Company description

The Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain is an Earth Sanctuary and Learning Community dedicated to Healing the Human-Earth Relationship, founded in 2005. Our non-profit educational farm and learning center reside on 28 acres in the Piedmont Valley of North Carolina, eight miles west of Chapel Hill.

We offer what we strive to practice: skills for community resilience, spiritual ecology, and permaculture. The Eco-Institute is part of a global awakening. We recognize the detrimental effects of the industrial growth economy, and we see ourselves as part of a shift toward a life-sustaining society. In the words of our friend and teacher Thomas Berry, we dream of a mutually enhancing human-Earth relationship.

Job description

The Eco-Institute is at a significant point in its life and its contribution to the world, and presents a poignant opportunity for a new ED. As a land based learning center and sanctuary, there are a number of principles that guide us - village, collaboration, equity and being guided by the ecology and more-than-human world that we as humans are part of. Hundreds of children, young adults, mid-lifers, and elders have graced this land and sanctified it with their gifts of spirit and talent. Many have renewed or built newfound relationships with each other and with the Earth.

We are looking for an experienced Executive Director who can guide the Institute into the next phase of its journey. We seek a creative leader who thinks outside the various boxes that our culture has defined for us. This role calls for someone with a deep commitment to equity and diversity, experience in power-sharing and collaborative leadership, a deep desire to re-connect people to their wild and magical natures, understanding our own healing is part of the collective healing and a track record of “walking the talk.”

The Executive Director would work together with the Land and Programs Director (LPD) and the Operations and Communications Director (OCD), as an integral part of The Eco-Institute leadership team. While the ED has ultimate responsibility for EIPM’s success, they will be encouraged and empowered to create a space of collaboration, solidarity, and inclusion.

The Executive Director’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Implementing the vision of the organization and translating that into practice together with the Board and other staff members,

• Recruiting new members to the Board and reporting to them,

• Designing curriculum and programs (in collab with LPD),

• Setting the yearly budget (in collab with LPD and OCD),

• Fostering donor relations, shepherding the grant process, and expanding the funding network,

• Maintaining support systems for the educational programming (in collab with the LPD and OCD),

• Supporting the well-being and learning growth of all staff members and the wellbeing of The Eco-Institute as a whole,

• Consistently representing the Core Values and culture of the organization to prospective participants and staff, partners, supporters, and our wider community.

This job requires creativity, adaptability, patience, excellent organizational and communication skills, collaborative capacities, and a sense of humor. Candidates must be eager, ethical, authentic, trustworthy, systems-thinking, self-directed, motivated, adaptable, feedback-driven, process-oriented, and respectful of confidentiality.

A more detailed framework for the responsibilities for this position will be provided during the hiring process, but the overall structure of the position breaks down into:

Leadership (35%) : The Executive Director will contribute to the overall strategic visioning and planning on an organizational level, while also maintaining and strengthening staffing procedures and support. The ED will also manage all needs of the Board of Directors.

Finances and Fundraising (35%): In coordination with the leadership team and BOD, the Executive Director will hold responsibility for all financial needs of The Eco-Institute, including operations, programs, and scholarship funds.

Programs (30%): The Executive Director, in collaboration with the Land and Program Director (LPD), will oversee all educational programming and help set priorities and expectations.

The ideal applicant possesses:

• At least 5 years of experience in Non-profit Directorship, Grant Writing & Fundraising

• High level of proficiency with Google Suite Proficiency in or demonstrated capacity to learn various software programs and new technologies

• Significant experience developing and directing experiential environmental education programs, ideally in a holistic, place-based setting

• Significant supervisory experience and experience in mentoring and/or professional/leadership development

• Significant experience with logistical and risk management, and demonstrated ability to curate dynamic, educational, and engaging programs with an appropriate level of physical and socio-emotional risk

• Experience and demonstrated competence in working with individuals from various backgrounds and identities

• Outstanding organizational skills, including ability to prioritize workload, anticipate needs, and meet deadlines

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Strong attention to detail and high standards for thoroughness and accuracy. Creativity and adaptability, and the ability to make sound judgment calls

• A strong environmental ethic and open mindedness to how environmental ethics intersect with various social and cultural life experiences

• A basic understanding of racial literacy, gender identity, classism, and neurodiversity, and a strong commitment to the well-being of marginalized individuals and communities

• Work style flexibility: able to work independently as well as in a team setting with a variety of personalities and experiences

• Professional commitments to personal growth, authenticity, accountability, patience, and contributing to a culture of reciprocity and care

• Ability to work some evenings and weekends throughout the year

• Valid driver’s license, plus the ability to provide own transportation to fulfill job responsibilities, navigate the uneven terrain of The Eco-Institute, and lift 25 pounds independently

Compensation

this position is: salaried, $50,000 - $75,000

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline