Zen Hospice Project
Executive Director Job Announcement
San Francisco, CA
January 2009
About the Organization
In 1987, a small group of visionaries from the San Francisco Zen Center acted to address the needs created by the advancing spread of cancer and the raging AIDS epidemic in the Bay Area. Inspired by 2500-year old Buddhist practices, our beginnings were at once modest and revolutionary, as our mission of bringing mindfulness and compassion to the care of the dying began to unfold. 21 years later, Zen Hospice Project (ZHP) remains true to that mission.
As the first and largest Buddhist volunteer hospice program in the country, ZHP has emerged as a leader in the field of hospice care, utilizing a distinctive approach rooted in the Buddhist practices of wisdom, kindness and awareness. We provide a spectrum of collaborative services that include volunteer caregiver support, residential hospice care, bereavement services and public education programs. We are nationally renowned as a leading innovator in training, supporting and retaining volunteer caregivers who provide compassionate service by the bedside of a vulnerable and underserved population who would otherwise face death alone.
In the past two decades, our approach to end-of-life care has been well documented and received widespread attention. Today, Zen Hospice Project has a shared vision of a next generation of new and innovative programs and services that will help reshape the concept of hospice care in the future.
Zen Hospice Project is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors, has a staff of five full-time employees and an annual budget of $600,000. A Three-Year Strategic Plan was recently adopted that reflects the Board’s vision of our future:
1. Maintain and enhance our Volunteer Caregiver Program at the hospice of Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, providing support and growth opportunities for ZHP’s 85 volunteers who serve at the bedside of LHH’s terminally ill residents.
2. Complete a major renovation of our organizational headquarters, a 130-year old Victorian home in San Francisco (known as the Guest House) that is the spiritual center of ZHP’s activities.
3. Pursue licensure as a residential hospice care facility.
4. Launch a social enterprise initiative that expands the educational and training component of our mission and creates a new source of organizational revenue.
The Position
The next several years at Zen Hospice Project could well be the most exciting in our history. Our new Executive Director will be a visionary, entrepreneurial leader who can guide ZHP’s next generation of program innovation in end-of-life care. To do so, he/she must have proven successful fundraising experience and the ability to manage day-to-day operations and provide strategic guidance to the Board. The Executive Director will also possess the talent to communicate effectively and build relationships with multiple constituencies, including the Board, staff, volunteers, donors, foundation officers and community leaders.
Over the next two years, the Executive Director will be the guiding force in the implementation of ZHP’s core strategies. This will include oversight of the renovation of our Page Street Guest House (already underway) and, in concert with the Board, the exploration of alternative models for end-of-life care and our hospice licensing initiative. He/She will also drive the continued growth of our Education Center’s new social enterprise training programs, designed to broaden our community outreach and generate an earned income revenue stream that will help balance our financial portfolio.
This is an ideal opportunity for a creative, energetic and passionate individual who possesses an entrepreneurial spirit and a genuine appreciation of the value of spirituality and contemplative practice.
Key Job Responsibilities
Fund Development
• In collaboration with the development staff, create and implement ZHP’s annual fund development plan to identify and secure the necessary resources, financial and otherwise, to accomplish ZHP’s organizational mission
• Strengthen relationships with current funding entities, including private and corporate foundations
• Expand and broaden future foundation funding prospects
• Implement a Major Donor Campaign to expand individual donor base
• Provide support for the Board’s task of raising funds for the Three-Year Strategic Plan’s Expansion Campaign
Operations (including Staff and Finances)
• Provide leadership and direction for the organization and for its partners
• Recruit and retain strong staff built on teamwork and collaborative decision-making
• Ascertain that the personnel policies of ZHP are adhered to in all hiring and employment practices. Propose changes in policy to Board of Directors
• Provide for staff development activities that upgrade employee skills and motivate performance and promote staff retention
• In collaboration with the Director of Finance, ensure fiduciary responsibility and sound fiscal management of all agency assets
• Prepare annual budget and develop plan to meet financial needs of program
• Ensure organizational compliance with state and federal regulations and agency contracts and grants
• Supervise audits, preparation of expenditure reports, and all other fiscal reports
• Oversee banking transactions and other filing requirements
Partnership with Board of Directors
• Ensure Board compliance with all applicable state and federal nonprofit governance requirements, including IRS regulations and The Nonprofit Integrity Act (SB 1262)
• Report regularly to the Board of Directors regarding organizational strategies, objectives, successes and challenges
• Provide sufficient information to the Board of Directors to assist them in their decision making and policy formulation
• Periodically review and revise Board bylaws as necessary
• Actively engage with the Board on new member recruitment
• Work closely with Board President and Executive Committee to implement policies, achieve strategic planning goals and fulfill ZHP’s organizational mission.
