Executive Director, Community Solutions Incubator

Do you want to help shape the future of one of America’s
most dynamic small cities? Thrive Asheville seeks an innovative and
experienced Executive Director to lead our work as an incubator for
community solutions.

 

Thrive’s mission is to collaborate with local residents
and leaders from diverse perspectives to understand our city’s
challenges, forge new relationships, and act on the best solutions
together.

 

The Area

When people think of Asheville, the word that comes to mind
first is ‘beautiful.’  It is a culturally rich region that is
both economically and geographically diverse. Its quality of life
makes it highly attractive as a place where lifestyle complements
professional opportunity. It is difficult to find a top ten list
that doesn’t include Asheville. Whether the list is touting our
virtues for outdoor recreation, restaurants, breweries, or a place
to vacation or retire, the area continues to rank highly in
people’s opinions.

 

Less well-known is that we have dramatic gaps in equity – the
majority of Black or brown households make less than half of the
area median income and our local school system has the fifth
largest racial opportunity gap in the nation. We face cross-cutting
challenges including a significant affordable housing deficit and a
cost of living that outpaces wages.

 

The Organization:

Thrive Asheville envisions a place where all thrive—we share in
the beauty and prosperity of our city because we are equitable,
sustainable, and connected. Thrive Asheville brings together local
community advocates, policymakers, and professionals from diverse
fields and backgrounds to find equitable solutions to our city’s
toughest challenges.

 

Larger successful cities have multi-stakeholder leadership
groups like Thrive Asheville to guide their growth. We are modeling
those efforts and since our launch in 2019, we have worked with
community members and leadership to spotlight core issues related
to development and change. We promote learning about these issues
and surface effective and appropriate solutions. We advocate for
implementation of solutions by bringing the right people to the
table to get things done.

 

An independent nonprofit since 2021, Thrive Asheville is led by
a diverse board of directors

made up of 14 members who reflect the range of perspectives that
shape our city – business,

nonprofit, and civic leaders, long-term residents and new
arrivals. Thrive has a dedicated staff including three full-time
and one part-time position.

 

Even though Thrive is a relatively new nonprofit, we have
developed effective organizational structures, and are in a strong
financial position. We have recently finished our first strategic
framework that will guide Thrive decision-making and work for the
next three-to-five years. See the
Thrive Asheville Impact Report 2023 for more information about
our accomplishments.

 

 

 

The values that guide us include:

• Place – Thrive’s approach is place-based. We
  understand local issues, interconnections and relationships and
  coordinate action and investment to improve the quality of life for
  our community.
• Equity – Thrive applies an equity lens to our
  work, and engages with those most impacted on our issues.
• Impact – We envision a transformed community
  and we work for change that significantly improves life conditions
  for local residents.
• Collaboration – Thrive brings people together
  with diverse perspectives and backgrounds to engage in deep
  connection, understand complex problems, and identify shared
  solutions – accomplished by building trust over time.
• Innovation – We find new strategies for moving
  the community forward, in order to create greater equity and
  address systemic and interrelated challenges.
• Integrity – By operating in a way that is
  open, trustworthy and inclusive, Thrive helps bridge differences
  and builds a stronger, more unified community.

 

Position Summary

Thrive Asheville seeks a dynamic, innovative and experienced
leader to guide our vital

organization from rapid growth to maturity, ensuring that Thrive
Asheville becomes a preferred

partner for collaborative, cross-sector efforts that
significantly improve our city and county.

The Executive Director will build on the organization’s vision,
mission, values, strong early results, and the new strategic plan
to establish Thrive’s agenda for action on issues that shape our
community’s future, including housing, tourism and other challenges
to be identified.

 

Thrive’s Executive Director will be a key player in building a
more equitable and resilient community, operationalizing the
organizational values of equity, integrity, collaboration,
innovation, and impact. As Executive Director, you will be
responsible for ensuring the organization’s financial and
operational health while overseeing partnership and community
engagement, outcomes, strategic growth, and board management.

 

The Executive Director reports directly to the Board of
Directors and supervises the Deputy Director (responsible for
program implementation) and the Community Development Coordinator
(administration, communications, and fundraising support).

 

Priorities for the new Executive Director

The new leader will lead the organization in focusing on the
following priorities within the first 12-18 months of their
tenure:

• Lead the organization’s process of selecting and managing issue
  areas
• Help implement sustainable funding model
• Increase key stakeholder and community’s awareness of
  Thrive
• Increase board effectiveness via committees and a deeper
  partnership with staff
• Build an annual workplan that balances capacity and resources
  with an eye towards future organizational needs

 

Primary Responsibilities

Organizational Strategy and Leadership

• Maintain alignment between the overall vision, mission, and
  core values of the

organization and our plan of education, implementation, and
advocacy.

