Initiatives
New Economy Coalition

Search for new Chief Executive

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

JOBS: EXECUTIVE SEARCH
Executive Director, New Economy Coalition
Location: National, Northeast preferred
Posted: Feb / 5 / 2015

The New Economy Coalition (NEC) seeks a facilitative and innovative leader to guide the organization at this unique and formative moment. The leader of NEC will build, inspire, and manage a talented staff team as well as a vibrant coalition; keep the board strong and engaged; be a primary public face of the organization; further develop a strong and innovative fundraising capacity; and build collaborative relationships with the donor community and other stakeholders.

About the New Economy Coalition

The New Economy Coalition (NEC) is a network of more than 100 organizations working to imagine and initiate a just transition to a new economy. NEC believes that our extractive economy is undermining aspirations for a democratic society. Structural racism and inequality, coupled with an addiction to growth and fossil fuels which are causing the devastating effects of ongoing global warming and climate disruption, all spell out a future with less opportunity and more vulnerability for our communities. We can choose to accept this fate or we can commit to fighting for the economy we need.

NEC’s mission is to convene and support those who contribute to an economy that is restorative to people, place, and planet, and that operates according to principles of democracy, justice and appropriate scale.

NEC’s annual budget is 1.275 million dollars. The organization is currently composed of eight full time and three part time staff, with the majority of staff based at the headquarters in Boston, MA, and others based in New York City, Philadelphia, and beyond. The board is made up of 14 thought leaders and organizers from around the US.

History of the New Economy Coalition

NEC’s story begins in 1980, with the founding of the EF Schumacher Society in Western Massachusetts. Thirty years later, recognizing an opportunity for alternative economic models in the wake of the global economic crisis, the Schumacher Society partnered with the UK-based New Economics Foundation to create the New Economics Institute. In 2012, the New Economics Institute merged with the New Economy Network to create the New Economy Coalition, which would focus on connecting and amplifying new economy organizing across the U.S. and Canada.

Today, our coalition has coalesced into a trusted network where local and national New Economy leaders regularly connect, learn, and explore possibilities for collective impact.

We are working to build a stronger sense of ownership and engagement among our members. Last summer we held our first members meeting, which led to invaluable feedback and the election of three board members. NEC is committed to providing members with opportunities to connect, learn, and increase their impact in service of a just, sustainable, and democratic economy.

The New Economy Coalition Programs

NEC’s programmatic priorities target particular intervention points within the network. One current focus area being launched is a collaborative project to develop the stories and narratives of a new economy: effective tools for communicating why we need a new economy, what it will look like, and how we will get there. Another programmatic priority is to support the leadership of frontline communities, which we define as those most impacted by interrelated economic, ecological, and political crises past, present, and future – in particular, communities of color and poor and marginalized communities of all races. NEC recognizes that effective and just solutions come from those who have been marginalized and disproportionately harmed by these crises.

This is an exciting moment for NEC and our network. All around us, innovators are engaged in the work of growing cooperative and community-owned enterprises, democratizing finance, finding new ways to share skills and goods, new ways to measure success, and new ways to meet growing human needs on an all too finite planet. They are also in the streets, building power to resist and displace unjust systems. Seen together, a movement is emerging that could change the world. NEC exists to support that movement.

For more information please visit: http://neweconomy.net/new-economy-coalition

The Context, Opportunities and Challenges

Following the departure of the New Economy Coalition’s previous executive leader in October of 2014, a newly formed Staff Leadership Team (SLT) has assumed a proactive leadership role while the board has engaged at a high level to sustain the organization during the leadership transition.

In November of 2014, Third Sector New England was retained to facilitate the next phase of the leadership transition process. Collectively this process has included re-imagining a clear and collaborative internal staff and leadership structure, clarifying NEC’s core purpose and direction, and identifying key strengths and priorities for the road ahead through an inclusive organizational assessment.

The New Economy Coalition brings unique strengths and opportunities that position it well, with the right executive leadership, for successful advancement of its mission and to support real, transformative system change in the United States.

Organizational strengths include:

The resonance and relevance of NEC’s transformative mission in this historic moment, which includes a new programmatic priority to support frontline communities;

A talented, intelligent, diverse, and young (and diverse intergenerational range of young) staff, which is fully committed to NEC’s mission;

A talented, experienced, and adept board consisting of new economy thought-leaders and organizers from across the country;

A membership that includes dozens of organizations doing some of the most exciting and innovative economic organizing in North America

The growing recognition of NEC as a key player and ally in the new economy movement – through convening, connecting, bridge-building, supporting and amplifying the work of coalition members and other stakeholders;

A new staff leadership structure designed to support clarity, efficient decision-making, shared ownership and accountability;

An improving and increasingly more diverse funding model.

