Chief Executive Officer, New Door Ventures

POSITION SPECIFICATION

 

The Position:             Chief Executive Officer

Reports to:                 Board of Directors

Location:                    San Francisco, California 

THE ORGANIZATION

History

New Door Ventures (“New Door”) was founded in 1981 as a ministry of a Christian organization seeking to live out its faith through acts of service to people experiencing significant poverty and homelessness. Over the years, New Door has evolved to become a community-based nonprofit organization in San Francisco and, more recently, in the East Bay, serving disconnected youth – young people ages 16-24 who are neither working nor in school. New Door believes that every young person has the potential to become an independent, self-sustaining adult. However, not all get the chance due to barriers such as poverty, homelessness, history with the justice system, and trauma. New Door delivers innovative, evidence-based youth development strategies to help young people discover and achieve their potential. On average, over 90% of its graduates remain connected to next jobs and/or further education after program exit.

New Door believes that every life has equal value regardless of race, faith tradition, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, veteran status, or disability. New Door treats the young people it serves with dignity and seeks to listen and learn from their lived experience as they engage in programs. We love young people as they are, and we are grateful that they allow us to walk alongside them as they build up their lives. We welcome all who wish to support our work and join us in recreating our communities, one person at a time.

Vision: A world where all young people can successfully transition to independent adulthood.

Mission: To prepare opportunity youth for work and life, by providing the jobs, training, education, and support they need to discover and achieve their potential so that they can transition to independent adulthood.

Values

• Youth:  Youth are assets to our community. Their voice is central to our work, and they have the capacity to create their own path of learning and growth.
• Work:  Jobs are a vital part of the successful transition from youth to adulthood. Work enables learning, growth, and economic sustenance for all people, especially opportunity youth. 
• Inclusion, Equity, and Social Justice:  Inclusion and equity are the doorways to opportunity for our youth. We strive to create an inclusive, equitable environment for youth and all who wish to join us in our work.
• Relationships and Community:  We build trusting relationships with our youth and believe that a supportive community is critical for personal and collective growth. Our community partners are fellow catalysts in creating opportunities for youth.
• Learning and Excellence:  We strive to create profound impact in our work. We are learners in pursuit of excellence for the benefit of young people.
• Integrity:  We operate with integrity and authenticity. We are thoughtful stewards of all resources entrusted to us.

Overview of Programs

Real Jobs and Relevant Training. New Door Ventures gives disconnected young people a way to get on track towards successful employment and education with paid meaningful jobs, skills training, educational support, and individualized case management. In its 14-week employment program, youth work in paid jobs at a New Door social enterprise or one of its 93 Ally job site partners.  Concurrently, they participate in skill-building workshops in cohorts of 15 to 25 interns, learning from and supporting each other as they develop soft skills for work and life.  Youth also receive 1:1 case management weekly throughout their internships, making advancements in five areas: education, employment, financial literacy, health and wellness, and individual needs, such as housing or meeting parole conditions.

Personalized and Incentivized Learning. Earning a high school diploma significantly increases available job opportunities. About half of the young people in New Door’s Employment Program have dropped out of high school at some point. To help, New Door offers its Education Program so young people can earn their high school equivalency and secure a job. Students receive financial incentives to give their education equal priority as work.

Creating Jobs with Heart. Since 1991, New Door has owned and operated its own businesses. Ashbury Images, a custom printing and embroidery company, and Pedal Revolution, a full-service bicycle shop, serve a dual purpose -- they generate revenue by providing quality goods and services to the community, and they create meaningful jobs for young people. These social enterprises employ over 60 youth a year and help youth build both hard and soft skills, and gain experience in specific types of work. New Door’s success in operating small businesses and achieving social outcomes shows the rigor and discipline often found in a for-profit entity, as well as the compassionate heart of a nonprofit.

To expand the job opportunities for youth, New Door has innovatively created “Ally” partnerships with 93 local businesses in San Francisco and Alameda counties, to provide almost 200 job slots each year for youth employed in New Door’s programs. These Ally partners operate a wide range of businesses such as construction, healthcare, law, food services, hospitality and tourism, legal and financial services, and more.

Operations and Organizational Structure

New Door Ventures annual operating budget is approximately $7 million. It is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors. There are approximately 50 staff members, of whom 18 are in the social enterprises; 5 are in Fund Development and Marketing; and the remaining staff are in Program and Administration.

The Leadership team consists of:

• Chief Operating Officer
• Chief Program Officer
• Director of Development & Marketing
• Director of Finance and Administration
• Human Resources Manager

For additional information, please visit www.newdoor.org.

THE POSITION

A compelling opportunity

There are 80,000 youth ages 16 to 24 in the San Francisco Bay Area who are disconnected from employment and education. Without connecting to school and work, these young people are at high risk to be poor, unemployed, homeless, or incarcerated throughout their adult lives. All youth should have the opportunity to transition to a fulfilling, economically sustainable adulthood. New Door’s vision and mission, fulfilled by its employment and education programs, seek to achieve this every day with youth needing greater access to opportunity in San Francisco and, most recently, Alameda County. There are opportunities to increase the number of youth whose lives are transformed and to further deepen the impact. How might your vision and executive leadership contribute to moving the needle on New Door’s strategy and implementation thereof?

New Door Ventures is financially strong and stable; it is not a turnaround situation. It holds a compelling and inspirational mission as well as a track record of success. The social enterprises contribute to the level of complexity and interest at New Door. The Board is dedicated and supportive and the staff is dedicated and high caliber. New Door has proven programs to successfully impact the lives of underserved youth. Further, it has made the capacity investments in systems to enable data-informed decision-making and practices throughout the organization. New Door has a robust systems infrastructure that includes:

• Apricot for Program Evaluation
• Salesforce NGO-Connect for Fund Development
• Sage 100 for Accounting & Finance, and ADP for Payroll
• PiiQ by Cornerstone for HR/Talent Management

The challenges for the organization are: expanding a small and very generous donor group to a larger cohort; strategically and thoughtfully creating an expansion plan to other locations, as warranted; continuing to improve its practices of learning and evaluation; and further promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at staff and Board levels. Recruiting and retaining staff in the high-cost-of-living Bay Area is an environmental challenge with no remediation in sight.

 

Position Overview

The Board of Directors of New Door seeks a visionary, collaborative executive leader to lead and manage this community-based organization that is a recognized leader in youth workforce development, re-entry education, and social enterprises. Specifically, New Door is the go-to expert on youth workforce development in the City and the East Bay.

In partnership with the Board and staff, the successful candidate will build on the strong foundation of operations and outcomes, and, take New Door Ventures to the next level of providing quality services and innovative solutions to youth workforce development. This requires savvy abilities to engender resources for the mission, program, and outcomes; the ability to continue a demonstrated track record of successful fundraising is imperative with this executive leader.

The Board is seeking a new executive leader with an outward facing skill set and focus to take New Door through the trajectory of continued expansion of its programs throughout the Bay Area. New Door Ventures has served San Francisco for almost four decades and focused exclusively on youth over the past 18 years. Its consistent successful outcomes – 90% of its graduates successfully connect to next jobs and/or further education – have attracted support from leading local and national funders. New Door has proven the scalability of its employment program model with a successful expansion to Alameda County in 2018 that not only maintains fidelity to the original model but relies more deeply on partnerships with local community-based organizations. Thus, New Door is demonstrating the model can be both modified in its deployment as well as replicated geographically.

The Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of New Door is responsible for the strategic vision, planning, resourcing and management of the organization under the general oversight of the Board of Directors. This includes the full range of programs and services and the financial and administrative systems that support them, as well as creative, innovative fundraising. The CEO reports to the Board of Directors and is responsible for the organization’s consistent achievement of its mission.

Duties and Responsibilities

Organizational Leadership and Governance

• Strong partnership with the Board and staff on an effective and aspirational strategic planning process and subsequent implementation.
• Strong operational leader with an eye for data-driven learning and continuous performance improvement.
• Collaborative and savvy dynamic with the Board on execution of Board decisions as well as responsibilities requested by the Board of Directors.
• Keeps the Board of Directors and Executive Committee informed of significant events, changes and challenges, and seeks counsel as appropriate.
• Maintains New Door’s professional reputation of integrity through adherence to its Values and serves as a role model of organizational and sector leadership.

Fundraising and External Relations

• Takes essential management actions to ensure New Door remains a vibrant, financially self-sustaining organization.
• Hands-on fundraiser, working with a high caliber Development & Marketing team of approximately five staff, to cultivate, solicit and steward gifts from individuals, foundations, corporations and the public sector.
• Plans and implements fundraising strategies to diversify and expand revenue channels and grow the base of support, including both number and level of gifts.
• Partners with and support the Board on effective fundraising activities.
• Represents the organization through speaking engagements, conferences, and other networking activities; actively works to raise awareness of New Door and its outcomes and to increase its visibility with funders and donors.
• Maintains strong personal and professional relationships with funders, donors, and stakeholders.
• Provides necessary resources for professional outreach, communications, and marketing functions.

