Senior Director, Power Pathway (San Francisco Foundation)

Company Name

San Francisco Foundation

Company City

San Francisco

Company State

CA

Job Location

San Francisco, CA

Company Information

Founded in 1948, the San Francisco Foundation is one of the nation’s largest community foundations — a grantmaking public charity dedicated to improving life within a specific local region. We are committed to racial equity and economic inclusion so that all people in the San Francisco Bay Area are economically secure, rooted in vibrant communities, and engaged in civic life. Our mission is to mobilize resources and act as a catalyst for change to build strong communities, foster civic leadership, and promote philanthropy in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Job Description

Position Summary: Senior Director, Power Pathway (Nurturing Equity Movements)

The San Francisco Foundation believes that a focus on People, Place, and Power provides the pathways to greater racial equity and economic inclusion. Since the launch of its equity agenda in mid-2016, the Foundation’s Community Impact Department has been organized around these three Equity Pathways (along with a Policy and Innovations division added in 2019). The three Pathway Senior Directors are members of the Department’s leadership team. Under the leadership of the Vice President of Programs, they are major contributors to developing and implementing the Foundation’s equity agenda. This includes determining short- and long-term results, policy and system changes, and the associated strategies to achieve them—grantmaking, advocacy, and civic leadership—across various issues. Senior Directors also foster greater alignment and partnership with the Foundation’s extensive network of donors and partners from across the philanthropic, nonprofit, private, and public sectors.

The Power Pathway is responsible for leading the Foundation’s organizing and movement building strategies by strengthening grassroots organizing of community and faith-based organizations, building a pipeline of BIPOC leaders, and promoting voter engagement. This includes crafting the Foundation’s strategy for supporting 501(c)(4) organizations and campaigns. We work in strategic partnership with our community partners and our donors to build communities that can stand together, learn together, decide, act, and succeed together.

The Power Pathway Director is a member of the Community Impact Department’s  leadership and is responsible for the following: 

Strategy Development and Implementation 

• Determine and refine pathway results and strategies using a range of approaches, all oriented toward advancing racial equity and economic inclusion.
• Work and partner with movement building and organizing organizations, coalitions, and leaders to understand their priorities and discern the Foundation’s role in campaigns and the long-term infrastructure to support them.
• Track issues and trends in organizing and movement building at the local, regional, state and national levels.
• Collaborate across pathways and the broader department and Foundation to accelerate momentum towards results.
• Assist in developing a foundation-wide understanding, including for SFF’s donors, of pathway efforts and the overall equity strategy.

Team Management and Oversight 

• Leading People: Team Building, Cultural Awareness, Integrity and Honesty, Conflict Management
• Supervise and/or mentor a team of ten staff members that includes the Koshland, FAITHS, and Women of Color Leadership programs.
• Support a cohesive team and nurture a culture of collaboration, focusing on results.
• Accountable for team performance and budget management.

Interdepartmental Leadership 

• Leading Change: Open to Differences, transparent and strategic communications, aware of internal and external factors
• Coordinate across pathways and the organization, develop collaborative relationships with other directors and staff, participate in organization-wide directors’ team.
• Collaborate with SFF Philanthropy Advising and Gift Planning Department on donor and private sector aligned investment, including participating, delegating, and supervising regular engagement with individual donors and coordinated efforts.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Communications staff to advance pathway and overarching equity goals.

Evaluation, Impact, and Culture of Learning 

• Results Driven: Data-driven decision making, engage in continual learning
• Work with the Director of Strategic Learning and Evaluation to develop and track metrics for pathway results and make needed adjustments to strategy development and implementation.
• Lead the team in capturing grant partner results and data in FLUXX and Salesforce systems.
• Seek opportunities to learn from and share new grantmaking and evaluation approaches.
• Participate in sharing successes and failures to inform our learning and continuous improvement culture.

Stakeholder Engagement 

• Provide external leadership and develop multi-sector partnerships to advance pathway results and the overarching equity agenda.
• Participate in leadership and oversight of FAITHS and Women of Color Leadership programs.
• Participate with Koshland Committee advisory group and staff on programmatic activities and events.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with funder partners, particularly those connected to the Power Pathway areas of focus and core community and institutional partners.
• Create opportunities to collaborate and network among all Power Pathway grant partners.
• Monitor, maintain knowledge of, and assess emerging equity issues, policies, and practices at the local, regional, state, and national levels — particularly those connected to the Power Pathway agenda.
• Identify themes and trends across our grant portfolio and the nonprofit sector to inform and refine grantmaking strategy and potential partnerships and other opportunities, including fundraising for specific projects and collaborative efforts.

Job Qualifications

Education 

Master’s degree or a combination of education and experience is preferred. Relevant disciplines include (but are not limited to) Public Affairs and Policy Management, Human Services, Community Organizing, Criminal Justice, and Political Science.

Leadership Experience 

• Minimum of ten years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the nonprofit, philanthropic, private or public sector.
• Experience and commitment to successfully developing, managing, and mentoring a diverse team.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships with diverse individuals, organizations, and communities.
• Experience developing and aligning strategies that contributes to overall results.
• Strong collaborator with experience managing complex initiatives.
• Experience with philanthropy, grantmaking, and/or fundraising.
• Familiarity with policy and systems change.
• Experienced public speaker and institutional ambassador.
• Demonstrated personal integrity and commitment to racial equity and the ability to engender trust, credibility, and confidence across racial, economic, ethnic, and geographic differences.

Content / Issue Area Knowledge 

• Demonstrated deep commitment to and experience working with racial and economic equity principles and practices.
• Extensive knowledge and experience in community organizing, movement building,  voter engagement, and leadership in the Bay Area.

Technical Abilities and Skills 

• Ability to lead collaborative efforts internally and externally.
• Excellent facilitation, listening, oral, and written communications skills.
• Ability to effectively manage multiple priorities, projects, and staff.
• Customer-service orientation to supporting grant partners and fellow staff in achieving goals and results.
• Self-starter with a results and problem-solving orientation and an ability to thrive in a fast-paced, changing environment. Computer literacy in Microsoft environments.

How to Apply

Please apply directly online.