreach while maintaining the high quality of current programs, and attracting significant new resources and talent to this well-established, growing nonprofit organization.

Hire the best!  Pillar provides search expertise for exceptional nonprofits and socially responsible for-profits, working with senior leaders and boards of directors to find the very best talent across all functional areas of the organization. For more information, please contact Pillar’s CEO, Cindy Joyce at cindy@pillarsearch.com.

Pro Bono Nonprofit Job Posting: Reading Partners’s Executive Director, Silicon Valley

Reading Partners is changing the education landscape. We are a leader in working to solve the literacy crisis in our country by leveraging community volunteers in under-resourced schools. Our diverse and expansive volunteer base provides one-on-one tutoring to students twice weekly, and our program is proven to help children master the reading fundamentals they need to unlock their potential as successful, happy and confident readers in school and in life. Our people are our heartbeat and our greatest resource; we are all passionately rallied around our mission to help children become lifelong learners by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction that works. Join our stellar team leading the charge to deepen our impact and expand our service. Learn more about us at www.readingpartners.org.

 

The High Level

Reading Partners was founded in 1999 at the Belle Haven Community School in Menlo Park. Now, Reading Partners operates in multiple states across the U.S. serving more than 8,000 students annually. The Silicon Valley is our flagship region currently serving in 26 schools across three counties: Santa Clara, San Mateo and Alameda.

 

Reading Partners is seeking a dynamic Executive Director to provide leadership, management, and strategic oversight of the Silicon Valley region. The Executive Director will build and lead a program, development, and administrative team, which include employees, AmeriCorps members, and community volunteers. The Executive Director will also drive expanding fundraising partnerships, and have full bottom line fiscal responsibility for the entire region.

 

The ideal candidate is a social entrepreneur who has deep connections with the K-5 educational and/or nonprofit sector(s) with state/local officials and philanthropic leaders who can accelerate Reading Partners’ regional program expansion. This person will roll-up their sleeves to lead the region, acting as the primary contact to both internal and external stakeholders.

 

What you’ll do:

Lead and manage a team of 46 staff and AmeriCorps/VISTA members toward highly successful program implementation, community engagement, and fundraising targets. Oversee growth strategy and all regional business operations.

  • Set and achieve programmatic, fundraising, and other goals aligned with the regional and national strategic plans.
  • Build fundraising and organizational infrastructure and capacity to support future growth.
  • Provide executive oversight of all program operations: compliance, quality assurance, and program efficacy.
  • Oversee all business functions (accounting, HR, IT, legal, etc.), with significant support from the national accounting, HR, and IT departments.
  • Partner with the program director to recommit current schools and recruit new schools to ensure Reading Partners will meet its schools served and wait list targets the following school year.
  • Partner with development and community engagement teams to drive resources to the region.
  • Collaborate with other executive directors and members of the National team to develop and implement a system for sharing resources and best practices across all Reading Partners locations.
  • Participate on one or more task forces or working groups with other executive directors and/or members of national departments.

 

Strategize and lead all fundraising to exceed regional revenue goal of $2M+.

  • Set, meet, and exceed annual fund development goals in future years to support ongoing expansion in the local area.
  • Cultivate and manage donor relationships across the region to secure monies from government, corporate, foundation, and individual funding sources.
  • Develop and manage the regional board to provide effective local leadership and ambassadorship.
  • Collaborate with development staff and board members to identify, cultivate, and steward potential funders.
  • Work closely with the national grants team to ensure proper implementation of the state or national AmeriCorps grants, and to steward the relationship effectively to continue our strong relationship with all state and national AmeriCorps agencies.

 

Drive all external relations activities in the region to grow and scale the region.

  • Create and lead a broad coalition of nonprofit, for-profit, and governmental entities to affect students’ reading success.
  • Engage and manage relationships with elected officials and public sector partners (municipal, school board, state, and district staff for Congressional offices) to support the advancement of Reading Partners as a key partner in the educational system in the region.
  • Build and grow relationships with district-level leaders to ensure Reading Partners’ success as a best in class literacy program.
  • Support Reading Partners’ role in the policy dialogue around literacy, education, and national service.
  • Increase organizational visibility and profile in local media markets through the successful creation and implementation of a regional communications plan.
  • Serve as the primary local public spokesperson for Reading Partners, acting as the public face of the organization within the region.
  • Develop strategic partnerships to support Reading Partners’ community engagement and volunteer recruitment efforts.

