Chief Executive Officer

Positively Partners; Massachusetts; Hybrid; USD 162,000 - 198,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Four weeks paid vacation

Job summary

Stone House seeks a dynamic Chief Executive Officer to guide its next growth phase, expanding fundraising, partnerships, and community impact. The CEO will lead a senior team, collaborate with the Board, and strengthen financial resilience while advancing trauma-informed, survivor-centered programs.

Based in Roxbury, MA, this hybrid role requires strong external leadership, fundraising acumen, and a commitment to serving vulnerable populations.

Qualifications

• Significant senior leadership experience in nonprofit/human services.
• Demonstrated success in fundraising and philanthropic revenue development.
• Experience as a public-facing leader with media, officials, and diverse stakeholders.
• Proven ability to manage and develop senior staff and large programs.
• Strong strategic and visionary leadership with organizational momentum.
• Commitment to serving vulnerable populations and survivors.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic direction in partnership with the Board.
• Lead and develop a high-performing senior leadership team.
• Oversee HR, compensation, onboarding, and staff development with the COO.
• Elevate the organization’s brand and secure philanthropic investment.
• Cultivate relationships with donors, foundations, corporate partners, and funders.
• Ensure fiscal integrity, budgets, reserves, and financial sustainability.
• Represent Stone House to donors, partners, and public stakeholders.

Skills

Fundraising leadership

Public-facing leadership

Strategic planning

Board collaboration

Staff development

Communication skills

Job description

Founded in 1974, Stone House is a comprehensive, trauma-informed nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for and protecting adult and child survivors of domestic abuse, helping them rebuild safe, secure, and independent lives of purpose and self‑fulfillment. Rooted in the neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, and Hyde Park, Stone House combines the security of a safe environment with a full continuum of residential and community‑based programs that support trauma recovery, personal growth, and essential life‑skill development.

Stone House offers emergency shelter, housing stabilization, and community support services. The organization provides comprehensive case management across all programs, including crisis intervention, benefits and legal assistance, employment and education guidance, and advocacy. Stone House is a proud member of Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.

Over the past several years, Stone House has undergone significant growth. The 2026 budget is $4.5M. A new $27M facility at One Westminster Avenue in Egleston Square opened in 2021. We are now advancing plans for a second building at 7‑9 Westminster Terrace. This addition will merge the current emergency shelter site with the rest of the campus. As a multifaceted organization managing a complex mix of government contracts, LIHTC and NMTC financing structures, and an affiliated Early Learning Center, Stone House is at an important inflection point in its evolution.

The Opportunity

Stone House seeks a dynamic, mission-driven, and externally oriented Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead the organization into its next chapter of growth and impact. This is a pivotal moment: the organization has meaningfully expanded its physical footprint and service capacity and is now poised to strengthen its fundraising infrastructure, deepen community partnerships, and build the financial resilience to sustain and grow its mission in a complex and evolving funding environment.

The CEO will step into an organization with strong foundations: an experienced and committed senior leadership team and an engaged board that is actively growing its fundraising culture. The incoming CEO will build on this momentum, elevating Stone House's visibility, bringing new relationships and resources to the organization, and providing the strategic leadership to carry the mission forward with clarity and confidence.

Stone House has meaningful philanthropic momentum to build on: a Chief Development Officer (CDO) with deep expertise and strong community ties, a board that recently achieved 100% giving participation and completed Fundraising 101 training, and an engaged base of individual donors, foundation partners, and corporate sponsors. The incoming CEO will bring the external relationships and ambassadorial presence to take this foundation to the next level.

The CEO will provide visible, relationship-driven leadership that elevates Stone House's brand, secures philanthropic investment, and deepens its presence among Boston's corporate, civic, and governmental communities while defining and clarifying the vital role the organization plays in the communities we serve.

The CEO reports to Stone House's Board of Directors.

Major Functions & Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Organizational Culture

• Provide overall strategic direction for Stone House in partnership with the Board of Directors.
• Lead, support and develop an experienced senior leadership team, fostering a collaborative, inclusive, and high‑performing organizational culture.
• Maintain an empathetic, accessible, and mission‑centered leadership presence that honors the communities Stone House serves and the staff who show up for them every day.
• Contribute to and drive the creation and implementation of a strategic plan for the organization, including a thorough analysis of existing structures and systems.
• Directly supervise the Stone House senior leadership team, including the Chief Operating Officer, CDO, Chief Program Officer, ELC Director, and Director of Business and Contracts.
• Partner closely with the COO, who manages day‑to‑day operations, real estate oversight, and complex financial structures, enabling the CEO to focus on external leadership, strategy, and mission growth.
• Manage and motivate staff, inspiring a results‑driven, mission‑aligned, and professionally supportive environment.
• Oversee key HR processes, including hiring, onboarding, performance management, compensation, and staff development in partnership with the COO.
• Foster a culture of inclusion, psychological safety, and organizational belonging.
• Establish goals, objectives, and operational plans in collaboration with the Board and senior staff.
• Serve as Chief Licensee for the Stone House Early Learning Center.

