Full-Time Executive Director
Job Description
We are a group of experienced and motivated investors with a shared belief in the power of entrepreneurs to generate social and environmental solutions that build regional workforce opportunity. Some local-to-global enterprise examples that we greatly admire include Greyston Bakery, Women’s Bean Project, The Giving Keys and Code 2040.
We have come together to build a social enterprise incubator in Charlottesville, and we are seeking a one-of-a-kind innovator, entrepreneur and executive who can nurture its growth and development.
We offer our initial vision, seed funding, extensive networks and our own “sweat-equity”. There is a desk to sit in, a paycheck for at least a year and more importantly a team and community ready to travel this journey with you.
Questions we’d ask you, and so you may want to ask yourself, include:
– What makes a successful social enterprise incubator?
– How do you understand the link between a thriving incubator and workforce development?
– Can you build a social enterprise vision into a financially viable, mission driven organization? Do you have a demonstrated track record in this work?
– How will you go about realizing and/or refining our vision, and what core principles and local reference points will you choose to guide you along the way?
– Are there other incubator models – locally, nationally or globally – that you would draw upon, and why? Where do you see a Charlottesville-based incubator breaking new ground?
– How would you go about building awareness, ownership and investment in an emerging social innovation ecosystem in our local community?
Because this is a social incubator leadership position, we’ll be looking for a special set of qualities:
– A passion for mentoring talented individuals and growing promising innovations:
– Broad and compelling communication skills addressing diverse audiences;
– Relevant and impressive academic and real-world education in social enterprise development;
– A proven track record in organizational and business development, and achieving revenue or fundraising goals;
– An ability to position an organization within a broader market, and build its value proposition and competitive advantage.
– Diplomatic and relationship skills for navigating a complex landscape.
– If possible, relationships within the Charlottesville region’s investment, philanthropic, entrepreneurship and civic communities; if not, strong ability to build those relationships independently and through the existing team.
And, you will be asked to assume these multi-faceted leadership responsibilities:
– Generate enthusiasm and buy-in for the incubator’s overarching vision;
– Finalize the design of the incubator program;
– Oversee the recruitment and selection of candidates for the incubator program;
– Guide and integrate the organization’s strategic, financial, organizational, and external development to effectively advance the incubator’s mission; and,
– Measure, document and communicate the incubator’s achievements, learning and results.
About us: Our leadership team is made up of a locally-based serially-successful entrepreneur, the CEO of a local philanthropic network, two leaders focused on workforce development and social enterprise development at two very different local academic institutions, and a locally-based international philanthropist and social-enterprise investor as well as two of her senior staff. We also have a passionate, hard-working, energetic and well-networked “founder” of the incubator with significant project-management, executive-support, communications and outreach skills who was savvy enough to identify to our board that we needed to hire an Executive Director to lead the team.