Executive Director

GiGi's Playhouse; Tinley Park (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

GiGi’s Playhouse Tinley Park is seeking an Executive Director to lead fundraising, community outreach, and day-to-day operations. You will work closely with the local Board to secure funds, maintain programs, and ensure sustainable growth while guiding staff and volunteers.

The role involves 50% development/outreach and 50% Playhouse management and marketing, with a strong emphasis on donor relations, budget oversight, and community impact.

Qualifications

• 7+ years management and related experience in nonprofit leadership.
• Strong fundraising experience including donor relations and campaigns.
• Board relations and collaboration with volunteers and committees.
• Marketing and communications experience a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic plan development with the Board and ensure alignment with mission and growth objectives.
• Oversee fundraising plan and revenue targets in partnership with the local board and committee.
• Manage financial operations and develop the annual budget.
• Hire, train, and evaluate staff and manage volunteers and programs.
• Represent GiGi’s Playhouse to the community, donors, schools, and partners; grow awareness and engagement.
• Oversee program quality and adherence to GiGi’s Signature programs; ensure excellent family experiences.

Skills

Strategic Leadership

Fundraising & Donor Relations

Board Relations

Staff Management

Community Engagement

Marketing & Communications

Project Planning

Non-Profit Experience

Strategic Planning

Public Speaking

Tools

Microsoft Office

Salesforce

Social Media

Job description

Job Description

Founded in 2003, GiGi's Playhouse’s purpose is to change the way the world views Down syndrome and to send a global message of acceptance for all.We profoundly change lives through national campaigns, educational programs, and by empowering individuals with Down syndrome, their families, and the community.All programs are free and are therapeutic or educational in nature. Each one of our programs is designed to work on specific skill development, including speech and language, literacy, socialization, and fine and gross motor skills. GiGi’s Playhouse has opened over 60 locations across North America and is growing by several locations annually.

TheExecutiveDirectorisabusiness-mindedleaderwhoensures long-term sustainability, prominence,and operational excellenceofGiGi’s Playhouse Tinley Park.Thisincludes helping to ensuretheoperationhas the right team,isfully funded,and that the community is aware of the scope and impact of programs offered.The Executive Director will be actively involved in fundraising activities,drivingcommunity members to the Playhouse,andbuildinga strong community presence and local donations through donor outreach, developing media contacts,grant writing, budget development and control, overseeing financial operations,and other related activities.In addition, the Executive Directoris responsible formanagingthe Playhousestaffand partnering closely with the local Board.The role is estimated to beroughly 50%development/outreachand 50%Playhouse managementand marketing.

This role is for our Tinley Park, IL location.

Primarygoals for this role include:

• Increasefundingthroughindividual donors,grants,sponsorships, in-kind,andcorporatesupport.
• Maximize awareness of GiGi’s Playhouse and Down syndrome across the local community.
• Lead the team to ensure delivery ofthehighestquality operational execution and outstanding customer experienceto deepen family engagement and connection with the Playhouse.

Essential Job Functions:

• Strategic Leadership and Board Relations:
• • Drive the development ofthe Playhouse’s strategic planin collaboration with the Board; implement the plan, ensuring alignment with mission, values, and growthobjectives.
  • Serve as the primary liaison between the Board and the Playhouse, providing regular updates and seeking guidance.
  • Recruit and evaluate potential Board Members through community connections and presentviablecandidates to the Boardselection committee.
• Fundraising and Financial Management:
• • Oversee financial operations, includingfundraising and ensuring financialsustainability;draft the organization’s budget to align with the strategic plan.
  • Develop and implement a fundraising plan to achieve revenue targets in partnership with the local board and fundraising committee.
  • Experience working on or leading a successful capital campaign.
  • Manageand implementa donor portfolioand stewardship strategyfor donors and volunteers.
  • Achievehard dollar fundraisingobjectives, continually seeking revenue generation opportunitiesthrough grants, individual donors,familyfoundations,corporations, and events.
  • In close partnership with the event chair for each fundraising event, supportand heavily engage withallevents, particularlyrevenue-generation,marketing,securingin-kind donations,volunteerrecruitment andmanagement, andoverallcommunity engagement.
• Staff Leadershipand Operations:
• • Ensure all playhouse hours, programs, events, and activities are staffed to support the needs of the Playhouse (GiGi’s programs are 99% volunteer-run).
  • Hire, train, manage, and evaluate all Playhouse employees, fostering a positive and productive work environment.
  • In collaboration with the staff thatismanaging programs and volunteers,supportrecruitment, training, and management ofvolunteers,leveragingtheir skills and time to support the organization's mission.
  • Drive the Playhouse’s achievement of theGiGi’sStandards of Execution, continually striving to increased levels of achievement, toensure a high-quality experience for families, volunteers, donors, and community members.
• Marketing & Community Engagement:
• • Represent the organization to the public, media, donors,schools,community organizations,and other stakeholders with impact stories, building strongrelationshipsand promoting the organization's mission.
  • Grow community awareness by proactively bringing groups, organizations, and individuals to the playhouse to engage in the mission.
  • Leveragenewsletters,social media platforms,website, and other channelstoprovide inspirational and relevant content topromotelocalPlayhouseprograms,events,and activities.
  • Engage in and proactively initiate acceptance initiatives throughout the community to help build a more accepting environment for our participants and families.
• Program Implementation(with Playhouse staff):
• • Oversee and ensure the program lineupand quality serves the needs of the community while executing the full fidelityexpected of GiGi’s Signature programs.
  • Passionately serve the needs of the local familiesand build relationships with themsuch that they understand that GiGi’s makes a lifetime commitmentto them.
  • Build andengage with aFamilyCommitteethat is involved inprogram input,volunteerism,community outreach,fundraising,and event support.
• ConnectionwithGiGi’s Playhouse national officeand peers across the GiGi’s network:
• • Proactively engage with peers to share ideas, solve problems, and collectively raise the bar of performance of GiGi’s Playhouses nationwide; attend GiGi’s Annual Leadership Conference.
  • Followallnationalstandards and policies; collaborate with thenationalteams toleveragecentrally developed tools and resources in lieu of building new processes, programs, and tools from scratch.