Finance and Operations

• Oversees organization’s finances, systems, and management including overseeing the preparation of the annual budget for Board review and approval in collaboration with the Chief Operating Officer and the Director of Finance and Administration.
• Working with the Human Resources Manager on strategic initiatives relating to New Door employees including talent management.

Program Development

• Ensures that New Door meets or exceeds its program goals and outcomes developed through the annual work and operating plans that are tactical implementation of the prevailing Strategic Plan.
• Ensures program fidelity and successful outcomes across various sites and partnership models.
• Oversees and evaluates the senior management of programs and their effectiveness regarding all activities provided by youth development staff.
• Develops strategic partnerships to advance New Door effectiveness at local, state, and regional levels.
• Ensures sufficient financial resources to successfully implement programming.

CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE

Experience:  

Minimum eight years of executive experience in youth workforce development services, nonprofit management, human services, or youth development agency.

Demonstrated commitment and passion to supporting underserved communities.

Proven record in building and growing a diversified revenue stream, and in building and maintaining a strong development/fundraising team.

Experience working in partnership with a Board of Directors, as well as growing and developing a Board.

Experience working in a complex organization in a dynamic field, as well as working collaboratively with multiple external stakeholders including community-based organizations, elected officials, and governmental entities in programmatic delivery.

Track record of leading or working effectively with rapidly scaling organization; experience leading and managing growth.

Experience with data-driven models of operational and programmatic evaluation.

Demonstrated skill with financial operations, budgets, financial forecasts, cash flows, and financial reporting with budgets of $7 million or more.

Strong organizational development and management skills, including recruiting a talented staff, setting and managing to SMART goals, providing appropriate skills development, and fostering staff retention though good management policies and professional development practices.

Experience effectively serving as a spokesperson for an organization or initiative.

Education:  Bachelor’s degree in relevant field required; a graduate degree is highly desired.

 

COMPETENCIES/ATTRIBUTES 

The successful candidate will have:  

• A proven track record of strong leadership, relationship and people management skills, and motivational ability.
• Demonstrated track record of inspiring, mentoring, developing and retaining staff; sincere concern for the personal and professional welfare of all employees.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills as a passionate and persuasive communicator.
• Demonstrated his/her commitment to organizational Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
• Successful experience scaling a business enterprise and managing growth responsibly.
• Proven capability to make prompt and responsible decisions in current or past leadership roles.
• Evidence of ability to raise funds from various sources to stimulate and support organizational growth.
• Experience identifying, mitigating, and managing risk of business assets.
• Demonstrated ability to successfully negotiate and close partnerships in the private and public sectors.
• Understanding of employment law as it relates to programs.
• Integrity, trustworthiness, authenticity, transparency, a sense of humor, and a containable ego.

The successful candidate will be:

• A visionary thinker and clear strategist with passion for underserved youth.
• Inspirational and motivating to others to believe in and support New Door’s mission and programs.
• Uncompromising with his/her personal and professional integrity, especially under pressure or conflict.
• A decisive and deliberate decision maker in organizational business.
• Entrepreneurial – able to seize the initiative when presented with business opportunities and then close the deal.
• A positive role model for staff and youth in word and deed – someone who inspires staff and youth to realize their full potential and achieve greatness.
• Able to appropriately and consistently articulate the organization’s brand and message.
• Committed to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts at the staff level and supporting the Board’s efforts with DEI outcomes.
• Bold and courageous in leadership style and action.
• Approachable, compassionate, pragmatic, and humble.

COMPENSATION

A competitive annual salary, plus a comprehensive benefits package, will be offered, commensurate with experience.

New Door Ventures is a safe space for all, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, country of origin,

religion, or ability. Candidates from diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

New Door Ventures is a 501(c)3 community-serving nonprofit and an Equal Opportunity Employer

that strives to have a diverse team representative of the young people it serves.

For additional information regarding this opportunity, please contact:

Heidi Holzhauer

Partner

707.963.1250 direct

heidi@carlsonbeck.com

sally@carlsonbeck.com