Summary of Request

The BBCA Project Director will manage the work of the Building Broader Communities in the Americas (BBCA) initiative. 

Background on BBCA and CF Leads

Building Broader Communities in the Americas (BBCA) is a network of North American community foundations and partner organizations working together to address local and regional challenges by tapping into vibrant transnational communities, which are often invisible to decisionmakers. BBCA’s mission is to build stronger, smarter and more resilient communities throughout the Americas by enhancing the effectiveness of community foundations’ responsiveness to them.   

BBCA organizers believe that:

• Community foundations at their best are deeply connected with and accountable to the populations they serve in their regions.
• A network of community foundations working in deep partnership with their communities throughout the Americas has the potential to help address the economic, political and social challenges that affect us all.
• Developing a network of like-minded community foundations can help build stronger, more knowledgeable institutions by providing access to best practices, resources, and funding opportunities.
• Societal challenges as varied as economic marginalization, trafficking, violence against women and xenophobia have origins and solutions throughout the By working together to identify common needs and best practices, community foundations can find creative and constructive solutions to these issues and improve local prosperities.
• Community foundations can play a key role in sharing best practices and conceptualizing collaborative efforts across borders that improve the lives of communities in their regions, and shift the field of community philanthropy toward more equitable results for all.

BBCA activities are supported by the Mott Foundation and Inter-American Foundation. CFLeads oversees the day-to-day operations of BBCA. 

Community Foundations Leading Change (CFLeads) is a network of community foundations committed to building strong communities. CFLeads helps community foundations advance effective practices, share knowledge and galvanize action around the critical issues of our time. We give community foundations tools to rally the resources and build the relationships that lead to equitable outcomes and positive results for all residents. Through the collective knowledge of the field, we create learning opportunities and resources that build the capacity of community foundations to lead change. We also identify critical issues affecting communities and help community foundations develop responses that are centered on the needs of their residents.

Summary of Role

The Project Director is an independent contractor who, with guidance from the BBCA Coordination Team, directs and manages the day-to-day work of the BBCA including:

• Design, development and management of a learning program for community foundations engaged in BBCA mapping projects
• Oversight of 11+ community asset and needs “mapping” projects to ensure they are meeting their goals
• Strategy development and coordination of any new grantmaking processes of the BBCA
• Planning of BBCA gatherings, including agenda development, speaker identification, facilitation and logistics support
• Coordination and management of BBCA partners to advance BBCA activities
• Facilitation of BBCA Coordination Team and Steering Committee meetings, which, respectively, meet bi-monthly and annually.
• Recruitment of BBCA participants and ongoing relationship-building

All of these tasks will be conducted in close partnership with CFLeads, who will oversee the work.

Skills and experience desired

• Demonstrated interest in supporting the development of strong transnational communities in the Americas
• Experience working with community philanthropy and/or local development projects in the U.S. or Latin America
• Strong project management skills, especially in collaborative planning and facilitation
• Familiarity with the work of the BBCA
• Bilingual (English and Spanish)
• Ability to translate spoken and written word from English to Spanish and Spanish to English
• Ability to travel to BBCA meetings and conduct site visits throughout North America, as needed
• Warm, responsive customer service orientation
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion

Submission Deadline

Please submit a resume and statement of interest outlining qualifications and skills by January 24, 2020, to:

Caroline Merenda, CFLeads Director of Operations and Program Services, at [email protected].

Questions: Please contact Caroline Merenda at 800-292-6149, ext. 610.