Executive Director

Application Process for Executive Director Position - Peer Support Space

Background Context: Peer Support Space is a continually expanding grassroots initiative established in 2019, communally created and born in response to the Pulse tragedy as well as personal lived experience, established through the collaborative efforts of Co-Founders Yasmin Flasterstein (current Executive Director) and Dandelion Hill (Director of Peer Services). Peer Support Space has grown into an organization that has had its resources used in over 45 states and 20 countries, built over 22 unique peer support communities, and opened Central Florida's first peer respite. Thousands have used our resources at no-cost since our inception and it has been a vitally life saving resource for many in our respective communities. It’s profound what can happen when we center lived experience and implement solutions that are envisioned and carried out by those most deeply impacted by the harms of our mental health system. With great excitement, the time has come to welcome the next visionary leader who will collaboratively steward Peer Support Space into a thriving new chapter, ensuring the best future for our team, organization, and mission.

Peer Support Space is searching for our next Executive Director to continue, sustain, and grow the important care work we are doing and to take us into our next chapter.

• Accepting Applications: Now through the end of February.
• Tentative Start Date: Between March - May 2026 (Contingent on how long it takes to find the right fit.)
• Priority Given: To applications received by January 30th.

The selection process is still being being developed and is subject to being changed, but is expected to include:

• Initial resume, references, and cover letter review by Transition Committee
• Screening interview with members of the Transition Committee
• Panel interview with full Transition Committee

Interviews are expected to start in February 2026.

We encourage applications from all candidates who are interested in this opportunity and believe

they can contribute to our team's success. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace and

value diverse perspectives, life experiences, and backgrounds. We strongly encourage applications

from members of historically marginalized and underrepresented communities. Even if your

experience doesn't precisely match every qualification listed, we are eager to consider motivated

individuals who are quick learners and share our passion for the work.

The primary service area is Orange County, FL with additional resources held in surrounding counties. Must be able to travel across service areas. May occasionally require travel outside of service areas. About half of this job can be done remotely. The need to travel can, however, fluctuate.

Before applying, take a moment to learn about Peer Support Space and to review the job

description below. To apply for this position email the following to hiring@peersupportspace.org:

• Your resume
• 3 references
• A cover letter including:
  • What is it about Peer Support Space that resonates with you?
  • What makes you an exceptional candidate for this position?
  • How did you learn about this position?

Executive Director Job Description for Peer Support Space

The following is a draft job description and is subject to change. Peer Support Space believes in creating environments that support innovative freedom and lean on the strengths of our personnel. Upon hire, PSS intends to work collaboratively to update the following job description with the individual chosen for the position.

About Peer Support Space, Inc.

Our Mission: To build, and be a central hub for, diverse peer-led communities.

Our Vision: Whatever somebody is navigating, they don’t have to do it alone.

Who We Are: Peer Support Space is a grassroots peer-led organization that is 100% led for and by those

with lived experience. All of our services and advocacy initiatives are led for and by those the services are intended for. We recognize that holding aspects of identity and experience that diverge from the dominant societal and cultural standards can be distressing, oppressive, and challenging. In our care work, we center those who are too often pushed to the margins, reclaiming the power we hold respectively as peers, and lead with consent and compassion.

We consciously create spaces that strive to nurture those who have navigated grief, trauma, madness,

disability, or other life experiences that deserve intentional space for connection and support. We

celebrate the ways in which we relate to one another and also respect the individual nuances that make us distinctively unique. This is done through community gatherings (peer-led support groups), individualized peer support, overnight peer respite care, and lived experienced centered advocacy.

We use, and help others use, the power of lived experience to support, educate, and guide one another

while providing additional, free options for emotional justice. We exist to fill gaps in our mental health

system using solutions that are created and executed by those most deeply impacted by our current

system’s harms.

Job Description

Position Title: Executive Director

Employment Type: Salary FLSA Status Exempt

Compensation: $80,000 - $93,000 dependent on experience and ability to fundraise

Benefits: Fringe benefits calculated at 18.65% of annual compensation. $500

healthcare stipend and $40 internet stipend given monthly.

Additional Benefits: Flexible schedule, creative freedom, accommodations to meet mental health needs.

Reports to: Board of Directors

Location: The primary service area is Orange County, FL with additional resources held in surrounding counties.