Fundraising & Financial Sustainability

• Build and execute a bold fundraising strategy in collaboration with the Chief Development Officer, growing Stone House’s philanthropic revenue base across individual major donors, corporate sponsors, foundations, and event fundraising.
• Serve as the organization’s chief external fundraiser, with donor cultivation and revenue development as a central, ongoing responsibility.
• Actively cultivate and steward relationships with individual major donors, foundations, corporate partners, and public funders.
• Ensure the organization’s financial stability and sustainability by maintaining healthy cash flow and adequate reserves.
• Build and administer the annual budget in collaboration with the Board and COO; oversee financial management to ensure fiscal responsibility, transparency, and sustainability.
• Monitor and assume overall responsibility for the fiscal integrity of the organization.

External Relations & Communications

• Elevate Stone House's brand and visibility across Boston’s philanthropic, corporate, civic, and government communities, building new relationships that expand the organization’s reach and resources.
• Act as Stone House's primary public ambassador and spokesperson, presenting and promoting the organization’s mission, programs, and impact consistently and compellingly.
• Represent Stone House at events, conferences, media engagements, fundraising activities, and partnership meetings.
• Build and maintain relationships with Boston’s corporate community, elected officials, government agencies, and civic leaders.
• Engage with the media through interviews, public statements, and written communications.

Board Governance

• Maintain regular, transparent, and productive communication with the full Board of Directors, providing timely information to support informed decision‑making.
• Attend all Board meetings and provide reports and updates on staff, programs, financials, and organizational progress.
• Implement Board policies and procedures and build staff support for Board decisions.
• Partner closely with the Board on governance, strategy, fundraising, and organizational growth.
• Support Board development, recruitment, and engagement, strengthening the Board’s capacity and confidence as active fundraising partners.
• Serve as liaison to Westminster Washington LIHTC, Inc. and as a Member, Board of Directors of Westminster Washington NMTC, Inc. People Leadership

Qualifications & Mindset

Required

• Significant senior leadership experience (CEO, ED, COO, or comparable executive role), ideally in a nonprofit or human services organization.
• Demonstrated success in fundraising and philanthropic revenue development, including cultivation of individual major donors, corporate sponsorships, foundation grants, and gala or event fundraising.
• Significant experience as a public‑facing leader including being comfortable and effective representing an organization with media, elected officials, corporate and civic partners, and diverse community stakeholders.
• Proven experience managing and developing senior‑level staff and leading complex, multi‑program organizations.
• Strong strategic and visionary leadership skills, with a track record of building organizational momentum and aligning teams around a shared mission.
• Demonstrated commitment to serving vulnerable populations, with a deep respect for survivors, communities experiencing hardship, and the staff who show up for them every day.
• Experience working with or reporting to a nonprofit board of directors.
• Exceptional communication skills, including public speaking and writing for external audiences.
• Financial acumen, including experience overseeing budgets, reading financial statements, and ensuring fiscal integrity.

Preferred

• Experience in human services, domestic violence, housing, or related direct service nonprofit contexts, including familiarity with trauma‑informed and survivor‑centered service models.
• Established relationships within Boston’s philanthropic, corporate, civic, and/or government communities.
• Experience building fundraising infrastructure and culture within a growing organization.
• Experience leading an organization through a capital campaign, facility development, or significant growth phase.

Location, Compensation & Benefits

This is a full‑time, hybrid position based in Roxbury, MA. The CEO will be expected to maintain a regular in‑person presence at Stone House's Egleston Square facility and to be actively present in the Boston community—meeting with donors, partners, elected officials, and stakeholders throughout the city and region.

The salary for this role is $180,000 annually with an additional performance‑based bonus of up to $20,000. Stone House offers a competitive compensation package, including health and dental insurance, a 401(k) retirement savings plan, and four weeks of paid vacation, among other benefits.

How to Apply

Interested candidates are encouraged to submit their applications promptly through our online portal. All applicants will receive a response. Please contact Rose with questions or to request support in submitting your application.

Candidates who advance can expect an initial phone interview with the Positively Partners team, a follow‑up interview with the Stone House CEO Search Committee, and a multi‑part final interview with a range of stakeholders at the organization. The CEO is expected to begin work in Fall 2026.

Positively Partners is committed to conducting an equitable, accessible search process. Accommodation requests during the interview process will be handled confidentially. Please email [e-mail] to make a request.

Stone House is an equal‑opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our work. Candidates of diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.