Executive Director

Child Care Resource Center, Inc.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

OVERVIEW:

Child Care Resource Center (CCRC), a leading nonprofit organization that promotes the care and education of all children through advocacy and programs that support families, professionals, and communities, seeks applications and nominations for the position of Executive Director. The cornerstones of CCRC's work include child care resource and referral services, child care tuition assistance, family literacy programming, health access, and training for child care providers and parents. All of CCRC’s programs target low to moderate income families who come from a diverse range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds and for whom access to education, skills development, child care, and health care is critical to their personal and economic success. CCRC seeks a dynamic leader to serve as the organization’s Executive Director who can ensure that the center stays vital and relevant for years to come. S/he must have a deep understanding of and commitment to the compelling importance of early care and early education and its benefit to children. The successful candidate will be an entrepreneurial, proactive, charismatic and nimble leader who possesses both the vision to inspire and the skills to lead an organization into its next phase of growth.

ABOUT CHILD CARE RESOURCE CENTER:

Founded in 1971 as the first resource and referral (R&R) agency in Massachusetts and one of the first in the United States, CCRC helped set the foundation for the vast network of R&R's nationwide. CCRC has scrutinized service gaps in local communities and modified its programs throughout its 37 year history to address the most current and urgent needs of children, families, and the early education workforce. CCRC ensures that families of all incomes have access to quality, affordable child care and strengthens the capacity and quality of the child care system. R&Rs connect families with quality licensed child care in their community, strengthen the field of child care by providing recruitment, training and technical assistance to child care providers, administer the state's voucher child care program and collect and share child care data for community planning purposes.

Additionally, CCRC assists employers in developing work/family benefits packages and supports employees with information, referrals, workshops and other dependent care services that can help them to balance work and family life. CCRC also provides information, advocacy, and advocacy training so that families, child care professionals and others can make their voices heard within the child care system. CCRC believes strongly that it will have the greatest impact if it partners with other human service agencies. To that end, CCRC collaborates with more than 50 community organizations to accomplish its diverse programming.

CCRC serves Greater Boston and extends its reach through a contract with the Department of Early Education and Care which specifically funds services in Cambridge, Somerville, Watertown, Newton, Belmont, Arlington, Wellesley, Weston, and Needham. CCRC is also a partner in a unique collaborative of Early Childhood agencies in Cambridge, which allows for Cambridge specific Community Initiatives programming. The majority of CCRC’s clients are parents and child care providers. All of CCRC’s programs target low to moderate income families and communities where the need is greatest.

Child Care Resource Center’s programs include:

Family Services - CCRC’s Family Services programs provide parents with information, counseling, and access to community resources that meet their families’ basic needs. CCRC contracts with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care to manage the state’s voucher program for child care and provides other third party subsidies to low-income families.

Professional Development - CCRC supports the child care workforce with workshops and training programs on topics such as child development, curriculum, and business management. Career development support is also available for those interested in exploring or advancing a career in early care and education.

Community Initiatives - CCRC’s Community Initiatives works with community-based organizations and corporate sponsors to build greater access to quality care and education and to support the family unit. Through the Cambridge Connections collaboration, CCRC runs literacy based playgroups throughout the city and offers the Pathways to Family Success program, which, combined with Parents ROCK (Reading On Computers with Kids), supports families in achieving self-sufficiency goals with an emphasis on literacy. The Health Access Project educates, advocates for, and connects individuals and families to health insurance and to health care providers. CCRC’s onsite ABC (Activities, Books, Computers) Community Room is a free lending library and computer laboratory used by parents, child care providers, and the general public. CCRC also runs two major events, Family Literacy Fun Day and the Caring for Babies Forum along with Art, Movement, and Music activities throughout the year.

Fiscal Sponsorship Collaboration - CCRC serves as a home to and supports initiatives that are compatible with its mission. Some of the initiatives include the Latino After-School Initiative, the Multilingual Action Council, and the Cambridge Community Partnership for Children. CCRC also works in collaboration with other advocacy groups to educate national, state, and local policymakers about the importance of affordable, quality education and the needs of the Early Education and Care Workforce.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

Reporting to and working closely with the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will be responsible for defining and executing strategic and operating plans for CCRC. The Executive Director has six direct reports which include the Family Services Director, Professional Services Director, Community Initiatives Manager, Grants Manager, Chief Financial Officer, and Administration and Technology Coordinator. CCRC has 10 part-time and 14 full-time staff and an annual operating budget of $1.8 million, which includes $760,000 in fiscally sponsored funds. In addition, CCRC manages over $7.8 million in child care subsidy funds.

Responsibilities for the Executive Director include but are not limited to overseeing all financial, managerial, facility and fundraising needs to ensure that the organization has the necessary resources to continue to provide exceptional services. The Executive Director is responsible for ensuring the organization's fiscal stability and philanthropic support, for managing the organization effectively and for recruiting and retaining motivated employees and volunteers. In addition, s/he will need to be nimble in responding to the changing landscape in early childhood education and R&R agencies. The Executive Director will need to be savvy about early childhood policy issues and politically astute so that CCRC will continue to serve families and meet their changing needs in the coming years.

Specifically, the Executive Director will be expected to manage the following challenges in the first 12-18 months of his/her tenure:

Strategic Planning and Leadership: Working with the Board of Directors and staff, the Executive Director will refine the priorities of CCRC to adapt to the changing early childhood landscape. S/he will inspire trust and confidence and effectively articulate a vision and motivate others to help implement it while ensuring that resources are in place to support the vision. S/he will determine expansion, growth, and collaboration opportunities and implement necessary steps to reach these goals. S/he will anticipate changing community needs with vision and imagination, initiate long-range strategic and operational planning and work with the board and staff to write a new strategic plan with buy in from the communities CCRC serves and implement it. S/he will continue to develop a strong Board of Directors who are engaged in the mission and governance of the organization and bring skills and resources to support its work.