Travel: Must be able to travel across service areas. May occasionally require travel outside of service areas. About half of this job can be done remotely. The need to travel can, however, fluctuate.

Position Summary

The Executive Director is responsible for the strategic leadership and operational management of

Peer Support Space. They center the organization's vision and use communal and team input to

create, implement, drive, and oversee plans to assure organizational growth and sustainability.

They are directly involved in PSS business functions including fundraising, marketing, outreach,

managing of budget, respite operations, program quality assurance, compliance with grant

contracts as well as regulatory and accreditation requirements, professional development, human

resources, and program development. Most importantly, our E.D. provides leadership and assures

the rest of the team has clear direction, the skills, and the support to do their roles and work

together towards a shared mission.

The Executive Director is highly focused and mission driven. They believe in the goals of Peer

Support Space and embody our core values when interacting with employees, guests/participants,

donors, partner organizations, and other community contacts. They are creative and have a

visionary spirit, considering both the present needs and the long-term path of our organization.

The Executive Director is highly aware of current trends, evolving sociopolitical climate, and

community perspectives and uses that layered insight to guide PSS. The Executive Director works

to uplift others and be approachable, accountable, and open to feedback.

Duties & Responsibilities

Leadership:

• Role modeling strong management skills and promoting an organizational culture that supports Peer Support Space staff (currently 9 full time, 18 part time, and 27 contracted peer supporters) professionally and personally, from a place that gets to know and honors unique needs, leads with kindness, honors mutuality, helps people grow, and is strengths based.
• Creates opportunities to tangibly create space for and value feedback from Peer Support Space leadership team, other Peer Support Space personnel, and the community where appropriate and possible.
• Delegates responsibilities to others based on their roles and assures that important tasks are completed in a timely manner, tagging in as needed.
• Commit to supporting staff and working individually to mitigate harm, acknowledge privileges as they may exist, take accountability for actions, and engage in ways that are non-violent and anti-oppressive.
• Ability to use creativity to come up with effective ways to amplify the peer voice and to challenge and change oppressive, discriminatory systems while advocating for those with mental health struggles.
• Works with the Director of Peer Services to assess organizational training needs and find or create professional development opportunities for Peer Support Space’s Staff and contracted peers.

Outreach:

• Mets weekly with Peer Support Space’s Outreach Coordinator to assure clear direction, goals, support, and skills are had to advance outreach goals of PSS.
• Builds relationships with existing and potential donors as well as other key stakeholders including media contacts and anyone that can influence the success of PSS.
• Seeks and takes on opportunities that amplify peer voices and allow the Executive Director and other members of the team to be active key players in our mental health and social justice landscape on a local level and beyond.
• Participates in speaking engagements that share Peer Support Space’s resources and educates our community on the value of peer services.
• Attending meetings and taking an active role in advocacy initiatives, community events, and coalitions that collaborate with and build new and sustain existing relationships with community partners, mental health providers, nonprofit organizations, and funders with shared organizational goals.
• Identifying and building relationships with places that are supporting the historically underserved communities that Peer Support Space was founded to support in an effort to identify future peer leaders and share our resources.
• Has a deep understanding of all programming and is able to help community members explore if the respite, community gatherings, individualized peer support or elsewhere is the best fit for current needs.
• Assists in direct outreach tasks led by the Outreach Coordinator including seeking opportunities and taking a part of networking meetings, supporting partner events, tabling and creating remote respites.

Program Development & Management:

• Works collaboratively with Peer Support Space's Director of Peer Services, the Executive Director will be responsible for co-creating the foundation for and assuring the ongoing quality of and sustainability of Peer Support Space’s programs - ensuring that services are created and delivered using the core values of peer support.
• Works collaboratively with the Program Coordinators to assure adequate and appropriate support is given to our contracted peer supporters, to collect impact data, and to make sure that we are communally delivering quality individualized peer support and community gathering programs.
• Meets weekly with the Respite Team Lead and Director of Peer Services to assure any house maintenance, team building, or program needs are supported at our peer respite.
• Design, apply, and analyze assessment tools that honor the peer model, to measure service success and opportunities for growth.
• Plan, organize, implement, and support both scheduled and ongoing activities for respite guests both during and after stay.
• Assures the maintenance of the household (appliances are working, lawn mowed, etc), cleanliness of our space is being kept up by the team, and materials needed by team and guests are present.
• Periodically attends community gatherings, visits the peer respite at least once a week, and is present at community events to stay informed of the care we are offering.
• Informed on how a typical shift runs at the peer respite to be able to cover a shift in an emergency and knows how to facilitate a community gathering to be able to co-faciliate or substitute facilitate as needed.

