Executive Director

Southern Dharma Retreat Center (SDRC) is seeking an Executive Director with a wise and warm-hearted leadership style that embodies the Dharma, communicates with clarity and care, empowers others, and stewards Southern Dharma with integrity, inclusivity, and love for all beings. The next Executive Director will provide strategic leadership, organizational oversight, resource development, and representation in the community to sustain the organization’s mission, financial health, and 47-year legacy. The Executive Director leads a small team of staff and reports to and collaborates with the Board of Directors.

Mission:

To offer meditation retreats, provide Dharma instruction, and support communities, grounded in Buddhist practice traditions.

Vision:

To bring about personal and collective awakening based in mindfulness (sati), wisdom (pañña), and ethics (sila).

The next director of Southern Dharma will be highly aligned with its organizational values:

• Awakening - we recognize that all beings have the capacity to transform their hearts and minds.
• Stewardship - we make decisions and actions that take the benefit of the Center, its stakeholders, and its living community into account.
• Hospitality - we seek to create an environment where everyone may feel welcome.
• Compassion - we believe that everyone should be free from the causes of suffering.
• Inclusivity - we intend to serve all people: all races, ages, income levels, gender identities, and spiritual traditions.

About Southern Dharma Retreat Center:

Southern Dharma is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to provide ecumenical Dharma instruction to Buddhist practitioners through high-quality retreats held in Noble Silence. Nearly fifty years of consistent contemplative practice on the land has led Southern Dharma to be a highly respected retreat center in the South and a beloved place for practitioners across the country. Today, SDRC offers in-person programs as well as residency and volunteer opportunities on its 55-acre rural campus in Hot Springs, North Carolina, a one hour’s drive from Asheville. SDRC also offers limited online programming, as well as off-site workshops and meditation opportunities in or near Asheville.

Southern Dharma is governed by a committed 10-member Board of Directors, which uses principles of dynamic governance in its decision-making processes. The organization currently employs four full-time, on-site staff members and four part-time employees. The organization has financial stability, owning the center outright and operating with a $700K budget for FY 2025, comprised of 55% in retreat fees, 40% in donations and fundraising, and 5% in grants. Board and staff are Dharma practitioners with diverse backgrounds, and the workplace culture is one of transparency, learning, sharing, mutual respect and support, and a belief in the value and agency of team members. Southern Dharma is deeply committed to further diversifying its teachers, participants, and teaching traditions in a way that creates a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space for growth and liberation for all.

The Opportunity:

Through COVID-19 and Hurricane Helene, which devastated great swaths of Western North Carolina in the fall of 2024, Southern Dharma has had to reimagine its programming in rapid and significant ways. In the weeks and months following the hurricane, Southern Dharma received over $180,000 in donations to fund direct relief and mutual aid efforts for neighbors most impacted by the storm. While the retreat center itself was unharmed, the response from the Southern Dharma community resonated as deeply aligned with Dharma practice.

Today, Southern Dharma is in a moment of renewal as it embraces the opportunity to refocus on its core programs and build a strong organizational foundation. As an organization with a rich, place-based history and a deeply committed retreat community and sangha, Southern Dharma is looking for leadership to stabilize and strengthen its established programs, infrastructure, and funding base, while continuing to actively center justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI).

Note: Southern Dharma is currently also hiring a Retreat Center Director, whose primary role is to ensure a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment for exceptional retreat experiences and residential life by overseeing daily operations, facilities, and on-site staff. The Executive Director will supervise and partner closely with the Retreat Center Director in the achievement of Southern Dharma’s mission and vision.

Organizational Priorities

The Board of Directors and Staff of Southern Dharma have identified the following as the highest priorities for the new leader to focus on in their first 12-18 months. The Executive Director will collaboratively work with the Staff and Board to create and implement a work plan with intended outcomes, timelines, and accountability.

• Lead a collaborative strategic visioning and planning process, focusing on financial sustainability, high-quality residential retreats, and justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, resulting in a new three-to-five-year strategic plan
• Cultivate strong organizational culture and communication between staff, board, teachers, retreatants, and other key stakeholders
• Strengthen physical infrastructure of SDRC in collaboration with the Retreat Center Director with a focus on staff housing and retreatant experience
• Develop and update organizational systems, structures, and policies in collaboration with the Retreat Center Director in order to sustain core programs
• Build relationships with diverse Dharma teachers in collaboration with the Retreat Center Director in order to ensure high quality retreats and offerings
• Focus on fundraising by prioritizing donor stewardship, growing unrestricted philanthropic contributions, planning and implementing capital and planned giving campaigns, and grant solicitation and management.