Community Relations
• Maintain working partnership with Laguna Honda Hospital
• Establish and maintain contacts with key individuals in both the public and private sectors;
• Represent organization responsibly and professionally at public functions, including making effective public presentations;
• Participate in conferences, meetings, and community events to further ZHP’s goals and increase awareness and visibility of agency;
• Be knowledgeable about local, state, and national hospice issues and advocate, as appropriate, for those that further ZHP’s mission.
• Respond to press and media queries.
Program Support
• Manage relationships with ZHP’s partners;
• Ensure compatibility of program decisions with ZHP’s mission;
• Provide leadership in setting programmatic priorities to ZHP’s staff
• Oversee marketing and community outreach activities for new strategic Education Center training initiative.
Qualifications
• Bachelor’s Degree, Masters preferred;
• Passionate about end-of-life care, with the vision to lead future innovation;
• Tenacious fundraiser with proven experience in major gifts, corporate and foundation funding and annual giving campaigns;
• Minimum 5 years nonprofit leadership and management experience with a strong understanding of the nonprofit sector and, in particular, the needs of a small organization;
• Demonstrated experience in nonprofit fiscal management and budget preparation
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with public speaking experience;
• Strong interpersonal skills and experience working with diverse populations and multiple constituencies;
• Self-directed, grounded and collaborative leader who can facilitate change;
• Creative problem solver, flexible and capable of adapting to changing priorities;
• Strategic thinker, capable of moving an organization to new levels;
• Experience working with Boards of Directors and community-based organizations.
The ideal candidate will also have:
• A strong commitment to addressing the challenges of end-of-life care issues;
• Knowledge of and experience in health care, eldercare and/or social services;
• Experience in leading a volunteer program;
• Strong relationships with community and government leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area.
To learn more about us please visit our website at: www.zenhospice.org
Compensation: $90-$105K plus 100% employer paid health, dental and vision insurance. An employee contributed 403b plan also available.
Send cover letter, resume and salary history to: ZHP.EDsearch@CompassPoint.org
First round interviews for this position will be held February 19th & 20th, 2009
No calls or faxes, please!
As a core value, Zen Hospice Project values diversity in race, class, culture, and religion.
We welcome a diverse pool of candidates in this search.
This search is being assisted by Executive Transitions, a program of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in San Francisco.
Executive Director Job Announcement
San Francisco, CA
January 2009
About the Organization
In 1987, a small group of visionaries from the San Francisco Zen Center acted to address the needs created by the advancing spread of cancer and the raging AIDS epidemic in the Bay Area. Inspired by 2500-year old Buddhist practices, our beginnings were at once modest and revolutionary, as our mission of bringing mindfulness and compassion to the care of the dying began to unfold. 21 years later, Zen Hospice Project (ZHP) remains true to that mission.
As the first and largest Buddhist volunteer hospice program in the country, ZHP has emerged as a leader in the field of hospice care, utilizing a distinctive approach rooted in the Buddhist practices of wisdom, kindness and awareness. We provide a spectrum of collaborative services that include volunteer caregiver support, residential hospice care, bereavement services and public education programs. We are nationally renowned as a leading innovator in training, supporting and retaining volunteer caregivers who provide compassionate service by the bedside of a vulnerable and underserved population who would otherwise face death alone.
In the past two decades, our approach to end-of-life care has been well documented and received widespread attention. Today, Zen Hospice Project has a shared vision of a next generation of new and innovative programs and services that will help reshape the concept of hospice care in the future.
Zen Hospice Project is governed by a 12-member Board of Directors, has a staff of five full-time employees and an annual budget of $600,000. A Three-Year Strategic Plan was recently adopted that reflects the Board’s vision of our future:
1. Maintain and enhance our Volunteer Caregiver Program at the hospice of Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, providing support and growth opportunities for ZHP’s 85 volunteers who serve at the bedside of LHH’s terminally ill residents.
2. Complete a major renovation of our organizational headquarters, a 130-year old Victorian home in San Francisco (known as the Guest House) that is the spiritual center of ZHP’s activities.
3. Pursue licensure as a residential hospice care facility.
4. Launch a social enterprise initiative that expands the educational and training component of our mission and creates a new source of organizational revenue.
