We’re looking for our next executive director
May 22, 2024
Category: News
Tags: Career, Community-Building, Equity, Inclusion, Job posting, Leadership,
We are hiring! Following our longtime executive director Ivan Canada’s departure in January for an incredible professional opportunity as the president & CEO for the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits, NCCJ is looking for our next leader. (In the meantime, Erika Rain Wilhite – previously NCCJ’s development and communications director since 2016 – is serving as the organization’s interim executive director.)
Can you help us find our next executive director?
NCCJ’s Executive Director (ED) is a full-time professional charged with leading the NCCJ organization, including NCCJ’s overall program, communications, administrative, marketing, and fund development goals; working to support and uplift NCCJ’s Mission and Vision and moving NCCJ effectively to the next level of impact and success. The NCCJ Executive Director must be mission-driven, collaborative, innovative, equity minded and social impact focused. This person will serve as the brand ambassador and champion of NCCJ in the community, across all stakeholders, including donors, volunteers, business leaders, community members, nonprofit leaders, government, education partners, families served and more. The Executive Director will leverage the power of relationships and networks, working across private, public, and corporate sectors. Click here to learn more about the position.
Interested in applying? NCCJ has selected Charles Aris Executive Search as our search partner. Interested candidates should email Charles Aris Senior Associate Lauren Boone at lauren.boone@charlesaris.com directly with their resume and cover letter.
Organizational Overview
NCCJ is a human relations organization that promotes understanding and respect among people of all cultures, races, and religions through advocacy, education, and dialogue. NCCJ does not advocate for any group; we work to build mutual respect among all people – regardless of race, culture, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic background, faith, or any other aspect of identity.
To fulfill our mission, NCCJ’s key initiatives strive to create inclusive, respectful, and just communities; and we do that work by committing to the following activities and areas of focus:
- Ongoing workplace, community, and interfaith programs
- Anytown, STARR: Students Talking About Race + Racism, Anyday, and other youth programs, including the Ambassador program
- Targeted advocacy and communication aimed at eliminating bias, bigotry, and racism
Our current strategic plan is focused on taking NCCJ to the next level in fulfilling our mission, with a common thread of growth and expansion. The work of our current strategic plan can be summed up by the following Top 5 Big Ideas:
- Evolve and establish the most timely, high impact programs
- Develop, expand and grow donor base and total contributions
- Superior marketing that expands awareness and recognition of NCCJ
- Best in class staffing, systems and management practices
- Establish process and action steps that are responsive to community needs to further NCCJ’s mission and vision.
History/Milestones/Recognitions
NCCJ recently celebrated 85 years of service to the community. We are the oldest human relations organization in North Carolina, and the one with the greatest depth of experience working with teens on social justice issues. NCCJ (originally short for “National Conference for Christians and Jews”) was formed in the 1920s to promote interfaith tolerance at a time of deepening divisions between religious, racial and ethnic groups. In the following decades, NCCJ’s focus broadened to encompass aspects of diversity including race, gender, and sexual orientation and we became “National Conference for Community and Justice” in the 1990s. Greensboro’s NCCJ, which had long been one of the strongest NCCJ chapters in the Southeast, became an independent nonprofit in 2005 after the national organization dissolved. For the next decade, we focused on serving teens in Guilford County.
Between 2015 and 2020, our Greensboro NCCJ began to shift our focus to statewide expansion. By that point, we were the last remaining NCCJ entity in North Carolina. Our strong reputation as a trusted convener of respectful, nonpartisan conversations led to invitations and requests for help from across the state. In August 2022, we officially changed our full name to North Carolina for Community and Justice to reflect our increasing reach across the state.
Recognitions:
- 2011 – Nonprofit of the Year by the Guilford Nonprofit Consortium.
- 2020, 2021 & 2022 – Recognized Duke Energy as one of 40 North Carolina nonprofit organizations committed to social justice and racial equity and awarded a generous grant.
- 2021-22 – Partnered with Guilford County Schools to provide programming to students participating in the innovative Learning Hubs project.
- 2023 – We are celebrating the 35th anniversary of Anytown, our flagship leadership and human relations program for high school students.
- 2023 – NCCJ, the Kellin Foundation and Guilford County Schools were awarded a 4-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to address and support mental health at a cohort of schools.
