Chief of Staff to Founder/President

CHIEF OF STAFF to Founder/President

Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation

Menlo Park, CA

www.laaf.org

This position is open as of Summer 2019. Interested applicants should submit a resume and transcript to: Keith Calix at jobs@laaf.org.

Organization Overview

The Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation (LAAF.org) aims to be the leader in programs and resources at the intersection of women, giving and leadership. LAAF.org is an operating (non-grantmaking) foundation on a mission to inspire, educate and empower ALL individuals to give, live and lead in a way that matters more. We are a young, evolutionary organization that democratizes access to free, highest quality digital educational resources and our founder’s decades of experience as a social entrepreneur, philanthropic leader and Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) academic. Currently, LAAF.org fuels programs and research on giving, women in leadership and intentionally inclusive leadership (our founder’s new model of “Legacy Leadership”). These initiatives include Stanford GSB courses and accompanying case studies, curricula and learning notes, The Legacy Leaders Speaker Series and additional leadership events, MOOCs and other resources for givers and leaders at all stages.

Position Overview

The Chief of Staff (“CS”) serves as LAAF.org Founder/President’s (Founder) right-hand, coordinating with internal and external parties to ensure her time and resources are optimally distributed across her various workstreams. Sample responsibilities include research as directed by Founder, managing correspondence, scheduling meetings and maintaining positive relationships with the LAAF.org team, university departments, boards on which Founder serves and managing all speaking/press/media matters in concert with Founder’s media teams. CS also works closely with LAAF.org Executive Director (ED) and Founder’s Executive Assistant (EA) to stay abreast of Founder’s commitments as needed to track, prioritize and ensure successful completion of all required tasks. Additionally, CS conducts due diligence of all people and entities with which Founder engages so she is fully prepared to execute her work and works closely with her as a thought partner and support as she creates unique content (i.e., delivering a keynote, authoring an article, chairing a board meeting, attending a convening or meeting, preparing for a high-profile meeting, etc.). CS reports to Executive Director but works almost entirely with Founder.

Key responsibilities include:

• Remaining aware of the “big picture” for Founder’s priorities and availability, and managing expectations with others to ensure her work and time are allocated as strategically as possible. At times, CS may be privy to information that has not been shared publicly — or with staff yet — and must exercise highest discretion when communicating with others
• Attending all meetings with Founder to capture idea exchange as well as prioritize and ensure timely completion of all action items. CS participation may vary based on meeting objectives and/or sensitivity
• Proactively staying abreast of all trends, issues and news events in Founder’s areas of expertise in order to most effectively inform her when she is creating content for speaking, class, media, publications, etc. and help ensure that her content integrates seamlessly into public conversation and current events
• Researching topics of interest to Founder, as they may relate to any aspect of her work and thought leadership
• Tracking and documenting all philanthropic investments made by Founder, including any evaluation, reporting and contract creation needed
• Serving as Founder’s professional ‘gatekeeper,’ always working closely with Founder’s ED and EA to ensure that founder’s time, interests and well-being are protected
• Managing all inbound requests for Founder, including but not limited to: meetings, media and speaking engagements, board communications and student/alumni requests. As requested, CS will take meetings on behalf of Founder
• Curating content from Founder’s lectures and writings, Program Director(s) and/or LAAF.org materials to prepare scripts, one-pagers/briefing documents and key talking points for media appearances and thought leadership work
• Working with Founder’s media team and book PR agency and managing/supporting all Founder preparation for any media, book events, speaking engagements
• Working closely with Founder during ideation and practice sessions as she iterates on the Stanford GSB courses, prepares her upcoming book and produces new thought leadership
• Serving as primary point of contact for all of Founder’s students (past and present), including meeting with students on behalf of Founder, coordinating all logistics for and attending office hours with Founder, student lunches and any other events between Founder and students/alumni
• Maintaining a database of key contacts, including meeting participants, students/alumni and business contacts, among others (Founder’s EA manages Founder’s entire contact database)
• Conducting due diligence on any external people and organizations with which Founder has an active engagement, including potential hires, podcast guests, class speakers, nonprofits she considers funding and companies in which she considers investing
• Keeping track of all requests for recommendations and supporting Founder to gather necessary information and materials, as needed
• Managing communications with all boards on which Founder serves and preparing briefing documents, as needed, for Founder’s leadership of/participation in meetings