 

How you’ll do it:

  • Mission and Culture Catalyst: In order to thrive as a culture leader at Reading Partners, you are highly motivated by Reading Partners’ work and authentically represent this mission externally. You demonstrate a sincere passion for enriching the lives of high need students through literacy development and embody Reading Partners’ mission, core values and approach. You are energized by working amid ambiguity and will bring a patient and solutions oriented outlook to their work. You are a dedicated leader who is strategic and dynamic, with a track record of establishing meaningful and trusting relationships with colleagues and stakeholders. Finally, you bring an understanding of how to partner with schools and serving at-risk youth, ideally within the context of K-5 education.
  • People & Operations Management: Lead, motivate and manage a team of 46 to results, while coaching and developing the capacity of the people on the team. Oversee and deliver professional development and management training for regional staff including the following direct reports: Program Director, Development Manager and 2 Community Engagement Managers. Demonstrate advanced ability to plan and implement efficient internal operations to support future growth. Demonstrate experience serving as an inspiring mentor to staff members, either in a formal management structure, or informally through influence. You also have the ability to develop a strategic vision and motivate teams to achieve measurable goals, while maintaining a results oriented, collaborative and healthy organizational culture. You bring strong track record of establishing the metrics, processes, and protocols needed to effectively move from vision to implementation. Finally, you have experience juggling multiple work streams concurrently, managing complex and competing priorities, and executing on ambitious goals effectively.
  • Relationship Development & Communications: You establish deep relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including staff, community constituents, elected officials, media outlets, non-profit and for-profit leaders, as well as board members. You are able to open doors, make connections, tell a compelling story, build consensus and create opportunities to both generate revenue and support advancement in literacy education, across the region and within a very competitive market. You have experience identifying, building, and maintaining strong relationships with a diverse array of non-profit, government, community, private sector, and high-net-worth stakeholders. You are someone who is an effective communicator, natural “connector”, and you have a track record of successfully increasing revenue and cultivating donors and community support.
  • Strategic Leadership and Execution: You develop and design new strategies and approaches to meeting programmatic growth goals and then lead implementation of those strategies. You bring a systems perspective to organizational challenges, with the ability to effectively move from vision to strategy to plan to execution while managing multiple work streams and demonstrating exceptional project management instincts. You are creative, a thoughtful decision maker, and are comfortable partnering with others to problem-solve, and use clear and strategic processes in making decisions. In addition, you have professional experience both developing and executing strategy to optimize organizational processes and achieve ambitious goals.

 

About you!

You’ll be successful in this role if you have:

  • Robust experience working with nonprofits, school districts, government officials, and philanthropic organizations in the Silicon Valley area
  • Demonstrated success in developing and executing fundraising strategies
  • Proven accomplishments in front-line fundraising, including demonstrated success of fundraising $1M+
  • Strong staff management skills, including recruitment, leadership development, day-to-day oversight, team building and retention
  • Ability to develop and manage large and complex operating budgets
  • Exceptional communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills
  • Demonstrated creativity when addressing challenging situations with limited resources
  • Ability to work with minimal supervision in a fast-paced, highly adaptive environment
  • A Bachelor’s degree
  • Excellent computer skills
  • A deep belief in our mission
  • The innate ability and desire to root your work in our core values
  • Hold US Citizenship or Permanent Resident Status

 

Bonus Points if you:

  • Hold an MBA or advanced degree
  • Are an AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or other national service alum/alumna
  • Have experience working in launch or growth phases of organizations

 

What we offer

Reading Partners offers the full package – great benefits, a great place to work and the opportunity to have a glowing and growing career.

