The client is seeking a founding Executive Director to serve as the first full-time operational leader and help establish a newly launched national nonprofit focused on restoring dignity and connection for people carrying unattended grief. Working in partnership with the founder and reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will build the organization’s infrastructure, operational systems, and early program strategy from the ground up, shaping the nonprofit during its inception.
The Executive Director will establish organizational policies, systems, governance practices, and staffing plans, aligning early priorities with the founder and Board. Responsibilities include helping develop and support the organization’s development strategy, translating vision into operational execution, and ensuring the organization is positioned to deliver core efforts such as advocacy for grieving families, grief education and workforce development, volunteer training, community-building through conferences, scholarship programs, and direct grief support services.
The ideal candidate is entrepreneurial and operationally strong, comfortable creating organizational structures and thriving in a startup environment. They should bring nonprofit governance and compliance expertise, demonstrate sensitivity to grief and loss while maintaining professional boundaries, and act as an external-facing leader who cultivates partnerships and strengthens philanthropic relationships with aligned funders and collaborators in collaboration with the founder and Board.