DREAMS Center for Arts Education, a nationally award-winning, 25-year-old non-profit dedicated to serving youth by providing equitable access to high-quality, arts programming, seeks a visionary Executive Director.
Using a strengths-based, holistic approach, DREAMS has had the privilege of serving thousands of youth and their families in a tri-county area—both at our inner-city Center and through a wide range of community partnerships. The new Executive Director will have the unique opportunity to build on the multi-faceted foundation to take DREAMS to the next level.
The Executive Director is the key management leader and directly supervises the program leadership team. This position's efforts will be led by the mission of DREAMS, with a vigilant focus on what is best for DREAMS' students.
Major Areas of Responsibility
- Lead, advocate and champion toward achieving DREAMS’ mission and values.
- Provide a holistic youth center, multi-disciplinary youth development principled program with an emphasis on Arts Education.
- Create and lead an annual resource development plan achieving the organization’s goals.
- Assure systems provide timely, accurate and transparent financial information.
- Provide leadership to effective board development practices.
- Assure, lead and manage effective Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices.
- Build on existing and/or design a comprehensive Marketing and Communications plan.
- Seek, cultivate and foster active strategic engagement with community partners.
- Lead a quality and effective human resources management program.
Specific Responsibilities
Fundraising and Communications
- Lead resource development and grant writing to sufficiently to ensure the financial health of DREAMS, to include fundraising, event planning, and public relations.
- Forge, grow and sustain successful long-term relationships with corporations, foundations, and individual supporters.
- Train and lead staff to effectively participate in all aspects of an established Marketing and Communications plan with the goal to expand a stronger brand identity of DREAMS.
Organizational Values, Mission and Strategy
- Works with Board of Directors and staff to develop and execute strategic plans to ensure immediate ongoing and long-term sustainability of DREAMS’ mission is fulfilled through programs and overall representation in the community.
- Cultivate strategic community partnerships and collaborations to increase effectiveness by working with other professional, civic and private organizations to maximize impact of programming.
- Demonstrate the importance of DREAMS’ values through example, execution and consistent emphasis.
Board Development and Governance
- Collaborate with Board of Directors in setting direction for the organization and execute accordingly while communicating effectively and transparently through regular and timely updates.
- Provide leadership in collaboration with the Board to affect their ongoing developmental experiences and practices.
- In collaboration with the Board, staff, constituents and stakeholders, develop DREAMS SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) goals.
- Working with the Board, assure effective practices (committee, task force, ad-hoc or other means) which plan for and work to result in a quality and functioning governance process.
- Understand and support Board in carrying out their responsibilities according to organizational by-laws and policies.
- Provide the Board with updated program, advocacy and promotional information for their use in educating community members about the organization.
Management and Leadership
- Supervise and provide continuous feedback to staff, including programming leadership team, while ensuring all staff receives at least one formal performance review annually.
- Build on existing and/or create systems for feedback and assessment of processes to do what is in the best interest of DREAMS’ students and the organization.
- Effectively recruit, manage and retain excellent staff and teaching artists in collaboration with programming leadership team.
- Work closely with program leadership team ensuring quality positive youth development through the arts where data-driven best practices are reflected in development and delivery of programming.
- Identify human resources needs (staff development/artist orientation, etc.) and implement a development plan to address those needs.
- Actively engage and energize DREAMS Board members, event committees, alumni, partnering organizations, and funders/donors.
Fiscal Responsibility and Transparency
- Develop, track, manage and operate within the approved budget, ensuring maximum utilization of resources resulting in positive cash flow in a strong, long-term financial position.
- Maintain the fiscal integrity of DREAMS with program leadership team.
Professional Qualifications and Characteristics
The Executive Director will be thoroughly committed to DREAMS' organizational mission. Therefore, all candidates should have proven leadership, coaching, and relationship management experience.
Specific Requirements include:
- In addition to a Bachelor's degree, DREAMS is looking for an individual with at least 3 – 5 years with senior management experience; track record of effectively leading and regionally and/or nationally scaling a performance and outcomes-based organization and staff; ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of impact.
- Unwavering commitment and demonstrated knowledge in quality positive youth development through the arts and data-driven program evaluation.
- Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high-performance teams, set and achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget.
- Past success working with a Board of Directors with the ability to cultivate existing Board member relationships.
- Strong marketing, public relations, and fundraising experience with the ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders and cultures.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills.
- Action-oriented, entrepreneurial, adaptable, and innovative approach to non-profit business planning.
- Ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people.
- Passion, idealism, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed.
DREAMS Center for Arts Education is a unique values based organization with a dynamic mission, strong reputation, offering an array of developmental and exciting programs using distinct spaces and facilities that help tap into participants' passions and interests, that is also poised for significant philanthropic growth. If an opportunity to lead an organization utilizing best practices of nonprofit leadership to provide positive youth development experiences for urban youth is a calling you have, please complete the application process.
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