Organizational Management: The Executive Director will hire, motivate, manage, evaluate and further develop CCRC’s staff. S/he will develop staff leadership to foster effective teamwork, seamless communication and high levels of professionalism and morale. The successful candidate will help build an engaged, skilled management team and a culturally competent staff that stays in touch with the community’s needs. S/he will manage internal operations towards optimal financial potential by setting priorities, agendas, and strategies. S/he will oversee concrete and realistic timelines, budgets, and work plans in all organizational areas and react adroitly to reshape the organization to meet changing funding situations and child care initiatives.

Fundraising: The Executive Director will develop a fundraising strategy that recognizes a changing environment and then will lead the fundraising plan with best practices to significantly grow support. S/he will work collaboratively with the Board of Directors to nurture existing relationships while building new ones with an eye towards increasing the overall funding base. S/he will be expected to generate new sources of revenue from foundations and corporations, develop corporate partnerships and sponsorships, expand the individual donor base, and maximize funding opportunities through collaboration with other agencies.

Operations and Finance: Working closely with the Board and the Chief Financial Officer, the Executive Director will ensure the financial well being of the organization. S/he will manage the organization’s finances, ensuring fiscal responsibility and continued growth to support program expansion and build net assets. S/he will finalize budgets, oversee revenues and expenditures, and maintain internal controls and financial discipline. In addition, s/he will oversee agency compliance with all applicable non-profit laws, contractual obligations, and donor restrictions, and maintain appropriate internal policies and procedures to ensure such compliance.

Marketing and Communications: The Executive Director will foster dynamic and productive internal relationships with CCRC’s Board of Directors and staff. S/he will work with the Board and staff to develop and refine CCRC’s mission, program goals, and unique value so that these can be communicated more effectively to funders, collaborators, clients, and the community and is easily understood. S/he will be an articulate, persuasive, and charismatic advocate of CCRC and serve as a high-profile ambassador of CCRC by joining key community associations, giving speeches, and building collaborations with appropriate institutions.

QUALIFICATIONS:

This is an exciting opportunity for a leader knowledgeable in early childhood development and community activist to encourage parents, families, and caregivers to become more active participants in preparing their children for a lifetime of learning. The successful candidate will be a visionary and energetic leader with a proven track record of over five years successfully managing a nonprofit and/or business of similar size, complexity, and trajectory and who has a deeply held, demonstrated respect and understanding of why early care and education matters. Respected and enterprising, the ideal candidate will be an innovative and strategic thinker who can nurture current partnerships while identifying and establishing new collaborations, capitalizing on unrealized opportunities, and translating an ambitious vision into realistic strategies and programs, and diversely-funded operations. S/he must have the savvy, perspective, and maturity to guide CCRC through a critical time in its organizational development.

While no one person will embody all of the qualities enumerated below, the ideal candidate would possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

• Seasoned leadership skills combined with solid strategic thinking and an ability to manage multiple priorities while leading in a manner that embodies respect, teamwork and collaboration from a diversified and dedicated staff. Ability to be a team builder who is participatory and inclusive in management style when appropriate and is a creative but structured thinker as well as a thoughtful listener;

• Experience working with, developing, and engaging a volunteer Board of Directors and leveraging board talents and time;

• Ability to analyze and understand organizational strengths and weaknesses and to develop and implement a vision and strategy that can move an organization forward while being able to communicate the vision to inspire others;

• A proven track record in donor cultivation, new revenue generation, and funder relations with a strong history of successfully taking organizations to the next level of sustained philanthropic support;

• Collaborative and creative management skill with the ability to see the potential for joint program development and connections with other community and corporate leaders. A willingness and drive to be involved in the community, to listen to what is needed and to act skillfully to achieve it;

• A background in Early Childhood or have experience in a related field with a demonstrated ability to learn quickly and gain expertise in new fields. An unwavering commitment to the belief that all children deserve to and can enter kindergarten prepared to thrive;

• A commitment to staff diversity and an appreciation for its complexities in the broadest sense. The ability and eagerness to be a dynamic and compelling ambassador to all audiences including clients, staff, benefactors, board members, government officials and public agencies, among others;

• Exceptional oral, written, listening, and interpersonal communications skills are a must. Desire and demonstrated ability to work with and be advised by funders, advisors, community partners, clients, and staff with various ethnic/cultural and educational backgrounds;

• A minimum of five years of successful, high-level senior project management experience as an executive or senior management position, shepherding multiple stakeholders. Direct experience in early childhood education highly desirable;

• An advanced degree in Management, Education, Public Administration, Family Policy or a related field as well as an in-depth understanding of the prevailing and promising practices of the field of early childhood development preferred. Bilingual a plus.
   

TO APPLY:

Applications should be sent to ccrc-ed@nonprofitprofessionals.com by Friday, June 20, 2008, and will be reviewed as received; interviews will be granted as interesting candidates are identified.

To be considered complete, applications must include a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your resume (in Word format), your salary history, and where you learned of the position. In order to expedite the internal sorting and reviewing process, please write your name (i.e., Smith, Jane) as the only contents in the subject line of your e-mail.

Additional information about Child Care Resource Center may be found at: http://www.ccrcinc.org.

 

Child Care Resource Center is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to build a staff representative of the community it serves.