Mentor National- Chief Development Officer

“Having someone believe in you makes all of the challenges life throws you surmountable.” (Elesha, talking about her mentor, Sue)

About MENTOR

Potential is equally distributed; the opportunity is not. A major driver of healthy development and opportunity is who you know and who’s in your corner.

30 years ago, MENTOR was created to expand that opportunity for young people by building a youth mentoring field and movement, serving as the expert and go-to resource on quality mentoring. The result- a more than 10x increase in young people in structured mentoring relationships, from hundreds of thousands to millions.

Today, we activate a movement across sectors that is diverse and broad and seeps into every aspect of daily life. We are connecting and fueling opportunities for young people everywhere they are, from schools to workplaces and beyond.

MENTOR’s work is grounded in four core pillars: prioritizing quality, ensuring local field leadership, expanding the movement, and influencing systems. MENTOR scales impact, efficiencies, and innovation and ensures responsiveness by developing and supporting a network of local Affiliates with shared branding and common purpose. These Affiliates are independent, non-partisan, public-private organizations that galvanize local or statewide mentoring movements. MENTOR Affiliates also serve a unique role as a clearinghouse for training, resources, public awareness and advocacy, providing the critical link between MENTOR’s national efforts and local organizations that foster and support quality mentoring relationships.

MENTOR’s work has expanded to include operating the National Mentoring Resource Center with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, growing the Affiliate network’s geographic footprint, increasing attendance at the National Mentoring Summit year over year, launching innovative consulting frameworks to support the workforce development and education systems, and attracting six and seven figure gifts from institutional and individual funders like Bank of America, Citi Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Walmart, Fidelity, Nike, Starbucks, Schultz Family Foundation and others.

Since 2014, the organization’s budget has more than doubled and its staff has tripled in size. With its headquarters in Boston, MENTOR National today has a staff of ~40 and an annual operating budget of $15 million.

For further information about MENTOR, please visit https://www.mentoring.org/.

Commitment to Diversity

MENTOR is committed to fostering an environment of diversity and inclusion for all. We embrace our differences and celebrate our common humanity in advancing awareness of the need for a transformative power of supportive relationships for our young people. We believe that varied perspectives, experiences, and opinions are central assets in our mission to close the mentoring gap. As we seek to build the most complementary team when it comes to skill, perspective, and experience, we strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented communities to apply.

About the Role

We seek a strategic and results-driven leader to join our team as our Chief Development Officer (CDO). The CDO will be responsible for driving and increasing our fundraising, marketing and communication efforts and outcomes. Ideal candidates will bring achievements in cultivating and securing six and seven figure gifts, and a commitment to fostering an inclusive and productive team environment.

The CDO will be skilled at cultivating strategic relationships both internally and externally. Ideal candidates will have a demonstrated ability to connect, build bridges and work collaboratively. The CDO will model proactive strategic thinking and have a track record of building and articulating a compelling vision in a way that generates buy-in across a diverse set of stakeholders. The CDO will manage four employees directly (Directors of Institutional Giving, Development, Digital Marketing and Communications), serve as a member of the Executive Leadership team and report to the CEO.

As a key focus of their work, the CDO will be responsible for the following:

Organizational Leadership

• Serve as thought partner to the CEO and work closely as a member of an executive team and broader senior leadership teams to refine overall organizational strategy and goals, ensuring MENTOR’s vision is realized through innovation, clear prioritization and high impact operational execution

• Model and support MENTOR’s core values, with an intentional focus on a learning mindset, proactive collaborator, and commitment to achievement and excellence.

• Serve as a liaison to the national board of directors on departmental goals and progress, co-leading and supporting relevant Board Committees with team leaders.

• Work to advance a “One MENTOR” approach to ensure the Affiliates and national teams work collaboratively to advance a shared vision of quality mentoring for young people through shared leadership and joint decision making

Fundraising Strategy and Execution

• Lead the building, implementation, and adoption of systems and practices that support national collaboration, communication, and relationship building to meet/exceed annual fundraising goals.