Administrative Assistance:

• Working with and assisting as needed the Administrative Coordinator to organize information to capture the impact of the respite, community gatherings, individualized peer support, and other organizational impact in a way that honors peer processes.
• Assuring receipts and invoices are being filed appropriately.
• Works collaboratively with the Administrative Coordinator to make sure email lists are updated.
• Creates email blasts and social media posts to keep the community informed of our impact, upcoming events and ways to support the organization.

Financial Management and Fundraising:

• Develops and manages the annual budget in collaboration with the Board Treasurer, Finance Committee, Director of Peer Services, and the full Board of Directors.
• Works with the Data and Reporting Specialist to assure that grants requirements are being met and required data points are being collected, organized, and submitted.
• Responsible for being knowledgeable of all funder requirements, assuring not delegated tasks are completed, and being able to tag in as needed for any task.
• Works with a contracted accounting firm to assure we are in compliance with any legal requirements, are filing our annual 990, receive an annual financial audit and are properly categorizing our expenses by type and funding source.
• Responsible for sustaining and growing a current 1.8 million dollar budget through diversified funding efforts.
• Directly responsible for leading fundraising efforts including but not limited to applying for and managing governmental grants, foundation funding, local and national grants, getting corporate sponsors, encouraging individual donations, and finding pathways for earned income.
• Builds and works with a communally driven Fundraising Committee to organize an annual fundraiser and other fundraising initiatives.
• Compliments tasks done by Administrative Coordinator to thank donors and key stakeholders by extending additional gratitude creatively and personally as capacity allows.

General:

• Communicating with the Peer Support Space team to give updates on work being done and to advocate for support needed, either personally or professionally.
• Attend scheduled staff meetings delegating who facilitates and prepares for them and stepping in to lead as needed.
• Assures the Board of Directors has necessary resources it needs to govern effectively including things such as planning meetings and providing them with information to share current organizational needs and progress on strategic goals.
• Foster and maintain a work environment that promotes advocacy, hope, inclusivity, innovation, mutuality, self-determination, and that leads with love.
• Ultimately, has the ability to keep the organization running while not overly compromising its values and sticking to its mission.

Primary Qualifications

The following are strongly encouraged and valued traits for this position. We encourage those that do not meet the following things to still apply.

• Peer Identity: Lived experience is strongly valued and considered an asset for this role. We use a broad definition of what a “peer” means; we view a peer as someone who connects with others on an equal plane, offering support and connection centered on shared humanity. A peer is someone who has navigated various challenges in their life due to holding aspects of identity and experiences that diverge from the dominant social/cultural standards (i.e. being disabled, mad, a drug user, being Queer, Trans, an/or Racialized, etc.).
• Values Alignment: Commitment to self-driven, community-based, collective liberation, noncarceral, nonoppressive, and nonclinical mental health support.
• Leadership Experience: 3+ years in executive director, director, or comparable senior leadership role.
• Budget & Financial Management: Experience managing a budget of over 1 million + annually.
• Fundraising & Grants: Proven success in fundraising and grant management (federal/state grant experience a plus).
• Team Management: Experience managing a large team (50+ staff).
• Professional Development: Willingness to ongoingly develop skillset to be able to best support the mission of the organization and its programs.

Additional Preferred Qualifications

• System Navigation: First hand experience navigating mental health systems and personal understanding of the importance of alternative approaches preferred.
• Diversity & Inclusion: Ability to center, engage with, and affirm people from diverse backgrounds.
• Strategic Leadership: Experience in public affairs, conflict resolution, political strategy, and building partnerships that sustain the organization without compromising values.
• Teamwork & Independence: Able to work independently or collaboratively.
• Technical & Organizational Skills: Proficiency with computer systems and strong organizational skills.

Fringe benefits calculated at 18.65% of annual compensation. $500 healthcare stipend and $40 internet stipend given monthly.

Additional Benefits: Flexible schedule, creative freedom, accommodations to meet mental health needs.