Posted on January 9, 2013

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President

The Foundation is seeking a President to partner with Founder Tim Gill, the Board and staff in the ongoing realization of the Foundation’s strategy and its leadership role in securing equal opportunity for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression. The LGBT movement as a whole is now at a critical juncture in its development. In this context, the Gill Foundation is seeking to sharpen its impact and focus with a chief executive with vision and breadth of operating experience.

The Role of the President

Reporting to the Board and working closely with Tim Gill, the President has responsibility and is accountable for managing all internal and external facets of the Gill Foundation. The President will be charged with leading this important organization during a time of great change and progress in the country.

Translate and Execute Vision: As a true partner to the Founder, the President will serve as the key internal and external translator, communicator, and implementer of shared vision and goals, while championing the Gill Foundation’s efforts to expand and increase impact. The Foundation’s Guiding Principles provide a clear mandate for innovation, creativity, adaptability and collaboration – with a relentless commitment to impact.

Set Strategy: The successful candidate will have a demonstrated record of setting operational priorities and leading organizations, campaigns, and/or movements to success. S/he will be a strategic thinker who will be capable of partnering with the Founder to create and implement an operational vision, framework and culture that has the potential to forge a lasting legacy of impact for the Gill Foundation. In partnership with Tim Gill, the President will continuously review the program’s overall objectives to ensure the Foundation is seizing new and promising opportunities. The successful candidate will have a track record in innovation and the capacity for strategic funding.

Lead Operations: The President will be responsible for managing and supporting senior staff, and helping them to align and execute on priorities.

Leveraging Institutional and Organizational Donors and Partners: The President will work to engage other funders, allies and grassroots LGBT people to invest alongside the Foundation to hone and realize the full potential of its work. The President will develop and maintain key co-funding relationships and/or multi-sectoral partnerships, while inspiring other organizations and leaders to step up to drive impact.

Focus on Outcomes and Continuous Improvement: In partnership with the senior management team, the President will manage the development of an overall strategy to continue to improve outcomes for programs, including organizational structures and systems that allow for the monitoring and evaluation of quality programs.

Create and Sustain an Entrepreneurial Work Environment and Positive Culture of High Impact: The President will work with the staff of the Gill Foundation to ensure all relentlessly pursue excellence. S/he will ensure that the management, staffing and culture of the organization are suitably aligned with the mission, evolving goals and strategic ambitions. In managing the Foundation staff, the President will also work to build cohesion and create opportunities for growth and development.

Incorporate New Ideas: The President will stay abreast, if not ahead, of the movement, trends, and issues and incorporate the latest thinking into a process of continuous learning with colleagues throughout the organization. As a champion of entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation, the President will also ensure that all work is approached with rigorous execution and good stewardship.

Specifically, the President will:

• Lead and manage the Foundation in prioritizing, implementing and measuring the work necessary to achieve its goals;
• Provide intellectual leadership and foster a humble and mindful (but also bold) environment of creativity and innovation;
• Communicate the Foundation’s mission to wide audiences of stakeholders and inspire and motivate its grantees and constituencies to achieve its ambitious mission;
• Galvanize the potential of the organization with its highly capable staff and;
• Ensure that all activities and programs meet the highest standards of ethics and transparency and are aligned with the Foundation’s values

Candidate Profile

The Gill Foundation is seeking an exceptional leader and manager of unquestioned operational excellence, with intellectual breadth, convening power, and policy acumen. S/he will be a collaborative leader with the ability to strategically convene leaders and unlikely allies of the movement across multiple sectors at the state and national level, while ensuring that the Foundation’s agenda represents and engages across multiple dimensions of diversity. S/he will have outstanding verbal, written, and presentation skills. The successful candidate will be a poised public speaker who can articulate the Foundation’s goals/plans and move key audiences to action.

The President will be a poised, confident and energetic leader who is capable of leading an organization and building capacity in a movement during a time of great momentum and change.

Specific competencies include:

A Record of Achievement and Strategic Vision: The successful candidate will have a demonstrated record of setting priorities and leading organizations to success. S/he will be a strategic thinker who will work with the Founder, senior staff, and Board to establish plans and methods to achieve its mission. S/he will have the capacity to innovate and solve complex problems – with an entrepreneurial approach – in an evolving and ambiguous environment. S/he will be capable of working with others to develop differentiated strategies with multifaceted approaches to address disparate audiences, cultures, and political contexts.

Managing Performance: The successful candidate will have the ability to set priorities decisively, delegate responsibilities, assure and value accountability, and allocate resources appropriately to achieve results. S/he will have the capacity to establish metrics by which to manage the operations and programs of the Foundation while working closely with the Founder, senior staff, and Board to contribute to and deliver on organizational vision and strategy.

Intellectual Leadership: The successful candidate will have the ability to go broad and deep to lead effectively without subject area expertise, but be a value add to people who are experts. S/he will be able to retain and organize enormous amounts of data related to programs and people. S/he will be able to define performance goals and drive performance results. S/he will be able to lead in a high-pressured, fast-paced environment with a short decision-making cycle. S/he will demonstrate good judgment and instincts about the best course ahead in ambiguous situations, while also exhibiting comfort with being wrong.

Donor Relations: The successful candidate will have the experience and/or capacity to build acute and lasting relationships within the LGBT and broader civil rights movement with philanthropic co-funders, advocacy organizations, grantees, partners, and constituents broadly. In this regard, s/he will bring an implicit “campaign mentality”, providing strategic, collaborative, and inspiring leadership across current, potential, and even unlikely partners.

Leadership Style: The successful candidate will be able to implement and innovate upon the Founder’s vision. S/he will be able to manage through ambiguity, be comfortable managing a changing operation, and be able to grow her/his thinking and approach as the Foundation (and movement) changes. S/he must be an involved, inclusive and inspirational leader. The culture of the Foundation is data driven and, as such, s/he will have strong analytical and conceptual skills coupled with creativity and curiosity. The successful candidate will demonstrate an inherent “partner-like” leadership style with staff so as to be effective in an organization where influence is more effective than the exercise of positional power. S/he will have a healthy/intact ego and, as such, will be as confident leading from behind the stage as she/he is at the podium.

Interpersonal Acumen and Character: The successful candidate will exhibit self-awareness, high emotional intelligence, and an understanding of others that enhances interpersonal communication and management abilities. S/he will be a resilient optimist with unquestioned personal and professional integrity. The successful candidate will have personal chemistry with and be able to collaborate effectively with the Founder and Board, while earning 100% trust and confidence from the Founder, Board, staff, and external stakeholders.

Compensation

Compensation for this opportunity has been designed to attract a leader of significant accomplishment.

Contact

Jamie Hechinger
Russell Reynolds Associates
1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006-5805
Tel: +1-202-628-2150
Direct: +1-202-654-7839
Fax: +1-202-331-9348
Gill@russellreynolds.com

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