Primary Responsibilities:

• • Organizational Leadership & GovernanceWork with the board and board committees to steward Southern Dharma’s mission, vision, values, programming, and strategic direction
  • Collaboratively hold a culture of spiritual practice, inclusion, integrity, and collaboration
  • With board and staff, support dynamic governance processes and cultivate healthy ways of working together
  • Provide overall leadership of staff team, including Retreat Center Director, Finance & HR Coordinator, Communications Coordinator, Community Relations Coordinator, and Special Projects Coordinator
  • Community & OutreachBuild relationships with sanghas, teachers, and partners, including in Asheville and broader Buddhist networks, and continue development of a community membership database
  • Lead equity- and justice-centered engagement efforts aligned with Southern Dharma’s values
  • Support external communications, e.g. newsletters, social media, and website
  • Represent Southern Dharma in regional/national Dharma networks
  • Fundraising & Resource DevelopmentCollaborate with board on strategic fundraising goals
  • Cultivate relationships and engagement with donors, teachers, community members
  • Build grant partnerships with mission-aligned foundations
  • Finance, Administration & ComplianceLead financial oversight and leadership: budgeting, reporting, forecasting
  • Ensure legal compliance, insurance, and risk management
  • Retreats & Programs - Shared Leadership with Retreat Center DirectorCultivate relationships with diverse Dharma teachers to ensure high-quality programming aligned with SDRC’s values
  • In collaboration with Retreat Center Director and the Programs Committee, oversee planning of the retreat calendar and diverse, high-quality programmatic offerings that align with organizational and staff capacity

Desired Experience, Skills, and Attributes

Southern Dharma is committed to building an inclusive workforce and leadership team that represents its diverse community. Candidates with a compelling combination of most of the following experience, skills, and attributes are encouraged to apply:

• • Values-Driven Leadership & Nonprofit AcumenStrategic thinker: experience in long-term planning and adaptive leadership.
  • Commitment to JEDI values: integrates justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion into leadership; models power-sharing and accessibility
  • Nonprofit experience: proven experience with nonprofit administration and strategic planning and implementation is important
  • Spiritual & Personal PresenceGrounded Dharma practice: mature personal practice in meditation, Buddhism, or contemplative traditions; understanding of the U.S. Dharma landscape and its relationship to social justice and collective healing
  • Embodied wisdom & emotional maturity: demonstrates self-awareness, compassion, calm presence, and commitment to personal transformation; skillful in interpersonal dynamics
  • Practical & Operational StrengthAdministrative & management skills: organized, detail-oriented, strong delegation and follow-through.
  • Balance of bones & soul: ideally, the leader can guide the organizational “structure”, i.e., administrative systems, while also tending to the “spirit” of SDRC to best enable the successful delivery of its mission.
  • Fundraising & Resource StewardshipStrong fundraising experience: donor engagement and fundraising campaigns including major gifts; capital campaign and grant writing experience a plus. Anticipated 2026 contributed revenue goal of $300K - 350K for operating expenses, not including capital expenditures.
  • Financial sustainability mindset: ability to align financial strategies with organizational mission and values.
  • Collaborative, Empowering, & Inclusive ApproachHuman-centered: skilled in team-building, conflict resolution, and staff empowerment; cultivates healthy community dynamics
  • Collaborative approach: leads by supporting and empowering others; “power-with" rather than "power-over" mindset; co-creates culture and structure Humble, supportive, appreciating and engaging with staff wisdom and capacity
  • Leads with inclusivity: skilled in inclusive decision-making, collaboration, and consensus-building, with an ability to build trust and inspire across diverse stakeholders
  • Exceptional Communication SkillsClear, honest, and compassionate: practices mindful speech, deep listening, and transparency across all relationships. Able to facilitate clear, kind, and open communication across all bodies—staff, board, teachers, retreatants, and public
  • Public outreach & community engagement: builds relationships with local and regional communities; warm and welcoming presence. Strong storytelling ability to serve as SDRC’s key ambassador rooted in authenticity and spiritual values
  • Preferred ExperiencesRetreat center or hospitality experience: understanding of hosting, maintaining safe and welcoming spaces, leading staff who live where they work, and experience with stewarding facilities and land in a rural setting
  • Dharma-related organizational experience: past involvement with Buddhist organizations or contemplative communities
  • Relationship with Dharma teachers: cultivating a strong network of teachers to offer high-quality programs

Compensation: $72,000 annual salary. This is a full-time (40 hours/week) salaried, exempt position. Benefits include paid time off, 100% employer-paid health insurance, and support for retreat attendance.

Anticipated Start Date: October 1, 2025

Location & Working Environment: Western North Carolina; the Executive Director resides off-site but will be expected to maintain a meaningful presence at the retreat center (potentially as often as weekly).

Southern Dharma Retreat Center is located in a remote, forested mountain hollow on Hap Mountain. The terrain is hilly, and walking paths are primarily gravel, dirt, or mulch. Access to all lodging, dining, and meditation spaces requires navigating stairs and uneven ground. As such, the retreat center is not currently accessible to individuals with significant mobility limitations. When not on-site, the Executive Director may work remotely.