• Cultivate and steward critical relationships with corporate partners, foundation and individual funders, and other strategic revenue partnerships, to reach organizational growth and sustainability goals.

• Develop and manage the departmental budget, ensuring strategic investments and responsible fiscal controls and stewardship are maintained.

• Monitor, analyze and report out fundraising data and key performance indicators to assess progress towards fundraising goals.

Team Leadership and Management

• Mobilize the Development team by sharing ambitious, inspiring and compelling approaches to greater organizational impact and sustainability.

• Be accountable for the organization's fundraising performance.

• Set a clear strategic direction and provide guidance to the team, setting expectations to ensure development, marketing and communications staff members are driving forward organization-wide strategies and meeting or exceeding their goals.

External Engagement & Partnerships

• Provide a strong leadership presence in the field by representing MENTOR at conferences, high-level working groups, national, state and local coalitions, and representing MENTOR’s work to partners, funders, and policymakers

• Develop goals, deliverables, and action plans for current and prospective philanthropic partners and work with the Executive Team to ensure all deliverables and commitments to stakeholders, including Affiliates, policy makers, partners, and funders are met

QUALIFICATIONS

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. This said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below.

• Progressive senior-level leadership experience with a proven track record of successfully leading, managing, and growing outcomes-based fundraising departments, preferably within the youth development, nonprofit, and/or philanthropic sectors working at a national scale.

• Success in and passion for fundraising that is demonstrated in a commitment to maintaining current funders, a zest for cultivating new donors, an ability to generate new revenue streams, and a history of successfully taking organizations to the next level of sustained philanthropic support.

• An enterprise-level orientation to effectively support the Development team while prioritizing the continued growth and direction of the organization.

• Experience working within an affiliate model or demonstrated leadership in driving towards a national vision while amplifying the importance and contributions of local leaders and organizations

• Self-motivated and thrives in a lean, fast-paced, highly collaborative, and entrepreneurial environment; demonstrates the integrity, wisdom, persistence, and humor necessary to address the realities of a growing, dynamic, organization

• A management style that combines respectful collaboration with disciplined productivity; demonstrated maturity and tact to collaborate effectively with Board Members, external partners and team members to solve problems

• Ability to build sustainable and productive partnerships with nonprofits, philanthropic partners, academic institutions, government. Comfortable and capable of speaking to these constituents and other stakeholders (both nationally and locally) about the power and potential of MENTOR’s model

• Ability to compel others to action as a key storyteller of our path to impact, priorities for growth and ongoing contributions to the communities and young people we serve

COMPENSATION, BENEFITS AND LOCATION

MENTOR offers a comprehensive benefits package. The salary range for this position is $170,000-$200,000 and is commensurable with lived and professional experience. This role is remote, with a preference for candidates living and working in Greater Boston. Occasional evenings and travel will be required. For candidates who are based in Boston, where MENTOR National has offices, employees work in the office 2 days a week or 8 days a month.

Full-time employees are eligible for benefits including health, dental, vision, 403(b), a commuter stipend, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, student loan repayment assistance, and a generous vacation policy. The summary of the benefits can be found HERE.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply to this position, submit an updated resume and a thoughtfully written cover letter using our application portal. For confidential inquiries or for assistance in completing the application, please contact us via email at search@positivelypartners.org and a member of our team will follow up.

TIMELINE AND HIRING PROCESS

We will review and respond to all applications received. While subject to change, candidates elected to advance throughout the process can expect two interviews with Positively Partners, an interview with members of the Executive Committee and for finalists, an interview day with the CEO, key stakeholders and staff, including a holistic reference check process. Expected start date is Spring 2024.

MENTOR is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to sustaining a diverse community with a work environment that is welcoming, respectful, and encouraging to all. We foster a culture of inclusion that celebrates and cultivates diversity along multiple dimensions, including race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, out of home care, age, national origin, socioeconomic status, religion, ability, culture, and experience

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