The organizational assessment process has also surfaced a number of key priorities for NEC to address with its new executive leadership:

NEC must clarify its role. As a result of NEC’s unprecedented growth and transitions, there is still a need for further clarity and alignment around NEC’s role in the new economy movement. This includes work currently underway to revise NEC’s mission statement to better reflect the emerging clarity of this role.

NEC must better serve its membership.

After an initial period of growth, NEC has just recently begun to implement clear membership policies and expectations. There is an imperative to build on this by:

Better defining the value-added of being a member,

Increasing transparency with the membership in organizational matters such as strategy, budget, decision making, etc.

Clarifying the role of members in driving these decisions.

NEC’s internal structure is still a work in progress. There is an opportunity for new executive leadership to build on the SLT’s work and shepherd a process to define internal decision making (shared and not), accountability, delegating, and reporting measures; and to help bring the organization into a new era of facilitative leadership.

NEC must continue to build an internal (as well as external) culture of justice and anti-oppression. As NEC works towards creating justice in the world, there is a need to also continue to build an internal culture that attracts, recognizes, takes advantage of, and rewards staff and board voices, talents, and experience regardless of race or class.

NEC must continue to improve its development practices. NEC is still transitioning out of an insecure funding model, and is not yet in a totally secure financial situation.

NEC must further engage its board. The board has been newly re-engaged and will benefit from continued development of its structure, clearer expectations around its role, and further diversification of its members.

The Ideal Candidate

The New Economy Coalition’s new executive director will be passionate about, committed to, and have a history of demonstrated leadership related to NEC’s mission. The executive director should be able to articulate NEC’s vision in a way that inspires and motivates staff, board, diverse coalition members, funders and stakeholders of all stripes.

The ideal candidate will be a facilitative leader, committed to building and supporting both the staff and board as highly collaborative teams. The new executive director will be invested in nurturing the leadership of staff, while also able to commit to decisions, delegate, and maintain accountability across the organization. Additionally, the ideal candidate will have experience and skills in organizational structure development, and will be open to the potential of innovative new models.

The new executive director must strike a delicate balance between being a key public face of the organization –out front, comfortable and articulate in the spotlight– and working behind the scenes as an ally to support and amplify the work of a diverse range of coalition members and social movements. Above all, the new leader must be both informed by and accountable to these movements.

The ideal candidate will have creative fundraising experience that has shown concrete results. The new executive director must be able to fundraise for NEC while maintaining sensitivity to the resource needs of coalition members.

Specifically, the ideal candidate must have skill and experience in the following areas:

Facilitative leadership and management that is inclusive, participatory, empowering, consistent, and supports staff and other stakeholders’ growth, efficacy, and ownership of their work;

Articulating a vision, inspiring others to share in that vision, and assessing the appropriate risks to take in achieving it;

Managing and supporting a diverse and vibrant coalition;

Developing, engaging, and maintaining healthy relationships with a high-powered board of directors;

Being an ally to –or member of– the broad set of movements engaged in new economy work, with a prioritization of those grounded in frontline communities;

Being comfortable and poised in the spotlight, while also helping to shine that spotlight on others – especially traditionally marginalized voices;

Developing and managing a multi-faceted, innovative fundraising plan – including experience cultivating donors, soliciting major gifts and writing grants;

Thinking systemically, innovating, and working as a creative problem solver;

Leading organizational development – especially as related to organizational structure and individual roles;

Balancing on-the-ground organizational management, leadership, and program work, with bigger picture thinking and strategy.

Desired professional background

Has successfully led, co-led, and/or been in a leadership role in related organizations and/or movements;

Has successfully been in partnership in related organizations and/or movements;

Experienced and comfortable with sometimes sophisticated economic materials;

Attainment of an academic degree is not required; relevant experience will be considered.

Desired personal characteristics and qualities

A demonstrated passion and commitment to New Economy Coalition’s mission;

An empathetic and supportive style of leadership;

The ability to remain calm under fire and to both hold and be held accountable.

Please note that NEC is considering adding an internally focused executive level staff, whose position will be shaped by the new executive director in consultation with the staff leadership team and contingent on funding and board approval. In light of this, the Search Committee is open to creative proposals from co-applicants, job sharing, etc.

Candidate Guidelines

This search is being conducted by Third Sector New England’s Executive Transitions Program and led by Transition Consultant Jeremy Phillips.

Interested candidates should submit a resume along with a brief cover letter describing how their qualifications and experiences match the needs of the New Economy Coalition, salary requirements, and how they learned of the position. Electronic submissions are preferred.

The compensation and benefits package is commensurate with experience and is competitive with nonprofit organizations in the region.

New Economy Coalition is an Equal Opportunity Employer and actively seeks a diverse pool of candidates.