The Organization
ABOUT THE EAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
The East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF or the Foundation) is helping build a community that is worthy of the people who call this amazing place home. Founded in 1928, EBCF is one of the nation’s oldest community foundations, serving people across Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The Foundation has charitable assets under management of over $800 million and partners with donors, fundholders, social movements, and the wider community to eliminate structural barriers, advance racial equity, and transform political, social, and economic outcomes for all East Bay residents. Last fiscal year alone, EBCF granted $238 million to 1,653 nonprofit organizations.
Over the past several years, the Foundation has sought new ways to partner with donors, social movements, and the East Bay community. In addition to its grantmaking, EBCF engages in lobbying and advocacy to promote public policy to advance racial justice. They work closely with their donors as partners and leaders in this journey.
The Foundation has embraced its commitment to racial justice, and EBCF is becoming more than just a philanthropic services organization. In order to meet its bold goals and vision, EBCF is pursuing a community foundation model that looks at new ways to educate, engage, and organize its donors and the broader community. EBCF has also committed to aligning the Foundation’s financial assets with its mission through impact investing, collaborating with a diverse team of financial managers, and supporting community-based financial institutions.
In the spring of 2019, EBCF announced its new mission and vision for an inclusive, fair, and just East Bay, which was the culmination of years of work, listening, and learning from its community partners. EBCF advances the vision of “A Just East Bay” through four program strategies:
● Arts and Cultural Strategies for Social and Racial Justice: This includes support for Belonging in Oakland: A Just City Cultural Fund, and its East Bay Fund for Artists.
● Capacity Building with Racial Equity Lens: This includes increasing the impact of their groundbreaking initiatives like ASCEND: BLO, which supports Black-led organizations.
● Community Organizing, Power Building, and Movement Building: In the fall of 2019, EBCF announced the Foundation’s first ever round of grants to support power building. These efforts are led by and rooted in BIPOC communities in the East Bay exercising their collective power for transformational change.
● Fostering Inclusive Economic Models: EBCF makes grants to increase the breadth and impact of community-led initiatives like its Inclusive Economy Initiative.
With offices located in downtown Oakland and Walnut Creek, EBCF’s 48 staff members enjoy the privilege of working at one of the Boldest Community Foundations in the country, as awarded in 2019 by Inside Philanthropy. EBCF continues to transform itself to meet the needs of its team, donors, partners, and community:
● In November of 2021, EBCF announced Pamela Calloway as Interim President & CEO. Pamela has served on the Board since 2014 and brings fresh, stabilizing energy to her guidance of the team until a successor is named. Mark Friedman, who has been on the Board since 2015, replaced Calloway as the Interim Board Chair and Catherine Chen, who has been on the Board since 2017, was named Chair of the Executive Search Committee, replacing Calloway. The Leadership Transition Committee, composed of board members and staff, has also been formed to help plan for and ensure the success of EBCF’s new leader.
● In January of 2022 EBCF unveiled a new look evolving its visual brand identity to rise to its vision and commitment to social and racial justice.
● Also in January of 2022, EBCF announced its partnership with Walker and Associates Consulting to refresh and accelerate the President & CEO search with a tailored and targeted process incorporating fresh insight from staff and Board to identify the next visionary leader for EBCF.
● In February 2022, the Board approved a change to EBCF’s investment policy statement to ensure that EBCF’s investments are aligned for racial justice, challenging the status quo for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) impact investing.
● Transformation work continues as cross-departmental teams of staff are working to define internal and external initiatives for racial equity and racial justice, to chart next steps for their donor organizing work, to implement policies to ensure grants are aligned to organizational values, and to ensure that donor-advised funds are actively flowing to charitable causes.
This is an exciting time to join EBCF to work to achieve the dream of A Just East Bay. For more information on the East Bay Community Foundation, please visit ebcf.org
ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY
The next President & CEO will lead a highly regarded, mission driven, progressive, and justice-oriented force in Bay Area philanthropy. The Board is seeking a strategic, equity centered, and collaborative executive to lead the Foundation’s next chapter of high impact work. The Board will look to its next President & CEO to be an emotionally intelligent and humble leader who can listen deeply to and create trusting relationships with internal and external stakeholders and thoughtfully guide the organization through a period of change. The President & CEO must also leverage current opportunities and bring forward thinking and creativity that allow EBCF to refine its evolving culture; enhance its capacity, structure, and systems; and boldly tackle challenges facing diverse communities in the East Bay.