  • We offer a competitive salary commensurate with experience. This is a full time, exempt salaried position.
  • We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, flex spending accounts, generous paid time off, commuter benefits, referral bonuses, 403(b) option, and Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
  • We offer an exciting and dynamic culture, and we commit to investing in and supporting our amazing people to grow their careers with us. As such, we provide ongoing professional development opportunities, including an annual staff retreat in Oakland, CA.

 

The other stuff you need to know

  • Travel: This position travels regularly throughout the local area. This position may also involve occasional travel to Reading Partners’ National Headquarters in Oakland, CA.
  • Typical Physical & Mental Demands: Requires prolonged sitting with some bending, stooping and stretching, and eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity sufficient to operate a keyboard, telephone, photocopier, calculator and other office equipment.  Requires normal range of hearing and eyesight to communicate with volunteers and staff. Also requires flexibility to readily adapt to a changing environment.

 

What’s Next?

If you’re interested in joining our Reading Partners team, please submit the following application materials to our online job posting:

  • A cover letter describing your interest in Reading Partners and how your past experience has prepared you for this role, along with your salary history for your past three roles.
  • Resume

 

Reading Partners is an Equal Opportunity Employer, with a strong commitment to diversity in the workplace.

 

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.  Position will remain posted until filled. No phone inquiries, please.

Announcing the Search for the President of Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Waitsfield, VT

Pillar's New Search

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Pillar Search is pleased to announce the search for Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Vermont.

With personalized service and proven results, Pillar is your partner in executive search and human resources consulting. With over 20 years of experience, Pillar provides national retained search services for exceptional non-profits and foundations and early-stage or rapid growth for-profit firms. All share the characteristic of desiring top talent who want an occupassion, not just an occupation.     In addition, Pillar offers human resources consulting services, which was born of clients requesting help on projects beyond executive search, and includes human resources audits, creating a handbook, assessing organizational design, training, team building, and employee communications.    A woman-owned business, Pillar is based in Boston, MA, and works on both a local and national level.

To contact Pillar, please click here.

 

YESTER_logo_3

 

President

Overview:

Yestermorrow Design/Build School is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization located in the Mad River Valley of Vermont offering workshops, certificate programs and semester programs for adult students from around the country.

Yestermorrow’s mission is to inspire people to create a better, more sustainable world by providing hands-on education that integrates design and craft as a creative, interactive process.  The intensive and experiential curriculum includes a wide variety of topics related to sustainable design, green building, architectural craft, and furniture making.

This is an exciting opportunity for a strong leader with a deep familiarity with and passion for architecture, design/build, sustainable and energy-conscious construction methods and experiential education. Positive, dynamic, and high energy, the President will be able to look at the big picture and identify future opportunities while managing the day-to-day activities and operations of Yestermorrow Design/Build School.

As an employer, Yestermorrow offers a supportive, collegial, entrepreneurial and inclusive working environment that fosters creativity of students, faculty and staff.

For more information about Yestermorrow, please visit www.yestermorrow.org.

Location:

Yestermorrow is located in Waitsfield, VT, which has been named “Best Town” and “Best Ski Town” by Outside Magazine. According to the New York Times, “”Well known as a winter skiing destination — it is home to the sprawling Sugarbush resort and ‘ski it if you can’ Mad River Glen — the valley reveals itself in warmer weather, when history, culture and a hyperlocal food scene come to the fore.”

Situated between the Sugarbush and Mad River Glen mountain resorts, Waitsfield is welcoming, easy going and breathtaking. For more information on Mad River Valley, please visit http://www.madrivervalley.com/.

The Opportunity:

The President is responsible for the fiscal, programmatic and functional health of the organization, in addition to serving as the primary advocate for its mission and steward of its reputation.  As a school known for innovation, the President will foster a culture of thinking outside the box and creative experimentation to help Yestermorrow continue to be a place of cutting-edge design education.

The President will report to the Board of Directors through its Executive Committee.

