Financial Control Advisor → Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair

Our Mission & Who We Are

The Trauma & Executive Functioning Institute (TEFI) advances trauma-informed behavioral and cognitive research and technological interventions that help individuals and communities build capacity in daily life. We envision a world where executive functioning is understood as a shared public health concern, not a private struggle. In that world, communities are supported by systems that recognize how trauma, stress, health, and environment shape daily capacity and decision making.

TEFI is a federally recognized 501(c)(3) research nonprofit grounded in interpersonal neurobiology. We study trauma and executive functioning, and we build community-based interventions informed by that research. We run five research-first programs spanning peer support, responsive technology, trauma-informed credentialing, music and healing, and public education.

We are young. We incorporated recently, and we are still building. But we have not waited to get serious about governance. We have clean books, bylaws, a conflict of interest policy, financial control policies with authority matrices, an anonymous independent whistleblower channel, a board management app, a full organization handbook, a structured onboarding process, and a Governance & Compliance Advisor who holds a JD. We have grants in progress, licensing agreements, and partnerships underway.

We are telling you all of this because we want you to know what you would be walking into. We're not a mess, we're an early-stage organization that takes financial transparency seriously. We're not looking to meet minimum legal requirements, we're holding ourselves to a higher standard of fiscal responsibility and transparency from day one. Our core values are Consent, Dignity, and Justice, and those values apply to how we handle money too.

What This Role Is

You would start as our Financial Control Advisor for a six-month advisory period, working closely with the Board President and our current acting Treasurer to learn the organization, review our financial systems, and help us improve them. After that period, you would assume the full role of Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair with voting rights on the board.

Here is what the work looks like right now:

• Reviewing financials and providing independent oversight (we currently use WaveApps, not QuickBooks)
• Tracking new revenue from licensing, donations, and grants
• Advising on and helping shape financial policies as we grow
• Reviewing and strengthening our operating budget
• Preparing for and eventually overseeing 990 filings
• Participating in monthly board meetings (hybrid format)
• Collaborating with the Board President, and eventually the Executive Director, on budget development and grant financials
• Helping to build a robust finance committee in collaboration with the Board President
• Estimated monthly time commitment: 10 hours, possibly more during critical reporting periods

We are honest that right now, not a lot is moving financially. This is a ground-floor opportunity to help shape how an organization handles money from the start. You will not have to clean up someone else's problems. But you will be expected to grow into evolving and growing responsibilities.

During the six month advisory period, you would not be exposed to fiduciary risk. Our onboarding process is explicitly designed to protect everyone. Fiduciary duty would begin after you are formally voted into the Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair role.

Who We're Looking For

We are looking for someone with a background in finance and familiarity with nonprofit financial management. A CPA is welcome but not required. We plan to staff a CPA later for internal audit purposes. What matters more than credentials is that you understand the financial realities of an early-stage nonprofit and can help us build systems that will hold up as we grow.

You do not need to come in as an expert in trauma-informed practice, but you need to be willing to learn. We require all board members and staff to become knowledgeable in organizational trauma-informed practice, and we provide that training at no cost.

If you have served as treasurer for a startup nonprofit before, you know what this takes. If you haven't but you understand what it means to build something from scratch with care, we want to hear from you.

What We Expect From Board Members

To ensure our board remains diverse and represents the communities we serve, contribution requirements for board members come from a mix of operational, strategic, and financial sources. Each board member works out an annual commitment with the Board President that reflects their capacity, and that commitment is approved by the full board.

For the Treasurer role specifically, we might expect more of a personal financial contribution. We believe the person protecting the organization's finances should have significant investment in its success proportional to their capacity. What that looks like in action is something you would work out with the Board President and is 100% flexible.

How to Apply

Please submit a letter of interest and a resume through the Idealist platform. In your letter, tell us why this role interests you and what you would bring to an organization at this stage. We are not looking for a form letter. We want to know how you think about money, accountability, and building something that lasts.

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TEFI is committed to building a board that reflects the communities we serve. We strongly encourage applications from people with lived experience of the systems our research examines.