Position Purpose: The Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga strengthens our community by providing quality services to donors and innovative leadership on community issues. Building upon over 50 years of experience in community investment, the Vice President of Community Investment oversees the Foundation’s strategic grantmaking and community impact programs, including the Foundation’s college access strategies. The position requires comprehensive understanding of community economic development, nonprofit and community capacity building, collaboration and coalition building, and the role of philanthropy in community improvement and change. Successful candidates will have a proven track record of translating a vision for community change into a community investment framework.

About the Foundation:

For the past 50 years, the Community Foundation has been a community convener and problem-solver, responding to immediate needs and anticipating future challenges. We listen to community leaders and nonprofits to understand Chattanooga’s greatest needs. We also listen to our donors to understand what they care about and then connect their passions with purpose in the community.

The Community Foundation currently has assets under management of more than $145 M. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors and has a staff of 9. The Foundation distributes over $15M in grants annually.

About the Position:

A key member of the Foundation’s leadership team, the Vice President of Community Investment will work with members of the board, staff, and community partners to oversee and guide the implementation of a bold vision of a community where all children have access to a high-quality public education regardless of their socio-economic status or background and where opportunities for upward mobility enable individuals and families to move out of poverty and thrive.  In addition, the VP of Community Investment will play a lead role in developing the Foundation’s local impact investing program focused on creating opportunities for economic mobility and wealth creation in underserved and marginalized communities.

The Board of the Community Foundation recently adopted a new strategic focus for the Foundation’s discretionary grantmaking program which includes an emphasis on building capacity of nonprofits to provide high-quality services for our community’s most vulnerable residents while working to address the root causes of the challenges their constituents face; the development and support of diverse leadership across sectors; ensuring that every student has access to high public education and the support they need to succeed; investments that create pathways for upward mobility for low-income residents. The Vice President of Community Investment, working with the Director of Community Impact will oversee the implementation of the new grants framework.

The Board also recently approved an impact investing program that will emphasize investments in tools and strategies aimed at increasing opportunities for economic mobility.  The Vice President of Community Investment will work closely with members of the Board and the Staff to develop impact investing strategies and identify viable investments.

The Foundation operates over 80 scholarship funds. The largest, Together We Can, focuses resources on low-income students who are the first in their family to attend college.  In 2018-2019, The Vice President of Community Investment, with the Director of Scholarships, will lead a strategic planning process to set the vision and strategic goals for the Foundation’s college access program and to align those initiatives with the Foundation’s recently adopted grantmaking framework and focus on equity in education and upward mobility.

The Vice President of Community Investment reports to the President and leads a team of 3 in achieving the Foundation’s community impact and leadership goals.

Key Experience:

• At least 10 years’ experience in community economic development, public policy or community change work; previous experience working for a philanthropic organization is strongly preferred
• A proven track record of engaging broad groups of stakeholders to identify community issues and develop community-informed solutions for change
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of approaches to addressing complex social issues, including generational poverty, educational inequity, economic opportunity and equity
• Experience in strategic planning, development and implementation of community change programs and initiatives
• Demonstrated knowledge of collective impact approaches and experience utilizing community data to track progress toward addressing community goals
• Experience with community investments that seek a financial as well as social return, including mission related and program related investments desired
• Experience successfully leading a team to achieve ambitious goals
• A demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusivity

Key Competencies:

• A builder of relationships who can bring a bold vision for community change into action and build credibility with people of diverse backgrounds, perspectives and cultures
• A strategic, systems-level thinker who is able to see the big picture and determine opportunities and threats through comprehensive analysis
• Excellent conceptual and analytical skills; highly numerate
• A good listener and facilitator who can engage diverse opinions and perspectives to understand community issues and develop community-informed solutions
• A quick learner and self-starter who copes effectively with complexity and change
• A skilled manager with the ability to lead a team and work closely with the President and Board to achieve organizational and community goals
• A person with passion and enthusiasm for the work of the Community Foundation
• A superior writer with strong public speaking and presentation skills; and an ability to explain complex concepts in a simple and easy to understand manner
• A commitment to fostering an environment where equity and excellence are core to the effectiveness of the organization and where an equity lens is applied to achieving results
• Sustain and grow effective program strategies to ensure alignment with CFGC’s overall vision and lead efforts to create partnerships and community investment opportunities for CFGC

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide leadership in the development and implementation of the Foundation’s grantmaking and community impact work, including the college access strategy
• Work with Director of Scholarships to develop the strategy, goals and action plan for the Foundation’s college access work and to align that strategy with the Foundation’s upward mobility focus
• Work with diverse groups of community leaders to form partnerships to identify and develop opportunities for upward mobility and improved financial security for low-income families
• Work with the Impact Investment Committee, President and Foundation staff to identify and evaluate opportunities for local impact investments that align with the Foundation’s mission and grantmaking focus and create an opportunity for investment return
• Work with the President and Director of Community Impact to develop an evaluation framework to understand and track the impact of the Foundation’s investments (this may include co-investments with other funders.)
• Monitor community needs and work with grantees, residents, philanthropic and nonprofit leaders and other constituents to create solutions; represent the Foundation and provide community leadership in a variety of community meetings and settings
• Contribute to building an organizational culture that fosters individual leadership, accountability and continuous improvement
• Lead a team to achieve the Foundation’s grantmaking and community impact goals

To Apply

To be considered for the position, please upload a resume, cover letter and salary requirements at https://cfgc.recruiterbox.com . This website allows for one document upload per candidate, so please save as one document prior to uploading.