Director of Expansion

The Opportunity

This new role offers an exciting opportunity to partner with, learn from, and learn alongside GreenLight Fund’s Co-Founder and Board Chair, John Simon, in launching new sites and building transformational partnerships. The Director of Expansion will design systems and processes, manage communications (internal and external), and collaborate cross-functionally to ensure that expansion to new sites is carried out with fidelity, and in alignment with GreenLight's vision, mission, values, and strategy.  The Director of Expansion will work across multiple cities at a variety of stages to ensure the engagement of a diverse coalition of community members including local leaders, philanthropists, corporate partners, non-profit colleagues, and educational constituents to galvanize support for GreenLight. 

In 2024, the Director of Expansion will strategically support ongoing expansion efforts in Dallas, and the entry of GreenLight into Miami, and facilitate the qualification, selection, and exploration of Site #16.

Reporting to the Vice President, Development & Expansion (VPDE), the Director of Expansion will serve as a member of GreenLight’s Leadership team and join a larger national Development & Expansion (DevEx) team, which includes the Manager of National Development and Expansion, Site Development Manager, and Gift Coordinator.

In partnership with the VPDE and Board Chair, over time, the Director of Expansion will take on additional responsibilities related to expansion fundraising.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Expansion Strategy & Infrastructure

• Partner with the Board Chair and VPDE to execute and continuously refine the strategy to effectively explore and launch one new city a year.  
• Ensure GreenLight has the infrastructure to support its expansion nationally, including but not limited to standard operating procedures, scalable systems, and a communications strategy.
• Execute GreenLight’s codified approach to expansion with fidelity, equity, and efficacy. 
• Through thorough research and ongoing dialogue with local stakeholders, develop and maintain landscape analysis of cities in GreenLight’s expansion queue. 
• Establish strong communication and coordination with Board Chair, CEO, VPDE, Executive Directors, and the Board of Directors to qualify and select new sites for expansion. 
• Develop and maintain current/active deep understanding of GreenLight’s method and impact across the country, and its network of supporters and stakeholders to continuously qualify and inform the selection of future cities for GreenLight expansion.  

Cultivate Local Champions & Partners

• Support the identification of key stakeholders in prospective sites, including but not limited to community leaders, philanthropic leaders, corporate partners, non-profit partners, and university partners.
• Create and execute a stakeholder outreach and engagement plan unique to each prospective site and its community members that leverages GreenLight staff and board members. 
• In collaboration with the Marketing and Communications team, ensure consistent branding and messaging during the expansion phase of each new site.  
• Utilize relationships, research, and local knowledge to contribute ideas and strategic thinking to build a robust investor pipeline for new sites. 
• Leverage local relationships, to support the identification of potential candidates for the Founding Executive Director role of a new site.

New Site Development 

• Ensure regular and streamlined transfer of information from the Board Chair including proactive communication and prompt action as needs arise. 
• Train, support, and leverage an intern through the Rhodes Scholar program who will partner with the Board Chair and support GreenLight’s expansion work each summer in one new city. 
• In collaboration with Board Chair and VPDE, oversee a pipeline of prospective investors who have expressed interest in a new site or expressed interest in investing in GreenLight’s expansion.
• Partner with Site Success function to ensure a seamless onboarding of Founding Executive Directors and site staff, including transfer of knowledge and smooth hand off of local relationships.
• Lead internal team and external vendors to plan and execute Launch Event to publicly announce new GreenLight sites and celebrate Founding Investor Coalition and local supporters. 
• Ensure timely submission of grant proposals and reports for expansion sites until the site team is onboarded.
• Collaborate with DevEx team to capture investor and stakeholders contact details and key information in Salesforce, as well as confirming investment details, coordinating gift confirmation forms, gift reminders, and gift acknowledgments.
• Coordinate with an internal resource/team to maintain current materials for all expansion sites including up-to-date presentation decks and lists of current investors.

Candidate Profile

The Director of Expansion will be innovative, and collaborative with exceptional communication and relationship/partnership-building skills, have experience managing systems and strategically supporting an organization’s growth. They will be an optimistic teammate, with an entrepreneurial spirit and sense of possibility. They will be able to think strategically about the order of doing things and have a demonstrated track record of systems building, roll out, and implementation, while navigating the nuances of developing new initiatives and the complexities of internal and external relationship management to reach a goal. Finally, they are eager to learn and strengthen their skills by effectively delivering and receiving both positive and constructive feedback and are willing to ask for help if needed and look at things from multiple angles.

While no one candidate will possess every quality outlined for this position, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional qualifications and personal attributes:

• Passion for and commitment to GreenLight’s mission and values, including our commitment to racial equity and centering communities in our work. 
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience in nonprofit or related sector, with demonstrated success in an expansion/partnerships/development function within a high-performing organization, preferably with experience in a national organization with local sites.
• Ability to manage a high volume of work with efficiency and prioritization in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong focus on results and metrics.
• Exceptional strategic thinking skills, with a proven ability to set priorities, meet goals, and evaluate both process and results.
• Ability to thrive and lead within a dynamic organization with a collaborative, people-centered management style.
• Experience with and a capacity to understand people from different backgrounds, to see the world from others’ perspectives and inspire trust among diverse audiences.
• Direct experience fundraising or the desire to learn fundraising and become very good at it and selling GreenLight’s vision - and anticipated results based on our track record.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to develop strong relationships across a diverse spectrum of stakeholders. 
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, ability to author grants and other external documents in partnership with the Development & Expansion and Marketing and Communications teams.
• Capacity to embrace complexity, demonstrate resilience, and the ability to find a way through a challenge, taking others with you along the way.
• Ability to manage up and sideways with the Board Chair, Vice President of Development & Expansion, and the CEO.

Travel

Anticipated 20-30%

Location

Applicants must reside within a GreenLight registered state with relative proximity to a current or future GreenLight site. These include: California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Applicants who do not meet location requirements will not be considered.

Compensation & Benefits

This is a full-time, exempt position. The salary for this position is $125,000. GreenLight Fund offers a generous benefits package that includes: 

• Health Insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield (80% paid by GLF, 20% by the employee for employees and family members)
• Dental and Vision Insurance through Guardian (80% paid by GLF, 20% by the employee for employees and family members)
• Full coverage of all mental health visit copays through Blue Cross Blue Shield (100% paid by GLF)
• Safe Harbor 401k. GLF will match 100% of the first 3% of salary and 50% of the next 2%
• Short and Long-term disability and Life insurance fully paid by GreenLight Fund
• 10 company-wide holiday closings and 3 floating holidays
• The week between Christmas Day and New Year's Day off
• Up to 12 sick days (6 days in your first year, if you start after July 1st)
• Up to 2 personal days (1 day in your first year, if you start after July 1st)
• COVID-19 Benefits
• Vacation Days: 15 days in years 1-3, 20 days in years 4-5, and 25 days in year 6 and beyond
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave for birth parents, 6 weeks of paid parental leave for non-birth parents
• Up to $75 per month of cell phone reimbursement
• Up to $100 per month of WiFi reimbursement
• Up to $1,500 per year for professional development
• Access to Holisticly (40 Holisticly Credits per Month)

Application Deadline

We kindly request all applications be submitted by Monday, April 15, 2024 at 11:59 pm ET. 

GreenLight Fund is committed to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion at every level of the organization. GreenLight Fund recognizes and appreciates the value of building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive work environment. GreenLight Fund takes pride in being an equal opportunity employer regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national or ethnic origin, physical or mental ability, race, region, sexual orientation or veteran status.  

If you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at peopleops@greenlightfund.org.