Competencies:

• Visionary Leadership: displays passion and optimism; inspires respect and trust; mobilizes others to fulfill the vision; provides vision and inspiration to peers and subordinates.
• Achievement Oriented: Focuses on results and desired outcomes and how to best achieve them. Sets high goals and works doggedly to achieve them. Pushes self and others to achieve milestones and measurable metrics. Goes the “extra mile” to ensure goal is met.
• Communication: A ‘people person’ with a friendly demeanor and the ability to build relationships amongst staff,donors, families, volunteers, and community members. Exceptionally strong written and oral communication skills with ability to express ideas and thoughts verbally; writes clearly and inspirationally; edits work for spelling and grammar; varies writing style to meet needs; keeps others adequately informed; selects and usesappropriate communicationmethods.
• Relationship-Based Approach: Naturallydemonstratesgratitude and stewardship within relationships, continually finding ways to connect with individuals,expressthanks, andsharethe impact of adonor’sinvestment in the organization. Strong social skills with the ability to and affinity toward networking and building connections with people of all personal and professional backgrounds.
• People Management: Includes staff in planning, decision-making, facilitating and process improvement; takes responsibility for subordinates' activities; makes self-available to staff; provides regular performance feedback; develops subordinates' skills and encourages growth; solicits and applies customer feedback(internal and external); fosters quality focus in others; Improves processes, products and services; continually works to improve supervisory skills.
• Collaboration & Teamwork: Team player with a strong work ethic, positive attitude, and collaborative spirit;ability to work collaboratively and professionally with staff, board members, committee members, volunteers, families, and donors.Exhibits good listening and comprehension; ability to gain buy-in and to get along with diverse personalities,at all timesdisplaying tact, maturity, and flexibility.
• Problem Solving and Judgment: Identifiesand resolves problemsin a timely manner; resourceful;exhibitssound andaccuratejudgment; includesappropriate peoplein decision-making processand develops alternative solutions; open minded and flexible; works well in group problem solving situations.
• Planning/Organizing: Prioritizes and plans work activities; Uses time efficiently; Sets goals andobjectives; Organizes or schedules other people and their tasks; Develops realistic action plans.
• Adaptability and Calm Under Pressure: Adapts to changes in the work environment; manages competing demands; changes approach or method to best fit the situation;demonstratesflexibility and poise under changing priorities.Thrivesandmaintainsstable performancein fast-paced settings with shifting demands.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or abilityrequired. Reasonableaccommodationsmay be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Education and/or Experience: 7+yearsmanagement andrelated experienceand/or training inorganizational leadership, non-profit, and/or related field.Extensivedemonstrated community connectionsand board experience.Marketing experiencea plus.
• Computer Skills: Adapts to new technologies and uses technology to increase productivity. Has the self-discipline to continually learn and use the tools.Must haveknowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook),proficiencyin social media platforms such as Instagram,LinkedInand Facebook.Ability to work proficiently in a database program (Salesforce) tomanage interactions with all individuals whointerface withthis location.
• Work Environment: Thisrole requires extensive engagement with the Playhouseteam, families, and volunteers.In addition,roughly 50%of the time is expected to be inthe communitybuildingrelationships with donors,community organizations,etc. As such, this is an in-person role, not a remote role.

GiGi’s Playhouse Core Values

GiGi’s challenges all staff and volunteers to embody the following core values:

• Enthusiastic: Bringing positive, high energy to your work.
• Best of All: We are always looking to improve every day, with all that we do.Challenge yourself every day to embrace a Generation G life.
• Get It Done: Making things happen and blasting through barriers when needed. Figure it out together.
• Believe: Believe in ourselves, believe in our mission, believe in each other, and believe in the history that brought us 
• Locally Concerned, Enterprise Minded: We collaborate, share best practices, andleveragethe collective learnings from across the GiGi’s network.