The President & CEO leads and directs the advancement and fulfillment of the mission of EBCF. They are responsible for the execution of EBCF’s operational and strategic goals, including fund and donor development, fiscal management, grants, and programming, board relations, staff oversight, community relations, and administrative matters. They will be champions for diversity, equity, and inclusion internally and externally as well as a brand ambassador and changemaker in the field.
Key responsibilities of the next President & CEO include:
● In partnership with the Board, sets and clearly articulates a vision for the Foundation and how it can effectively deploy its human and financial assets to support eliminating structural barriers and advancing racial equity in the East Bay;
● Working with the Board and staff to confirm the goals and objectives of EBCF for this next chapter continuing and refining the implementation of the current strategic plan;
● Working collaboratively to identify and build off of learning and opportunities uncovered in the current plan to chart the future course for EBCF’s work;
● Planning and leading an ambitious fundraising program; actively engaging board members and others in fundraising; ensuring continued commitment of current contributors while engaging new individual and institutional donors;
● As chief spokesperson, ensuring that EBCF has an effective voice in the East Bay’s many communities and with its diverse audiences, making sure the work of the Foundation is focused on eliminating structural barriers and advancing racial equity;
● Representing the Foundation in the East Bay, larger Bay Area, and national philanthropic community as a thought leader, convener, and community leader; ensuring EBCF’s leadership in philanthropy; and
● Actively and strategically seeking out partnerships and building coalitions with local, regional, and national institutions and leaders in the field to carry out the strategic vision of the organization and maximize the Foundation’s impact.
ABOUT THE IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE
The President & CEO of the East Bay Community Foundation will possess the following experiences and competencies: Equity and Inclusion Expertise A proven advocate for racial equity and justice, in every facet of their leadership, with a demonstrated record of success prioritizing and advancing equity initiatives across an organization, partners, and communities who is passionate about building a diverse and inclusive workforce; engaging and educating a diverse network of funders; promoting strategies that create a pipeline for equitable leadership within the field; and investing in programming and strategies that promote equity and inclusion throughout the East Bay.
Management Acumen
A seasoned executive with strong staff, operational, and financial management experience and a track record of sound financial planning, oversight, and accountability, with the ability to clearly communicate with a Board; build and inspire a staff with a diverse set of skills; create an inclusive and productive work environment; and invest in professional growth opportunities that result in team cohesion and drive results.
Strategic and Visionary Leadership
A strategic, innovative, and visionary leader with demonstrated experience working in partnership with Board, staff, partners, and community to clearly articulate and mobilize others around a vision for effectively deploying human and financial assets to support eliminating structural barriers and advancing racial equity in the East Bay or similar communities.
Passionate Ambassadorship
A persuasive communicator and champion with exceptional interpersonal skills and experience as a spokesperson – sharing a mission and vision; helping to expand an organization’s role more broadly; and fiercely advocating for issues of importance facing communities like the East Bay across a wide range of stakeholders including grantees, Board members, donors, staff, elected officials, and the public – and as partner developing a powerful sense of shared purpose and building, leveraging, and sustaining strong support for the work of the Foundation and its grantees.
Bold Thinking around the Business Model
An understanding of traditional models in philanthropy; passion around the unique role and value proposition of community foundations; and innovative ideas taking into account the full power of the Foundation to expand revenue and impact in alignment with EBCF’s strategies and values while meeting community needs.
Passion for the Mission
True passion for leveraging philanthropic leadership to eliminate structural barriers and advance equity working in close collaboration with the staff and Board to help achieve the greatest possible impact through EBCF’s grantmaking, programming, and strategic partnerships with a capacity to listen and treat others with respect while staying true to the values of EBCF.
How To Apply
EBCF is excited to partner with Walker and Associates Consulting – an Oakland-based strategic management consulting and executive search firm with more than 25 years’ experience recruiting and placing leaders working to advance social justice – on this search. To apply, email a cover letter, resume, and list of three references (candidates will be notified in advance of any outreach to references) to ebcf@walkeraac.com on or before 5:00 p.m. PT on April 29, 2022. A combined PDF is preferred. Use the subject: President & CEO.
Questions or Nominations? Contact Jeannine N. Walker, President and CEO, at jwalker@walkeraac.com.
The East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) is an equal-opportunity employer with a commitment to racial justice and racial equity. EBCF does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law and is an employment-at-will organization. The Foundation welcomes and encourages people of color, women, LGBTQIA+ people, and members of other historically disenfranchised groups to apply