• Lead as a strategist to expand Thrive’s relationships,
  influence and impact on pressing

challenges facing our community.

• Ensure effective systems are in place to track progress to
  goals, evaluate program components, and communicate outcomes to the
  board, funders, and constituents.
• Develop, maintain, and support a strong working relationship
  with the Board of Directors

to define and implement governance best practices.

 

Fundraising and Development

• Refine and enhance Thrive’s fundraising strategy, including
  short and long-term goals for

individual donors, business support, and grants.

• Partner with staff and board in the achievement of fundraising
  goals.
• Manage, cultivate, and retain a solid donor base through
  quality relationships.

 

Communication and Advocacy

• Be the lead spokesperson for Thrive Asheville via excellent
  verbal and written

communication skills and experience.

• Lead the development of outreach to varied audiences (citizens,
  leaders, partners, etc)

that promotes the learning and actions being pursued by
Thrive.

• Oversee the development and distribution of excellent
  communication materials

that articulate the goals, challenges and accomplishments of
Thrive.

 

Systems and Operations

• Manage Thrive’s annual operating budget of $450K+
• Ensure that effective operating processes and procedures are in
  place for delivering on organizational goals and
  responsibilities.
• Manage the systems and processes related to human resources,
  staff benefits, payroll, etc.

 

People Development and Cultural Leadership

• Hire, manage, lead, retain, and empower a diverse and
  high-performing team enabled

by a culture rooted in the mission and values of the
organization.

• Invest in and support talent to build successors for key roles,
  contributing to the

sustainability of the team and organization.

• Create policies and practices that foster diversity, equity,
  and inclusiveness to ensure

inclusive and equitable staff experiences.

 

The strongest candidates will have these
qualifications:

• Commitment to and passion for the Thrive Asheville
  vision, mission, and values
• Strategic nonprofit leader – Experience as a
  nonprofit senior leader who has managed staff and used global
  thinking to navigate organizational complexity and evolution.
• Successful fundraiser – Proven track record in
  diversifying funding streams and donor

portfolios to include both institutional and individual
donors.

• Extraordinary relationship-builder and
  constituent manager – Skill in developing deep and
  influential relationships with community leaders, board members,
  donors, and other key stakeholders and constituencies (eg, elected
  officials, business leaders, etc).
• Effective communicator – Strong leadership
  presence and expertise as a strategic communicator who distills
  complicated information into compelling messages across platforms
  that increase understanding and organization support.
• Experienced convenor/facilitator – Experience
  in design of meetings and group facilitation processes that build
  agreement and action.
• Finance and human resource manager –
  Budgeting, investment and human resource

allocation expertise.

• Equity leader – Deep knowledge of disparities
  and the role of history and systems in

perpetuating inequities. Aptitude for leading and managing
others through a lens of

diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• Results-orientation – Past record of effective
  planning, tracking and achieving

outstanding results.

• High level of emotional intelligence –
  accurately perceive and express yourself, personal humility,
  empathy, develop and maintain social relationships, adapt to
  challenges, and use emotions in an effective way. Professional and
  personal style consistent with the supportive, open, collaborative
  team-oriented culture of Thrive Asheville.

 

Additional desired skills and experiences:

• Advanced degree in a relevant field – or other relevant
  business, public or nonprofit sector experience.
• Experience with the interconnections of government, public
  policy, business, and civic life is helpful.
• We prefer applicants with local knowledge but we also welcome
  transplants with civic leadership expertise who have experience
  with the challenges and opportunities that need addressing in
  Asheville.

 

Compensation:

• Salary: $85,000
• Benefits:
  • Discretionary health and wellness stipend: $7,200/annually
  • Full-time flexible, hybrid work schedule and location
  • Paid Holidays: 10 days
  • Paid Time Off: 18 days
  • Sick leave: 5 days (accrues up to 15 days)

 

To apply:

To apply, please send a resume and a detailed cover letter, that
demonstrates the fit between your qualifications to the skills and
experience above, in one pdf file using the following naming
convention: “Your Last Name-Your First Name.pdf”, via email only
to:

Thrive Asheville Search Committee

search@thriveasheville.org

Please, no phone calls, faxes, or snail mail.

 

The hiring process:

Review of applications will begin May 1 and continue until the
position closes May 30. Selected candidates may be invited to
multiple interviews conducted on Zoom and in-person in June and
July. Ideally the new Executive Director will start work on or
before September 1, 2024.

 

Finalists will be required to complete a criminal background
check.

Candidates from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
Studies have shown that candidates that are female and/or BIPOC are
less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet all of the
qualifications they find in the job description. We are seeking the
best candidate for the job, and that candidate may be a person who
comes from a less traditional background. We encourage you to apply
even if you don’t meet every minimum qualification described or are
unsure if your experience could be considered related
experience.