Principal

Arbor Rising is a nonprofit on a mission to help support and sustain organizations building paths out of poverty. Formerly known as Arbor Brothers, Arbor Rising provides essential organization-building support to promising nonprofits at critical moments in their development, enabling their grantees to drive impact, increase sustainability, and unlock growth. Their engaged approach to philanthropy, which couples funding with this high-dosage consulting, provides charitable donors with a passion for results a vehicle to optimize the effectiveness of their giving. Since 2010, Arbor Rising has supported dozens of nonprofits in the NY-NJ-CT area, contributing millions of dollars in unrestricted funding and tens of thousands of hours of capacity-building support to organizations serving marginalized young people and families.

Arbor Rising is growing their team by adding a new Principal—a seasoned nonprofit leader with a passion for building new relationships and helping nonprofits expand their impact. This Principal will be joining a lean team of six and have the opportunity to work across all aspects of the organization. This broad mix of responsibilities will be anchored in consulting and coaching support, but will also include grantee selection, outreach and networking, and a variety of other internal priorities.

The new Principal will be someone with deep experience managing nonprofit organizations, well-developed coaching skills, strong analytical acumen, and a talent for cultivating high trust partnerships. They will have a passion for combating poverty and be drawn to working on a small, agile team.

As a part of its commitment to equity, Arbor Rising seeks to employ a diverse and multicultural staff.

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

For 12 years, Arbor Rising has partnered with high-potential nonprofits focused on catalyzing economic mobility in the New York tri-state area, and they are now expanding their geographic reach to serve a number of new communities across the country. The new Principal will play a key role in refining and executing on this expansion strategy, so enthusiasm for and skill in priority-setting, project planning, and relationship-building are essential.

Beyond helping facilitate expansion, the Principal will be rooted in the daily work of consulting and coaching support that Arbor Rising provides to their grantee partners. These partner organizations are typically:

• Investing Deeply: they are engaging with participants for months or years in order to build sustainable pathways out of poverty;
• “Second Stage”: AR’s core portfolio focuses on nonprofits that are between 2-10 years old and poised to transition from high-potential into high-performing; and
• Based Locally: they historically have served New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, though that list is expanding to a broader group of low-income communities across the country.

Arbor Rising takes an exceptionally engaged approach to philanthropy, providing both financial support and in-depth consulting to nonprofit leaders whose organizations have moved off the drawing board and onto the growth curve. To maximize the impact of their giving, they deploy their team to:

• Screen and select high-potential nonprofit organizations from hundreds of applicants, with rigorous vetting through management meetings and site visits;
• Fund operations with grants of unrestricted capital, targeting $300,000 of support over three years; and
• Engage in deep partnership, rolling up their sleeves and working with grantee leaders to help solve their most pressing problems and build internal capacity. They invest hundreds of hours of their time—more than any funder in the country—in each grantee to co-create the systems, team, and culture necessary for impact and growth. This includes building Theories of Change, financial forecasts, performance management systems, and more.

Their grantees, propelled by their investment, go on to deliver extraordinary social impact. Since 2010, portfolio organizations have garnered support from the nation’s most prestigious funders while raising more than $250 million dollars to serve more than a hundred thousand marginalized young people and families. Grantee partners have included leading nonprofits like All Our Kin, COOP Careers, and Springboard Collaborative. Their current portfolio extends this cradle-to-career investment in the NY-NJ-CT community.

OPPORTUNITIES AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL

As mentioned, Arbor Rising’s lean team means the Principal role will entail a broad mix of responsibilities. The role will be anchored in consulting and coaching support, but will also include grantee prospect outreach, portfolio selection, and a variety of internal priorities.

Consulting and Coaching Support (50% of the role)

The Principal’s primary responsibility involves direct engagement with grantees, both to execute capacity-building projects (e.g. building a performance management system) and provide leadership coaching where welcome and appropriate. In a nutshell, the Principal builds strong relationships with grantee leaders, helps them identify areas of organizational growth, and plays the role of active coach and consultant to help drive impact.

Leadership of Geographic Expansion (25%)

As Arbor Rising grows beyond its original tri-state area focus, the Principal will be responsible for much of the outreach, relationship building, and strategic prioritization of the grantmaking opportunities that arise.

Grantee Selection (10%)

In coordination with the Arbor Rising team and Board, the Principal will play a key role in the annual vetting and grantee selection process, both in the tri-state area and expansion portfolios.

Internal Priorities (15%)

The Principal will also contribute to an evolving mix of the following:

• Strategy: Identify novel opportunities for supporting grantees and develop pilot projects to explore their potential impact.
• Codification: Craft and help refine best-in-class roadmaps and exemplar tools for helping grantees navigate organizational challenges.
• Fundraising:
  • Identify and cultivate potential new funding sources.
  • Prepare for and attend pitch meetings with current and potential donors.
• Operations:
  • Help set and pursue annual strategic and operational goals.
  • Participate in internal hiring processes.

QUALIFICATIONS OF THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following:

Experiences

• Been a C-suite leader at a nonprofit with an annual budget of $3 – $15+ million and managed a team of 25+ OR consulted, coached, or otherwise deeply supported such nonprofit leaders for 10+ years.
• Led an organization / division / team to consistently achieve ambitious goals.
• Meaningful experience both in working in diverse teams and living, working, or volunteering in low-income communities.
• A demonstrated ability to influence without direct authority (i.e., changing mindsets or behaviors for folks who do not report to you).
• Demonstrated success in outreach and building new partnerships.

Attributes

• Extraordinary dependability in meeting high work-quality standards. Arbor Rising’s team is detail-oriented and obsessed with follow-through. The strongest candidates will be seen by colleagues as extremely well-prepared and conscientious.
• “Mission-first, ego-last” mindset regarding social change. Arbor Rising has an intentionally lean team with no purely administrative support, so they all pitch in on everything to get things done.
• An instinct for constructive collaboration. Both within their team and with their grantees - empathy, active listening, and clear communication are necessary to work effectively across lines of difference and push the dialog in important ways.
• Clear and polished written and verbal communication skills.

Sources of Fulfillment

• Enjoys applying structured (and quantitative, where appropriate) approaches to solving problems. Helping grantees arrive at good answers is helpful; building a framework to help grantees consistently arrive at good answers on their own is even better.
• An interest in learning; more specifically, in refining the pedagogical and relationship-building skills necessary to consult and coach effectively.
• Positive vibes! Arbor Rising’s work is hard but if it’s done right, it can be both thoroughly satisfying and sustainable. They view their efforts as a marathon, and they believe humor and work-life balance are essential ingredients in long-term sustainability.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The total compensation for the Principal role is designed to be competitive within the nonprofit sector. Starting salaries are commensurate with experience and range from $200,000 – $230,000. Principals can also expect a 3% retirement match and five weeks of paid vacation, among other benefits.

LOCATION: Flexible (with regular in-person time in NYC and some travel required)

TO APPLY

For more information about Arbor Rising, please visit: ArborRising.org

This search is being led by Allison Kupfer Poteet and Rachel Burgoyne of NPAG. Candidates may submit their cover letter, outlining their interest and qualifications, along with their resume via NPAG’s website.

Arbor Rising is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding, and enables each of us to realize our potential. AR’s work environment is safe and open to all employees, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality in which you are working.