Executive Director

The Executive Director at Be the Change Earth Alliance is responsible for the leadership, management, and direction of the organization. This dynamic, engaging and multi-faceted role requires a range of skills. The job is very rewarding, offering the chance to work in a collaborative, creative work environment and witness the positive impact of Be the Change’s educational programs on youth and educators. While the Executive Director role requires significant independent work, the work environment at BTCEA is team-based and highly collaborative. Staff work closely together to manage projects, problem solve, and support each other. The incumbent will be a leader of the team, but very much a part of this dynamic, inclusive team, as well.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Hiring: Executive Director
Organization: Be the Change Earth Alliance
Location: Vancouver, BC

About the Organization

Be The Change Earth Alliance (BTCEA) is a bold, agile and creative charitable organization founded in 2005 with a mission to empower youth and community members to take personal and collective action for a just, sustainable and thriving world. Our flagship program, Student Leadership for Change (SLC), is an online library of learning resources that enable teachers to engage their students in meaningful learning, dialogue, reflection and action on climate, environmental and social justice topics. SLC engages thousands of students per year through the network of over 1,300 BC teachers who are actively registered for the program. The SLC holistic approach covers a full spectrum of ways participants can ‘be the change’ to address global issues, from individual, school and community actions to political advocacy. Beyond SLC, BTCEA provides various programs that works to educate and empower youth through workshops, storytelling training, and hands-on mentorship.

BTCEA’s programs have reached new heights in the past two years, reaching more than 20,000 students and nearly 2,000 educators. BTCEA has built trust and a strong reputation among teachers, administrators and school districts across BC over the past decade. This is an exciting organization which is building momentum towards transformative change within the BC education community.

This job is for you if you…

• Deeply care about climate, environmental and social justice
• Possess a passion for transformative youth education that fosters an ecologically sustainable, just, and thriving world
• Seek a dynamic, diverse, inclusive, and collaborative team environment where your ideas, work, and contributions are heard and appreciated
• Aim to grow your leadership skills and create a significant impact by engaging and empowering thousands of students and educators each year

About the Role

The Executive Director at Be the Change Earth Alliance is responsible for the leadership, management, and direction of the organization. This dynamic, engaging and multi-faceted role requires a range of skills. The job is very rewarding, offering the chance to work in a collaborative, creative work environment and witness the positive impact of Be the Change’s educational programs on youth and educators.

While the Executive Director role requires significant independent work, the work environment at BTCEA is team-based and highly collaborative. Staff work closely together to manage projects, problem solve, and support each other. The incumbent will be a leader of the team, but very much a part of this dynamic, inclusive team, as well.

This is a full-time role (40 hours per week). The job will require working more than 40 hours certain weeks; the incumbent can take lieu time at a later time when this occurs.

The incumbent will be able to set their own specific schedule, and there is considerable flexibility on when hours are worked. Most of the Executive Director’s work will take place during business days and during typical business hours. The job sometimes requires work on evenings and weekends, for example for events or conferences, or to meet grant deadlines.

This is a hybrid position; the incumbent can choose to work remotely or at the BTCEA office in Vancouver. Given some work will be required at the office, and most of our in-person workshops and events take place in Metro Vancouver, it is strongly recommended that the incumbent be based in Metro Vancouver.

Compensation: the salary range is $52,000 - $68,000 based on qualifications and experience . The incumbent will be entitled to 5 health days per year (increases each year) and access to a $1000 health benefit trust per year. The incumbent will receive two weeks paid vacation, as well as two paid weeks over the winter holiday season, when our office is closed.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Executive Director role is multifaceted, and requires a high degree of competence and skill in several distinct areas. We do not anticipate candidates to have experience in all areas of the job, and will give space for the incumbent to learn and grow on the job, with support from our team. As such, we welcome applicants who feel excited and confident about the position, even if they have not had formal work experience in non-profit leadership. Folks from equity-seeking groups, including Black, Indigenous and People of Colour, are highly encouraged to apply. Given we are a youth-focused organization, we strongly encourage youth (under 35) to apply - this is a great leadership development opportunity for you.

We are open to exploring with successful candidates how they can feel best supported in the role, to maintain positive health, fulfillment and joy in the work and to avoid overwhelm and burnout associated with this demanding position. This may include creating a leadership team, so not all major responsibilities fall on the Executive Director.

Below we list the key responsibilities of the role. In any given week, the areas of responsibility that require most attention will vary. To give a few examples: the summer is focused on designing and adapting our programs for the coming school year; the months of July, August, November and December tend to be the most busy for grant applications and fundraising; February involves preparation for our Annual General Meeting.

