Executive Director - Living Jazz

Executive Summary

Living Jazz seeks a values-driven, relational Executive Director to steward the organization into its next chapter. Founded in 1984 and rooted in Oakland, Living Jazz is a community-centered arts organization that transforms lives through the music, spirit, and culture of jazz.

Living Jazz is an interconnected web of artists, students, educators, donors, and community members who understand jazz not only as an art form, but as a cultural practice grounded in belonging, access, and social change. Its programs span immersive camps, in-school education, and civic cultural events—including In the Name of Love, the East Bay’s long-standing musical tribute honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—each developed with deep respect for jazz’s history, legacy, and Bay Area roots.

At this moment, Living Jazz is focused on strengthening coherence across its programs and systems—prioritizing quality, sustainability, and belonging as it builds toward the future. The next Executive Director will lead this work by connecting vision to practice, supporting a strong and collaborative staff team, and serving as a trusted ambassador for the organization and its mission.

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director serves as Living Jazz’s chief fundraiser, strategic leader, culture carrier, and external representative.

About Living Jazz

Founded in 1984, Living Jazz transforms lives through the music, spirit, and culture of jazz in the Bay Area. For more than four decades, the organization has built programs that use jazz as a vehicle for artistic excellence, education, and community connection.

Living Jazz centers the cultural legacy of jazz, honors its roots in the African diaspora, and embraces the art form’s inherent values of collaboration, improvisation, equity, and belonging. The organization intentionally prioritizes access for communities historically excluded from arts education and seeks to amplify voices of artists and students of color.

Core programs include:

• Jazz Camp West, an intergenerational immersive jazz experience in the California redwoods
• Jam Camp West, a youth-focused program welcoming students of all backgrounds, abilities, and financial means
• RootED, providing free, jazz-rooted music and dance education in under-resourced public schools
• In the Name of Love, the East Bay’s long-standing musical tribute honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., celebrating jazz as a civic and cultural force

Across its work, Living Jazz centers the cultural legacy of jazz, honors its origins in the African diaspora, and uses music as a vehicle for belonging, self-expression, and community connection.

The Opportunity

The next Executive Director will guide Living Jazz through a period of thoughtful alignment rather than rapid expansion. This role centers on stewardship, integration, and judgment—connecting strategy to lived practice and ensuring that programs, people, and resources move in concert.

Living Jazz has a highly capable staff with strong chemistry, diversified funding, and increasing visibility of its impact. The opportunity is to build on this strength by clarifying priorities, professionalizing systems where needed without losing the organization’s grassroots spirit, and supporting staff to do their best work.

What You Will Accomplish

In your first 18–24 months, you will:

• Weave coherence across the organization by aligning programs, staff, and governance around shared priorities—without privileging one program at the expense of the whole.
• Strengthen philanthropic relationships through steady, values-based fundraising leadership, including direct engagement with individual and major donors and thoughtful partnership with the Board.
• Be present and supportive for staff—showing up consistently, setting clear expectations, and fostering a culture of trust, empathy, accountability, and humor.
• Serve as a credible public voice for Living Jazz and for arts education more broadly, with cultural fluency in jazz history, Oakland, and the Bay Area.
• Connect vision to execution by pairing big-picture strategy with a willingness to be “boots on the ground” when needed—helping translate goals into practical action.

A Month in the Life

No two months look exactly the same, but your leadership energy is likely to be distributed across:

• Relationship-building and fundraising — cultivating donors, stewarding foundation relationships, and making thoughtful, values-aligned asks.
• Internal leadership and culture — supporting a strong, collaborative staff team; clarifying priorities; and addressing issues directly and humanely.
• Strategic integration — working across programs and with the Board to ensure that mission, resources, systems, and culture reinforce one another.
• External presence and advocacy — representing Living Jazz in civic, cultural, and sector spaces; strengthening visibility, advocacy, and press relationships.
• Governance partnership — collaborating closely with the Board on strategy, accountability, and shared leadership.

This is a role for a leader who understands that progress here comes from connection and follow-through—someone who can listen carefully, be clear about what is being asked, and help the organization deliver on shared goals with integrity and care.

Who We’re Looking For

Strong candidates will bring many of the following qualities:

• Fundraising confidence and judgment, particularly with individual and major donors, and the ability to partner effectively with the Board in philanthropy.
• High emotional intelligence, with the ability to lead through relationships, communicate clearly, and address challenges directly and constructively.
• Strategic and financial acumen appropriate to a $1.8M+ organization, including comfort working across earned and contributed revenue.
• Cultural fluency in Oakland and the Bay Area, with credibility among artists and communities of color and a demonstrated commitment to equity and belonging.
• A systems-minded leadership approach, with the ability to strengthen clarity and process without flattening creativity or culture.
• Deep alignment with Living Jazz’s values of access, belonging, collaboration, and artistic excellence.
• Knowledge of jazz as a cultural tradition, including respect for its roots in the African diaspora and its role in civic life, education, and social change.

Experience in arts organizations, education, or community-centered nonprofits is strongly preferred.

Location and Compensation

This is a full-time position based in Oakland, California, with some flexibility for hybrid work. The salary range is between $140,000-$155,000, with benefits.

To Apply

Living Jazz is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a workplace where diverse identities, perspectives, and experiences are welcomed and valued. Candidates from historically underrepresented communities are strongly encouraged to apply. All inquiries will be handled confidentially.

The search for the next executive director is being led by Cristine Kelly of Fix Creative. To apply, please direct a cover letter and resume to:

LJSearch@fixcreative.org.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with priority given to those received before March 13, 2026.

This announcement is intended to provide an overview of the role and opportunity, not an exhaustive list of responsibilities.