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Search Success: Anusha Venkataraman Joins ONE Neighborhood Builders as Managing Director of Central Providence Opportunities!

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ONE Neighborhood Builders and Pillar Search and HR Consulting are excited to share that Anusha Venkataram has joined ONE Neighborhood Builders as their new Managing Director of Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone. She brings nearly two decades of experience in community development, policy, and organizing, to state’s leading community development corporation.

PROVIDENCE, RI – ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) named Anusha Venkataraman, the former executive director of the New York City Racial Justice Commission, as the organization’s first Managing Director of Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone (CPO-HEZ), an initiative focused on advancing health equity and economic mobility in the 02908 and 02909 zip codes in Providence.

“Anusha is a seasoned expert in community development, policy, and organizing, and we are thrilled that she has returned to Providence. As ONE|NB looks to further strengthen our foundation as a community-centered impact organization, we knew we needed to find a leader with a track record of building community trust and getting results,” said ONE|NB President and Executive Director Jennifer Hawkins.

With a background in urban planning, Venkataraman’s work has focused on community development, public policy, civic engagement, political organizing, and the arts. Previously, she served as the Executive Director of the NYC Racial Justice Commission, where she steered a public process of reviewing the city’s charter, resulting in three successful ballot initiatives advancing racial equity.

“Across my career in grassroots organizations, nonprofits, and in city government, I have seen what is possible when community members are empowered to drive action,” said Venkataraman. “I am excited to make my return to Providence—a city I am deeply passionate about—and help lead this initiative with ONE|NB in addressing the systemic barriers to health and economic equity in Central Providence and collectively building a stronger future.”

Before leading the NYC Racial Justice Commission, Venkataraman held positions in the NYC Office of the Mayor, including Chief Service Officer and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Mayor for Housing & Economic Development, as well as in the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development. She also worked with the community organization El Puente in Brooklyn on a neighborhood-wide health and sustainability initiative. Venkataraman started her career in Rhode Island’s nonprofit sector, including as an AmeriCorps VISTA member at the Steel Yard in Providence.

The Managing Director provides strategic leadership and capacity to Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone, which brings together residents, more than five dozen community-based organizations, health professionals, local businesses, elected officials, and others to address root causes of health disparities and to improve neighborhood conditions.

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) established Health Equity Zones (HEZs) in 2015 to improve community health in areas that need it most. HEZs are collaboratives of residents, community organizations, health professionals, and others who come together to address the root causes of health disparities. The HEZs work to ensure every neighborhood has a fair and just opportunity to be healthier. This work requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, racism, and their consequences, including insufficient access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education, affordable housing, safe environments, and healthcar

As Managing Director of CPO-HEZ, Venkataraman will oversee ONE|NB’s work with community partners and residents who have been working for nearly a year to develop a vision for Central Providence. ONE|NB and its partners will culminate this planning work on Monday when they unveil the Central Providence Roadmap, with a vision to ensure that all residents of Central Providence will live healthy, stable lives and be empowered to impact the conditions in their community.

Venkataraman earned a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Pratt Institute and a bachelor’s in international relations from Brown University.

ABOUT ONE NEIGHBORHOOD BUILDERS:

ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) is a nonprofit community development leader in Rhode Island that is expanding its work to the broader Greater Providence area while maintaining its deep roots in its historic home of Olneyville. ONE|NB’s mission is to develop affordable housing and engage neighbors to cultivate healthy, vibrant, and safe communities. Since its founding in 1988, then as Olneyville Housing Corporation, ONE|NB has developed 466 affordable apartments; 130 for-sale homes for low- to moderate-income homebuyers; and nearly 34,000 square feet of commercial and community space—totaling more than $135 million of investments. ONE|NB is the convening entity of Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone, which brings together residents, more than five dozen community-based organizations, health professionals, local businesses, elected officials, and others to address root causes of health disparities and to improve neighborhood conditions. As the convener, ONE|NB is the backbone organization of this collective-impact initiative to increase economic mobility for residents in Central Providence. ONE|NB also created the first free community wireless network in Rhode Island, providing high-speed broadband to nearly 3000 unique users in the Olneyville neighborhood.

ABOUT PILLAR SEARCH & HR CONSULTING:

A woman-owned business and Certified Diversity Recruiter based in Boston, Pillar Search & HR Consulting provides executive search/recruiting and human resources consulting expertise to nonprofit and mission-driven organizations, working with senior leaders and the boards of directors to hire and develop the very best talent across all functional areas of the organization. For more information about Pillar, please visit www.pillarsearch.com.