Specifically, the President is responsible for all aspects of the school’s operations, including:

  • Spearhead all fundraising activities for the school, including diversifying fundraising efforts to include major gifts, corporate and foundation giving, events, and planned giving
  • Supervise the ongoing, phased implementation of the new comprehensive master plan for the school’s campus, including the construction of new shop and studio spaces, residences and other site improvements.
  • Provide strong leadership and management to staff and faculty
  • Raise regional, national, and international visibility
  • Expand programs and outreach while maintaining the high quality of current programs
  • Develop, implement, and oversee a strategic plan for Yestermorrow

Please note that this is a year-round position.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

 Leadership, Management and Mentoring:

  • Inspire and motivate staff, the board, faculty, donors and others to advance and achieve Yestermorrow’s mission.
  • Hire, manage and leads Yestermorrow’s diverse administrative staff of seven (7) including individual staff managers for curriculum, enrollment, operations, facilities, development and communications, and semester programs.
  • Serve as the public face and chief spokesperson for Yestermorrow, and advocate for its mission and goals within the greater community served by the school.
  • Liaise with Board of Directors and work closely with all committees and working groups to ensure that board and committee meetings run smoothly and board efforts are coordinated and effectively targeted.
  • Develop a consensus-based strategic vision of the next phase of Yestermorrow’s growth, and build enduring support and relationships among diverse audiences and communities around it.
  • Manage with an inclusive and flexible style, combined with appropriate decisiveness, emphasis on accountability and ability to delegate.
  • Clearly define goals with each staff member and develop results-focused performance metrics to ensure that goals and expectations are clearly communicated and that each employee is given opportunities to grow and be challenged in their roles.
  • Regularly communicate with school’s faculty and incorporate their vision, interests and concerns into organizational planning.
  • Create and implement effective operating systems to achieve the goal of organizational excellence.

Development, Fundraising, Community Relations and Outreach:

  • Implement and complete an estimated $3 million capital campaign. This important fundraising effort will support the expansion of Yestermorrow’s campus, including new studio space, dormitories, and the restoration of existing buildings. The President will work closely with the Board of Directors, Development Manager, staff and faculty to carry out a broad-based fundraising plan targeting individuals, corporations, foundations and government agencies to support this initiative.
  • Establish fundraising priorities to reach new audiences by directing marketing and outreach strategy (including alumni, parents, and “friends of Yestermorrow”).
  • Develop and lead the fundraising efforts and identify ways to diversifying fundraising to include, in addition to annual giving, a major donor effort, special events, planned giving, grant research and writing, annual appeals, and endowment stewardship.
  • Initiate, develop and support strategic initiatives, partnerships, alliances and collaborations with relevant institutions.
  • Travel will be required to present to diverse audiences about Yestermorrow’s programs and impacts.

Administration & Finance:

  • Facilitate and manage Yestermorrow’s financial and administrative work, including overseeing the preparation, monitoring and reporting of annual budgets and work plans.

Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

The President will be a strategic thinker, a decisive manager, a proven team builder, a compelling communicator, and an effective and enthusiastic fundraiser.

He/she must be capable of managing a complex organization during a time of significant growth and change. He/she must have demonstrated experience as an Executive Director, President or equivalent, managing comparable staff and budgets, contracts, fiscal reporting, fundraising, outreach and marketing, and organizational development, as well as liaising with the board.

The position demands an entrepreneurial spirit – someone with a talent for articulating new opportunities, and a track record of implementing them.

The successful candidate will have the following:

Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree. Advanced degree is strongly preferred.

  • At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience with private non-profit or public sector organizations.
  • Experience professionally, or passion personally, for design.
  • Proven experience in leadership roles, including the management of comparably sized staff and budget.
  • Strong fundraising experience is essential, including experience across the spectrum of development.
  • Experience either running a capital campaign or having participated in a significant manner in the successful completion of a capital campaign.
  • A track record with the outreach, community building, and public relations side of running a mission-driven institution.
  • Experience managing an institution during a time of major growth.
  • Excellent speaking, writing and presentation skills.
  • Computer literacy, Internet savvy, and comfort communicating in a variety of digital and other media.
  • Occasional travel and evening and weekend work is required.

The salary for this opportunity is competitive and commensurate with experience.

For Immediate Consideration:

This search is being managed by Pillar Search. To apply, please send your cover letter and resume, including salary requirements, to Cindy Joyce at cindy@pillarsearch.com.