President and CEO

The Golden LEAF Foundation; Rocky Mount (NC); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

The Golden LEAF Foundation in North Carolina seeks a visionary President and CEO to lead its mission of economic advancement in rural counties. The role demands strategic leadership, financial acumen, and a commitment to statewide equity.

As chief executive, you will work with the Board, state officials, and partners to guide grantmaking, investments, and program initiatives that foster job creation and sustainable growth across tobacco-dependent communities.

Qualifications

• Strong strategic leadership and executive governance experience.
• Proven ability to work with diverse stakeholders and public officials.
• Deep understanding of economic development, grantmaking and nonprofit governance.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Foundation with a clear strategic vision and measurable impact.
• Engage with state leaders, educators, economic development and nonprofit partners.
• Oversee grantmaking, investments and program initiatives for rural NC growth.
• Collaborate with the Board to set policy, direction and governance excellence.
• Build and maintain external partnerships to advance equity and opportunity.

Job description

The Nautical Group, an executive search firm, has been retained by the Golden LEAF Foundation to lead the search for its next President and CEO.

About the Foundation

The Board of Directors of The Golden L.E.A.F. (Long-term Economic Advancement Foundation), Inc. is seeking a new President to lead the Foundation as it begins its third decade of service to rural North Carolina. We are seeking an individual who brings passion, vision and commitment to improve the economic prospects of the state’s tobacco dependent and economically distressed counties.

Golden LEAF is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding received from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. For over two decades, Golden LEAF has worked to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.

The Foundation has provided lasting impact to tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and rural areas of the state. To learn more about Golden LEAF, visit www.goldenleaf.org.

The Position

The President is responsible for the overall performance of the organization to ensure it fulfills its mission and objectives. The President develops and maintains appropriate relationships with state leaders and elected officials, leaders in economic development, education, and agriculture, philanthropic and public organizations and agencies, and the nonprofit sector. Working collaboratively with the Board and state and local stakeholders, the President is responsible for adherence to the Foundation’s mission and maximizing the Foundation’s impact on economic growth of rural North Carolina.

The President’s roles and responsibilities include:

Statewide Leadership

• Developing and maintaining collegial working relationships with state and local elected officials and other leaders, government agencies, economic development organizations, the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, business leaders, and universities and community colleges.
• Collaborating with representatives of rural, tobacco-dependent, and economically distressed counties to move the mission forward.
• Understanding the capacity, resources and leadership in rural North Carolina.
• Originating new and creative ways to solve problems and transforming ideas into action.

Communication and Public Relations

• Enhancing awareness of Golden LEAF and its work by communicating and advancing the Foundation’s mission, programs and initiatives.
• Maintaining close relationships with the state’s media and effectively utilizing public relations partners.
• Building strong community relationships through intrinsic interpersonal skills.

Strategic Initiatives, Oversight of Grantmaking and Investments

• Working with the Board and staff to develop strategies to guide the Foundation’s work, including grantmaking and investments.
• Achieving targeted, results oriented outcomes through program staff who identify proactive and reactive grantmaking opportunities.
• Collaborating with the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.
• Partnering with state economic development efforts.
• Stewarding the future growth of the Foundation.

Partnership with the Board of Directors

• Empowering an active and engaged Board to achieve the Foundation’s mission.
• Implementing strategies for meaningful investments of the Foundation’s assets.
• Identifying and informing the Board of statewide issues and future trends to transform the economic development of affected counties.
• Providing consistent, reliable and methodical communication to the Board.
• Implementing Board policies and decisions.
• Effectively harnessing the Board’s time and energy.
• Supporting the Board in meeting strategic goals;
• Capitalizing on Board members’ skills and talents.

Financial, Administrative and Personnel Management

• Oversight of financial, personnel and administrative management.
• Building a high-performing team and holding it accountable.
• Working with legal counsel to assure compliance.

Candidate Profile

To succeed in this work, the new President must be:

• Intelligent, articulate, accessible, an active listener able to grasp complex concepts quickly;
• An effective communicator with exceptional written and oral communication skills;
• Someone with experience that demonstrates an understanding of the Foundation’s grant making focus areas (for example: in agriculture, job creation and economic investment, and workforce preparedness).
• A person with a high degree of business and financial literacy and integrity.
• Flexible and adaptable to change.

Additional Disclosures

Golden LEAF is an equal employment opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), parental status, genetic information, political affiliation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by federal, state or local law.