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New Search! Director of Community Impact with ONE Neighborhood Builders

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ABOUT THE SEARCH

Pillar Search & HR Consulting is honored to partner with Providence, RI’s ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) on the national search for their founding Director of Community Impact. Qualified candidates are encouraged to submit their cover letter and resume to Cindy Joyce at cindy@pillarsearch.com.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Community Impact is responsible for leading ONE|NB’s collective impact initiatives to drive measurable economic and social opportunity gains for residents in Central Providence. By serving as the backbone of Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone (CPO-HEZ), ONE|NB brings to bear its community development, convening, resource development, and financial management capacities.

The Director is responsible for building ONE Neighborhood Builders’ identity as a respected convener among a broad spectrum of neighborhood residents, organizational partners, funders, and local officials/policymakers and as a capable backbone organization. Responsibilities include driving the external strategies and relationships, internal functions, community engagement, communications, and data/evaluation efforts that relate to ONE|NB’s collective impact initiatives. This is a highly strategic, collaborative, and facilitative role that requires a combination of strategic, communications, and relationship-building savviness.

ABOUT ONE|NB

The mission of ONE|NB is to develop affordable housing and engage neighbors across greater Providence to cultivate healthy, vibrant, and safe communities. At full complement, ONE|NB has 25 full-time equivalent team members. ONE|NB is a NeighborWorks America charter member and is governed by an active Board of Directors consisting of 11 members. The organization’s annual operating budget is $4.8 million, of which over $3 million is raised annually from government agencies, private foundations, corporations, and individual donors.

Over the next three years, they will accomplish our mission through:

  • Robust Housing Development and Quality Real Estate Management

ONE|NB will expand the availability of affordable, high-quality homes through the production, preservation, and acquisition of residential and mixed-used properties within our historic home of Olneyville and across Greater Providence.

  • Addressing Root Causes of Health Disparities

ONE|NB will engage residents and community-based organizations in our nine Central Providence neighborhoods to generate the social and economic conditions that prolong life expectancy and work to eradicate systemic barriers that lead to health disparities.

  • Embracing Innovation and Building the Community Development Field

ONE|NB will emerge as a thought leader in the field by distilling the lessons learned from developing and managing housing and convening residents and community organizations. We will participate in local and regional community development conversations, produce research and case studies, and amplify the impact of our community partners.

ABOUT CPO-HEZ

Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone is a place-based, collective-impact effort that is convened by ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) with the goal of closing ‘opportunity gaps’ experienced by residents in the nine neighborhoods located in the 02908 and 02909 ZIP codes of Providence, Rhode Island: Elmhurst, Federal Hill, Hartford, Manton, Mount Pleasant, Olneyville, Silver Lake, Smith Hill, and Valley. CPO-HEZ seeks to close opportunity gaps related to income, health, wealth, and safety through a focus on five strategy areas: affordable housing, supportive services, quality jobs, local business development, and early education. While these are not the exclusive domains of CPO-HEZ, they are the essential components.

CPO-HEZ brings together residents, more than five dozen community-based organizations, health professionals, local businesses, elected officials, and others to address root causes of health disparities and to improve neighborhood conditions. ONE|NB is the backbone organization of this collective-impact initiative to increase economic mobility for residents in Central Providence.

In 2022, ONE|NB is leading the creation of a 10-year Central Providence Road Map for the sustainability and scaling of Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone.  The Director will be charged with successfully leading implementation of the Road Map.

Learn more at https://oneneighborhoodbuilders.org.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director of Community Impact is responsible for:

Leadership

  • Providing visionary, adaptive leadership, modeling the values of collective impact and fostering a culture that reflects them.
  • Overseeing systems to share governance, decision-making, resources, communications, and coordination of programs across the partnerships.
  • Helping resolve disputes or disagreements in direction or miscommunications among workgroups and partners.

Strategic Coherence

  • Articulating the “big picture” of the collective vision and strategies that contribute to success to build support and engagement.
  • Guiding community analyses in order to understand gaps, needs, and opportunities, and developing priorities and coordinating supporting activities of partners.
  • Moving the Central Providence Road Map from vision to implementation.
  • Orienting and motivating all partners toward outcomes while ensuring strong processes.

