Director of Community Partnerships & Creative Aging

Position Summary

The Director of Community Partnerships & Creative Aging provides strategic leadership for Creative Aging Connections, helping to shape and advance its vision, strategic priorities, annual goals, and long-term direction, while cultivating community partnerships that enhance the Assisted Living community and advance Goddard House’s broader mission.

Founded in 1849, Goddard House is one of the nation’s oldest nonprofit organizations dedicated to serving older adults. Our mission is to embrace the aging experience for seniors living in the Boston area by operating a high-quality assisted living community and by creating innovative programs that support our need for purposeful engagement, autonomy, and choice as we age.

Goddard House operates under two strategic directions:

• The continued high-quality operation of Goddard House, an innovative assisted living and memory care community in Brookline, MA, which has a long history of providing creative and enriching experiences for our residents.
• The growth of Creative Aging Connections (CAC), a Goddard House initiative that develops and supports creative aging programs and partnerships engaging under-resourced older adults throughout Boston. Through visual arts, music, dance, storytelling, and other forms of creative expression, CAC fosters creativity, social connection, and well-being through programs led by professional teaching artists and enriched by student interns.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Responsibilities are organized into three primary areas:

Strategic Leadership, Program Operations & Community Partnerships

• Lead implementation of CAC strategic priorities and annual work plans.
• Develop new creative aging initiatives and identify opportunities for program innovation, expansion, and continuous improvement.
• Cultivate, develop, and sustain partnerships with community organizations, affordable housing providers, colleges, universities, cultural institutions, healthcare organizations, businesses, and other strategic partners that strengthen Creative Aging Connections, enhance the Assisted Living community, and advance Goddard House’s broader mission.
• Negotiate and oversee site agreements, memoranda of understanding (MOUs), contracts, and other agreements, coordinating organizational and legal review as appropriate.
• Represent Goddard House and Creative Aging Connections at meetings, conferences, community events, and public presentations.
• Establish annual program goals, priorities, quality standards, and performance measures.
• Develop and manage CAC program budgets, monitor financial performance and resource allocation, and collaborate with Finance and organizational leadership on annual budgeting and financial planning.
• Ensure Creative Aging Connections programs align with Goddard House’s mission, strategic priorities, and organizational values.
• Serve as a member of Goddard House’s leadership team and contribute to organizational planning, strategic decision-making, and cross-functional collaboration.

Team Leadership, Intern, Volunteer & Teaching Artist Development

• Supervise, mentor, coach, and evaluate the Creative Aging Program Manager.
• Recruit, contract, orient, support, and evaluate teaching artists.
• Develop university, volunteer, internship, and educational partnerships.
• Provide overall leadership for CAC’s network of staff, teaching artists, interns, volunteers, and other program partners, ensuring clear roles, effective communication, and accountability for program quality.
• Foster a collaborative culture focused on creativity, learning, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Establish staffing priorities, workflows, and professional development opportunities.
• Evaluate workforce needs and recommend staffing or partnership enhancements.

Fundraising, Communications, Events & Program Impact

• Collaborate with the President & CEO, Development, Marketing, Finance, Assisted Living leadership, and other departments to advance Creative Aging Connections and Goddard House’s strategic priorities.
• Partner with the President & CEO and Development staff to identify funding opportunities and actively participate in foundation, corporate, government, and individual fundraising efforts.
• Provide program leadership for grant development by shaping program concepts, budgets, outcomes, evaluation measures, and reporting requirements.
• Participate in the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of donors and funders, including donor meetings, site visits, presentations, and other engagement opportunities.
• Oversee program evaluation, performance measures, and data collection practices that support continuous improvement, demonstrate impact, and inform strategic decision-making.
• Analyze program outcomes and communicate impact to leadership, funders, community partners, and the Board of Trustees.
• Advance the visibility of Goddard House and Creative Aging Connections and help position the organization as a leader in creative aging through presentations, conferences, publications, media opportunities, and community engagement.
• Provide strategic oversight for major CAC exhibitions, performances, community events, and other public-facing activities.
• Support annual planning, budgeting, organizational reporting, and long-term sustainability initiatives.

Qualifications

Education

Bachelor’s degree required.

Experience

• Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in nonprofit, community-based, arts, aging services, healthcare, senior living, or related program administration, including demonstrated leadership responsibility. Experience in arts administration, creative aging, or community-based arts programming preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative programs or initiatives that respond to the needs and interests of older adults and achieve measurable outcomes.
• Experience developing and managing program budgets, operating plans, and organizational resources.
• Demonstrated experience developing successful grant proposals and participating in fundraising, donor cultivation and stewardship, and grant reporting activities.
• Demonstrated experience supervising, coaching, and developing staff required.

General Skills

• Entrepreneurial, team-oriented, collaborative, diplomatic, adaptable, and comfortable working in a growing, evolving program environment.
• Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage, inspire, build credibility and engender trust.
• Strong professional presence and ability to represent Goddard House effectively with community partners, funders, professional audiences, and other external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally and foster a collaborative, accountable team environment.
• Ability to work closely with a variety of stakeholder groups including businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions, faith-based organizations, and community organizations.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively and respectfully with older adults from diverse cultural, racial, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds.
• Excellent project planning, budgeting, reporting, and management skills.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously without sacrificing attention to detail.
• Strong proficiency with Google Workspace and other technology used for program management, communications, data tracking, and reporting.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

Goddard House is committed to nurturing a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment where older adults, employees, families, and leadership are respected, valued, empowered, and feel a strong sense of belonging. Through compassion, innovation, collaboration, and curiosity, we deliver high-quality care, meaningful programs, and a supportive culture that upholds dignity and engagement for all.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Goddard House is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all Associates and applicants for employment without unlawful regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, national origin or ancestry, service in any branch of the military, disability, genetic information or the result of genetic testing, or any other characteristic or classification protected by state, federal, or local law.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, re-hire, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. Goddard House believes that providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment of any kind is essential to each Associate’s ability to contribute and succeed.

Pay Range: $95,000 - $115,000 per year