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11 Apr 2022

Full-Time Executive Director

David Brower Center – Posted by davidbrowercenter Berkeley, California, United States

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Job Description

About the David Brower Center

Our mission is to provide a home for the environmental movement. We believe in inspiring and nurturing current and future generations to advocate for the beauty, diversity, and ecological integrity of Earth. As pioneers of green building, we operate a 46,000 square foot, nonprofit multi-use building that houses dozens of like-minded organizations working towards environmental preservation and justice, hosts more than 350 low-to-no waste events each year in our Conference Center venue, and connects community members to environmentalism through our Art and Education program, which hosts three environmental art exhibitions annually.

The David Brower Center annual budget has grown to nearly $2 million, based on both philanthropic income and earned revenue from our event and rental fees. From our three program areas–Resident Organization, Conference Center, and Art & Education–we serve approximately 50,000 attendees a year.

Since opening in 2009, the David Brower Center has welcomed more than 500,000 people to thousands of events; hosted 35 environmental art exhibitions featuring artists like Maya Lin and Sebastião Salgado; and offered below-market value rent to dozens of nonprofits. Our LEED Platinum building continues to be celebrated as a model for green building, winning awards from the U.S. Green Building Council Superhero Award to the Congress for the New Urbanism Award of Excellence. 

The Opportunity

The David Brower Center (DBC) seeks an accomplished and collaborative Executive Director (ED) to lead the organization and amplify its core programs. This is an exciting time to focus on strengthening earned income revenue streams from leasing and event rentals, while continuing to ensure a well-maintained and highly functioning green facility. The Executive Director will also steward and seek ongoing donor support for the David Brower Center’s innovative environmental arts and education program. 

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will lead the strategic direction and daily management of our mission, programs, and staff, including overseeing our multi-use nonprofit center, advancing environmental causes, and cultivating community within and beyond the Brower Center. 

The new Executive Director will join and lead a staff committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in the workplace and the community at large, and will support the continued development of DEIJ programming undertaken by the organization since 2020.

The new Executive Director will understand the complexities of managing a multi-use facility serving office tenants, event attendees, and the public while guiding staff and creating an inspiring work environment for the team. They will also possess a commitment to creating community through relationship-based collaboration and partnership.

Key Responsibilities                                                                                                                                              Leadership & Management (30%)

  • Develop, maintain, and support an engaged Board of Directors, and build board involvement with strategic direction.
  • Plan and lead 3 annual board meetings with reporting on all aspects of Brower Center operations.
  • Actively engage and energize board members, committees, staff, partnering organizations, funders and public.
  • Lead and coach a staff of 18 people including 10 full and part-time staff and 8 on-call event staff, ensuring strong team culture and performance.
  • Establish effective systems to track progress, and regularly assess components to measure successes that can be effectively communicated to the board, funders, and other constituencies.
  • Ensure ongoing programmatic excellence, program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and building systems; recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals.
  • Act as spokesperson in various settings modeling professionalism and demonstrating understanding of our mission.

Property Management & Leasing (20%)                                                                                                            

  • Maximize Brower Center functionality and assure it operates as a safe, clean, high quality, LEED Platinum building with efficient performing systems, Class A office space, and attractive, well-maintained conference center spaces.
  • Oversee the Brower Center’s leasing operations including conducting leasing negotiations with current and prospective tenants, managing tenant improvements, marketing available suites, and maintaining knowledge of the East Bay real estate market.
  • Communicate regularly with tenants, resolving issues as necessary.
  • Manage the Chief Building Engineer and maintain good knowledge of the Brower Center’s facility systems including HVAC, Building Maintenance System, and other operational equipment and software tools.
  • Plan any capital improvements to building with input from the Chief Building Engineer, including budgeting, researching contractors, and any City requirements.

Program Management (20%)                                                                                                                               

  • Oversee Conference Center operations working with the Events Director to ensure revenue goals are met, business development strategies are set, and consistent, high-quality events are produced.                                                                                                                                            
  • Strategize and plan three annual environmental art exhibitions and related programming that meet the Brower Center’s mission and vision. Undertake any outreach, establish timelines, work with curator on layout/artwork, set communications plan, and oversee opening and other related events.

External Relations (15%)                                                                                                                                       

  • Maintain and expand revenue generating and fundraising activities to support program operations. Working with the Communications & Development Manager, apply for established and new grant opportunities. Cultivate relationships with current and potential donors.
  • Oversee communication strategy to ensure messaging is consistent with mission and clear across all platforms – from web presence to external relations – to build a stronger identity.
  • Cultivate strategic relationships with various community partners to garner new opportunities.

Finance & Administration (15%)   

  • With assistance from Senior Advisor and Accountant, ensure all financial and operational functions for the organization are accurate and timely, including regular processing of payroll, payables and receivables, management of cash and reserves, filing of annual property tax exemption forms, maintenance of current property and liability insurance, compliance with loan and grant requirements, and completion of annual audit and nonprofit tax returns.
  • With input from Senior Advisor, oversee Human Resource functions including recruiting, benefits administration, on-boarding of new staff, compliance with local, state, and federal requirements, and appropriate management of any HR issues.
  • With staff input, build annual budget to guarantee long-term financial health for the organization. Manage budget and provide regular reports to the Board Executive Committee.
  • Set annual work plan.

Qualifications
Our ideal candidate will have demonstrated leadership experience, strong financial and operational management acumen, and exceptional relationship building skills. Applicants should bring the following experience, skills, and attributes:

  • Commitment to our mission and passion for the environmental movement and environmental justice issues.
  • Outstanding relational skills. Proven ability to build trusting relationships with clients, staff, board, and other stakeholders. 
  • Demonstrated excellence in organizational management with the ability to staff, coach, manage, and develop high performance teams, and to set and achieve strategic objectives. A manager who leads with humor, transparency, flexibility, trust, and compassion.
  • Proven success working with a Board of Directors with the ability to cultivate existing board member relationships and support recruiting efforts. 
  • Demonstrated ability to manage a multi-use facility that generates revenue.
  • Experience preparing, analyzing and managing a multi-class budget with various account categories. Experience managing operating budgets of $1.5M+ preferred.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills who communicates clearly and effectively about priorities and timelines.
  • Ability to fundraise through grants and individual donors. Candidate should have fundraising experience or transferable experience in relationship building and persuasive communication.
  • Ability to build strong relationships with audiences and partner organizations. Familiarity with the Berkeley nonprofit and business communities is a plus. 

Our Team: Culture, Benefits, and Compensation 

The Salary range for this role starts at $135,000. We are located in Downtown Berkeley. We offer our employees a supportive work environment with competitive pay and generous benefits, including vacation, personal time off, health insurance, dental, vision, access to a 401k and an opportunity for matching funds, transportation stipend, and a healthy work-life balance. Our team of committed professionals and Board of Directors bring their passion and talents together to support DBC’s mission. We require all staff to be fully vaccinated and boosted for COVID 19. 

How to Apply

The David Brower Center encourages applications from people of all backgrounds, including people with disabilities, people of color and people of the LGBTQ+ community. We are committed to workplace diversity, including DEIJ trainings, workshops, and facilitated discussions. Our work culture embraces the whole person, honors work-life balance and keeps things real, fun, and supportive.  This search is being supported by SallinSearch. Inquiries may be directed to Susannah Sallin at [email protected]. To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to [email protected] with “Executive Director” in the subject line. The cover letter should include a thoughtful description of why the David Brower Center’s mission is important to you.

Job Categories: Environment / Climate Change. Job Types: Full-Time. Job Tags: environment, executive, nonprofit, and Nonprofit Center. Salaries: 100,000 and above.

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