The ideal candidate has:

• Stellar communications experience, including excellent written communications and presentation skills, and ability to verbally articulate ideas, problems and complex content succinctly and articulately
• Incredibly high emotional intelligence, conscientiousness and professionalism. This person exudes dignity, courtesy and poise and positively represents Founder as well as Founder’s family and networks at all times
• Ceaselessly proactive with a solutions-orientation; the CS must be able to effectively mitigate and manage for risk in advance and in real-time in diverse, high-stakes contexts
• A superb ability to rapidly adapt to new environments and needs
• Thrives while multitasking in an incessantly evolutionary environment
• Exceptional organizational skills to support Founder’s ever-increasing volume of projects and commitments
• Highest attention to detail, as LAAF.org’s work is disseminated globally, and requires precise execution
• A track record of academic excellence
• Demonstrated passion and commitment to philanthropy, social impact, women in leadership and/or the advancement of underrepresented groups
• An entrepreneurial and growth mindset, ready to help wherever needed and quickly learn new skills to effectively reach organizational and programmatic objectives
• A self-starter, collaborative attitude with the highest level of self-imposed accountability
• A working style that prioritizes mission and purpose over pride and ego
• Highest level of integrity, confidentiality and grace
• Unflappable, calm demeanor and values respect, equality, inclusivity and kindness
• Humility, humor, optimism, gratitude and generosity
• Flexibility to support some evening and weekend work, including attending events and speaking/media engagements with Founder, which may involve travel

Working at LAAF.org

LAAF.org has a unique and enriching working environment that elevates the skills, knowledge and professional presence of all team members, enthusiastically known as “LAAFers.” The following values reflect our team and cultural norms:

Collaborative - At LAAF.org, we believe that the whole is greater than the some of its parts. Each LAAFer is selected for the unique perspectives and contributions they bring to our work and the resources we create. LAAF.org embraces a collaboration-first approach to produce the highest quality of accurate, relevant resources for a diverse array of givers and leaders.

Empowering - LAAFers are empowered to develop new skills and deploy existing capabilities to create the greatest value for givers and leaders. All members of LAAF.org are encouraged (and expected!) to recommend new processes and approaches as well as opportunities for impact beyond our current portfolio of work.

Embracing - LAAF.org’s success depends on all LAAFers bringing their best selves and ideas to our work each and every day. Therefore, we aim to create a safe and brave space where individuals are their authentic selves and provide honest feedback on all dimensions of our work together.

Accountability - At LAAF.org, we are accountable to delivering on our mission in service to others. To do so, we hold ourselves to the highest standards of performance toward achieving our collective and individual goals and results. As each LAAFer was selected because of their demonstrated capabilities and potential for growth, employees are expected to be able to work with considerable autonomy, take initiative to ensure timely delivery of work, and support one another’s success by freely exchanging insights and information including playbooks for success, growth opportunities and learnings from mistakes.

Purpose-Aligned - At LAAF.org, we believe every individual has a unique purpose that honors their passions, skills, backgrounds and opportunities for impact. When hiring new LAAFers, we ensure that each teammate’s purpose is well-aligned with LAAF.org’s mission as well as our priorities of content, education and inclusivity.  

Intellectually Rigorous - At LAAF.org, knowledge is queen and core to our mission. Therefore, each team member brings a genuine commitment to lifelong curiosity and learning as it relates to giving, leadership (development) and creating value for our world.

LAAFter - We promote, value and respect generosity, joy, gratitude, honesty, humor, kindness, love, selflessness and, needless to say, workplace dancing.