Working with Community Partners

  • Coordinating research, programs, and other activities with initiative partners to minimize redundancies and align strategies and resources.
  • Updating outreach and resource development strategies as new needs emerge.
  • Develop sub-granting relationships to ensure accountability.
  • Coordinating with other projects and coalitions in the neighborhood and issue areas to maintain a full understanding of the current landscape of relevant activities and integrating their work appropriately into the Central Providence vision.

Community Engagement

  • Establishing and maintaining visibility in all Central Providence neighborhoods.
  • Connecting residents to the CPO-HEZ strategies and initiatives in ways that allow for genuine resident voice and governance
  • Creating strong relationships with community leaders.

Communications

  • Communicating the objectives of the Central Providence Road Map to the community and potential partners, including foundations and major donors.
  • Facilitating communications between partners, other organizations, policymakers, and residents through regular meetings, calls, email updates, reports, or more.

Facilitation and Backbone Support

  • Coordinating the internal capacities and resources needed to serve as a backbone organization.
  • Cultivating excellent working relationships external senior leaders involved in this initiative in a way that can inspire collective actions without formal authority.

Data Collection, Analysis, and Learning

  • Overseeing the development and implementation of a shared measurement system that will track common outcomes and indicators across the initiative and use results to inform learning and continuous improvement.
  • Monitoring results of macro-level economic mobility data points, as collected by the RI Data Ecosystem, and use this data to inform initiatives.

Management

  • Supervising the Assistant Director of Place-Based Initiatives, Assistant Director of Community Impact, and the Community Engagement Specialist.
  • Serving on the ONE|NB leadership team.

QUALIFICATIONS

The successful candidate will be a self-directed, highly organized, exceptional communicator and professional who is committed to the vision and values of ONE|NB and the collective impact approach. We are seeking candidates with a minimum of ten years of work experience in a relevant field, with at least three years of experience providing effective support to a collaborative or collective impact initiative in a highly visible role. A Bachelor’s degree and advanced degree, or equivalent work experience, strongly preferred.

Candidates must demonstrate experience in:

  • Effectively managing, organizing, and coordinating projects, programs, people, information flow, and resources in formal and informal structures.
  • Systems-level thinking with proven ability to make change within complex, integrated systems or ecosystems.
  • Balancing high-level strategy, day-to-day implementation, and reflection/learning.
  • Diplomacy, conflict resolution, relationship-building, and interpersonal savvy within a network-based environment.
  • Comfort in group facilitation.
  • Critical thinking and problem-solving.
  • Managing a budget in a complex and changing environment.
  • Operating successfully within a senior leadership team and collaborative governance structure.

Successful performance of this role requires:

  • A balanced orientation towards results and good process.
  • Deep knowledge of place-based work in diverse communities with a focus on approaches that are collaborative, long-term, and contribute to a big-picture vision for long-term success
  • Proven experience building relationships and forging meaningful partnerships
  • Ability to successfully navigate within varying degrees of ambiguity in a fast-paced environment.
  • Ability to connect the dots for yourself and articulate for others.
  • Strong written and oral communication skills and the ability to give and receive feedback.
  • Willingness to work hard and take direction—but also creatively solve problems for which the answers are not always obvious.
  • Deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Unquestionable ethics and integrity.

Ability to speak Spanish is a plus.

The Director of Community Impact will be required to work a full-time schedule with some flexibility required on nights and weekends.

ONE|NB offers a robust benefits package (including health, dental, and vision insurance), a retirement plan with matching contribution, a generous allotment of paid holiday and personal/vacation time, and an inspiring and innovative organizational culture.

This role offers flexibility to work remotely an estimated two times per week initially and greater flexibility once established in the role.

Candidates are not required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination, though vaccination is strongly recommended.

The salary range for this role is $85,000-$125,000 annually. Compensation range is competitive and is commensurate based on experience.

ONE|NB works to dismantle all forms of discrimination. We fight the systems that oppress people from a vast range of identities and experiences. Cultivating a team that embodies the diverse experiences of Central Providence communities is essential to these aspirations. We strongly and sincerely encourage applications from people of color; immigrant, bilingual, and bicultural individuals; people with disabilities; members of LGBTQQ+ and gender non-conforming communities; and people with other diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Please submit your cover letter and resume to Cindy Joyce, Pillar Search & HR Consulting, via email to cindy@pillarsearch.com. Candidates will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.