The Barr Foundation’s mission is to invest in human, natural, and creative potential, serving as thoughtful stewards and catalysts. As stewards, Barr nurtures and enhances vital community assets. As catalysts, the foundation cultivates and advances the breakthrough ideas that will shape our collective future. Barr focuses on achieving impact as a constructive partner, willing to exercise leadership.   

Based in Boston, Barr focuses regionally, and selectively engages nationally, working in partnership with nonprofits, foundations, the public sector, and civic and business leaders to elevate the arts and creative expression, advance solutions for climate change, and connect all students to success in high school and beyond. Founded in 1997, Barr has grown to become one of the largest private foundations in New England with assets in excess of $2 billion and a 2021 grantmaking budget of nearly $120 million.   

A set of core values, defined by Barr’s founding trustees, expresses our beliefs about what constitutes effective philanthropy and guides how the Barr Foundation carries out its philanthropic mission. Barr is committed to strive for impact, invest in leaders, center racial equity, act with humility, take the long view, embrace risk, and demonstrate curiosity. These core values extend to our workplace culture, where we engage in learning opportunities on diversity, equity, and inclusion; reflect on our practices, policies, and grantmaking; and strive to create an environment where everyone is valued and included. Additionally, while each program is guided by distinct priorities and goals, Barr embraces a common set of approaches in all aspects of its work, namely flexibility and nimbleness, a broad range of tools, knowledge and learning, openness and transparency, and active collaboration. For more information on the Barr Foundation, please visit barrfoundation.org and @BarrFdn on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Barr’s Climate Program

Since its inception, the Barr Foundation has prioritized the environment as a principal area of funding, and in 2010 focused its efforts on the monumental problem of climate change, through work on both mitigation and resilience. 

The Climate Program’s mitigation efforts focus on the two areas that produce the most greenhouse gas emissions: 1) how we generate and use energy across the Northeast (Clean Energy); and 2) how we move around in the Greater Boston area and Massachusetts (Mobility). In addition, we acknowledge that even with concerted efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change, some of these impacts are inevitable. Our Climate Resilience focus area aims to increase the capacity of Metro Boston communities to prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change. We believe that while climate change is a global challenge, cities and states have become vital agents of change, and by focusing on these three areas, we can play an important role in helping to catalyze and advance equitable solutions. 

Across this work we seek to center racial equity. We do this by prioritizing communities that have suffered the most from the fossil fuel economy and focus on elevating the leadership of equity-centered climate organizations to grow their power and shape the climate field.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Barr Foundation is seeking a Program Officer to work primarily with the Mobility strategy of its Climate Program (roughly 65-75% of time), along with support to its Clean Energy strategy and the Climate Program overall. 

Barr’s Mobility strategy focuses in two areas: transforming the transportation system and accelerating the developing of low-carbon communities. Our grantmaking supports the advocacy community, research, communications, pilots and demonstration projects, and more through a variety of grantmaking strategies, Barr-led initiatives, and partnerships. All of the mobility work centers on reducing greenhouse gas emissions while addressing the needs of those most impacted by climate change. Learn more about our Mobility work here: https://www.barrfoundation.org/climate/mobility. 

The Program Officer will report to the Senior Program Officer, Mobility.

COMPENSATION

Salary is commensurate with experience and we anticipate a starting salary range between $115,000 to $125,000.

HOW TO APPLY

Click here for more information or to apply.

Covid-19 Update

This position is based in our Boston office. At this time, due to COVID-19 and out of concern for the health and safety of our employees and guests, the Barr Foundation is planning to work remotely through summer 2021. As a result, this position would begin as a remote work arrangement, with a return to the office subject to those policies and procedures that will guide the office reopening in 2021.