1. Leadership
   1. Lead the organization and all its components to achieving its mission
   2. Ensure staff team is motivated and focused on the organization’s key goals
   3. Build and maintain a team culture of collaboration, inclusion, and support for one another.
   4. Create an accessible, inclusive working environment conducive to to staff and volunteers performing their best, growing, and thriving
2. Strategy
   1. Develop organizational strategy, in collaboration with Board of Directors, staff team and key community stakeholders
   2. Ensure organizational practices and programs align with overall mission and strategy
3. Governance
   1. Work closely with the Board of Directors to ensure good governance of the organization, including identifying areas of growth or support needed, ie: in board policy, governance practices, and justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.
   2. Maintain a strong relationships with the Board of Directors
   3. Attend and present at quarterly board meetings, including finding relevant ways to keep the Board of Directors informed on relevant organizational information
4. Program Management
   1. Oversee and ensure excellence in the design, promotion, delivery and evaluation of all programs, which include educational resources, workshops to students and teachers, mentorship opportunities and other community engagement activities related to environmental, social and climate issues
   2. Ensure programs are aligned with mission and strategy, while meeting the needs and interest of our primary beneficiaries – middle & high school students and teachers
   3. Maintain a high standard of quality across all educational programs
   4. Oversee program communications, outreach and promotion
   5. Actively problem solve and diffuse any issues or conflicts within program design or delivery – this can include stepping in to complete key program work that is not being done effectively by staff
   6. Manage the budgets for each program
   7. Perform monitoring and evaluation of programs, including the completion of required reports for grantors
5. Financial Management and Fundraising
   1. Develop and manage the organization’s budget
   2. Oversee and authorize all organizational spending (in alignment with approved budget)
   3. Practice strong financial management, including regularly forecasting organizational cash flow and expenses, projecting modifications to organizational budget, and seeking opportunities to grow the organization’s cash reserve
   4. Raise approximately $300,000 in revenue each year. While Be the Change’s most significant source of revenue historically has been grants from foundations, corporations and governments, creating a more diverse financial profile is an organizational priority. We typically write approximately 40 grants per year (winning about 40%), which support both new and existing projects. Other typical sources of revenue include, private donors, youth wage subsidies, and social enterprise.
   5. Work with Board Chair, Treasurer and Finance Committee to ensure finances are stable and funds are spent in alignment with organizational goals
   6. Foster relationships with key private donors
6. Human Resources
   1. Manage the hiring, training, supervision and termination of all staff
   2. Address and resolve staff issues and complaints
   3. Foster a thriving staff culture, where staff feel supported, resourced to do their jobs, and have their accessibility or other work-related needs met
   4. Oversee engagement with volunteers
   5. Support (possibly lead) the staff team’s internal committee on anti-racism, equity, inclusion and decolonization, which meets bi-weekly to take action to uphold these values and priorities through Be Change’s programs and in our organizational practice, policy and culture.
7. Partnerships and Public Relations
   1. Represent the organization externally with the public, partner organizations, collaborators, foundations, government agencies, school system, the media, etc.
   2. Develop and maintain relationships and partnerships with key stakeholders, community members, organizations within the school system, including teachers, principals, district administrators, Ministry of Education
   3. Develop and maintain relationships and partnerships with other organizations, including the UBC Climate Hub, Classrooms to Communities Network, etc.
8. Administration and Operations
   1. Complete key administrative tasks to ensure organization remains healthy and in good legal standing
   2. Maintain the regular and smooth operation of the organization in collaboration with other staff

Qualifications

• Passion for BTCEA’s work and alignment with organizational values
• Strong leadership skills
• Experience in education - either designing or delivering educational programs for youth ages 11-18
• Strong writer – clear, compelling and concise writing style (eg: for grants, emails, reports)
• Experience managing people and teams
• Experience with financial management and/or fund development
• Strategic thinking - ability to keep the organization focused on its mission and strategic goals

Assets

• Lived experience that could inform weaving social justice and intersectional perspectives into BTCEA’s work
• Experience with grant writing and reporting
• Presentation and public speaking
• Experience with private donor fundraising
• Creating and working within budgets
• Combination of big-picture thinking and attention to detail
• Project and task management skills
• Collaborative worker – skilled and comfortable working closely with others
• Strong prioritization and time management skills
• Professional communication
• Uses critical and creative thinking to solve problems, resolve conflicts
• Humility and commitment to personal learning, growth
• Confident giving and receiving feedback
• Experience in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion work
• Knowledge on environmental and social justice issues
• Drawn to networking and collaborating with communities and organizations outside of their own
• Has a passion for inclusive, impactful, empowering education for all learners

Application Process

Please apply through this application link, which involves submitting a resume and cover letter, by Tuesday January 23rd.

Please combine your resume and cover letter into our PDF, with the title of the file following the format “Firstname.Lastname.BTCEA.ED”. In your cover letter, please feel free to speak to: why BTCEAs values resonate with you; the power of youth education; what your resume doesn’t share about how you’re a fit for this role

After reviewing the applications, we will invite candidates for a 30-min screening interview (questions provided ahead of time). Finalists will then be invited to attend an in-person or virtual 1-2 one-hour follow-up interview(s) (questions provided ahead of time), with the potential of a paid assignment, such as a grant application or presentation, that will inform final decisions.

Be The Change Earth Alliances values kindness, inclusion and diversity. Appreciating differences in culture, gender, orientation, religion, beliefs, and abilities, we encourage all qualified applicants to apply. If you have questions around the role or if this process feels prohibitive to you, feel free to email george@bethechangeearthalliance.org (current Executive Director), and he or one of the Board of Directors can speak with you about the role and process