The Position
The next several years at Zen Hospice Project could well be the most exciting in our history. Our new Executive Director will be a visionary, entrepreneurial leader who can guide ZHP’s next generation of program innovation in end-of-life care. To do so, he/she must have proven successful fundraising experience and the ability to manage day-to-day operations and provide strategic guidance to the Board. The Executive Director will also possess the talent to communicate effectively and build relationships with multiple constituencies, including the Board, staff, volunteers, donors, foundation officers and community leaders.
Over the next two years, the Executive Director will be the guiding force in the implementation of ZHP’s core strategies. This will include oversight of the renovation of our Page Street Guest House (already underway) and, in concert with the Board, the exploration of alternative models for end-of-life care and our hospice licensing initiative. He/She will also drive the continued growth of our Education Center’s new social enterprise training programs, designed to broaden our community outreach and generate an earned income revenue stream that will help balance our financial portfolio.
This is an ideal opportunity for a creative, energetic and passionate individual who possesses an entrepreneurial spirit and a genuine appreciation of the value of spirituality and contemplative practice.
Key Job Responsibilities
Fund Development
• In collaboration with the development staff, create and implement ZHP’s annual fund development plan to identify and secure the necessary resources, financial and otherwise, to accomplish ZHP’s organizational mission
• Strengthen relationships with current funding entities, including private and corporate foundations
• Expand and broaden future foundation funding prospects
• Implement a Major Donor Campaign to expand individual donor base
• Provide support for the Board’s task of raising funds for the Three-Year Strategic Plan’s Expansion Campaign
Operations (including Staff and Finances)
• Provide leadership and direction for the organization and for its partners
• Recruit and retain strong staff built on teamwork and collaborative decision-making
• Ascertain that the personnel policies of ZHP are adhered to in all hiring and employment practices. Propose changes in policy to Board of Directors
• Provide for staff development activities that upgrade employee skills and motivate performance and promote staff retention
• In collaboration with the Director of Finance, ensure fiduciary responsibility and sound fiscal management of all agency assets
• Prepare annual budget and develop plan to meet financial needs of program
• Ensure organizational compliance with state and federal regulations and agency contracts and grants
• Supervise audits, preparation of expenditure reports, and all other fiscal reports
• Oversee banking transactions and other filing requirements
Partnership with Board of Directors
• Ensure Board compliance with all applicable state and federal nonprofit governance requirements, including IRS regulations and The Nonprofit Integrity Act (SB 1262)
• Report regularly to the Board of Directors regarding organizational strategies, objectives, successes and challenges
• Provide sufficient information to the Board of Directors to assist them in their decision making and policy formulation
• Periodically review and revise Board bylaws as necessary
• Actively engage with the Board on new member recruitment
• Work closely with Board President and Executive Committee to implement policies, achieve strategic planning goals and fulfill ZHP’s organizational mission.
Community Relations
• Maintain working partnership with Laguna Honda Hospital
• Establish and maintain contacts with key individuals in both the public and private sectors;
• Represent organization responsibly and professionally at public functions, including making effective public presentations;
• Participate in conferences, meetings, and community events to further ZHP’s goals and increase awareness and visibility of agency;
• Be knowledgeable about local, state, and national hospice issues and advocate, as appropriate, for those that further ZHP’s mission.
• Respond to press and media queries.
Program Support
• Manage relationships with ZHP’s partners;
• Ensure compatibility of program decisions with ZHP’s mission;
• Provide leadership in setting programmatic priorities to ZHP’s staff
• Oversee marketing and community outreach activities for new strategic Education Center training initiative.
Qualifications
• Bachelor’s Degree, Masters preferred;
• Passionate about end-of-life care, with the vision to lead future innovation;
• Tenacious fundraiser with proven experience in major gifts, corporate and foundation funding and annual giving campaigns;
• Minimum 5 years nonprofit leadership and management experience with a strong understanding of the nonprofit sector and, in particular, the needs of a small organization;
• Demonstrated experience in nonprofit fiscal management and budget preparation
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with public speaking experience;
• Strong interpersonal skills and experience working with diverse populations and multiple constituencies;
• Self-directed, grounded and collaborative leader who can facilitate change;
• Creative problem solver, flexible and capable of adapting to changing priorities;
• Strategic thinker, capable of moving an organization to new levels;
• Experience working with Boards of Directors and community-based organizations.
The ideal candidate will also have:
• A strong commitment to addressing the challenges of end-of-life care issues;
• Knowledge of and experience in health care, eldercare and/or social services;
• Experience in leading a volunteer program;
• Strong relationships with community and government leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area.
To learn more about us please visit our website at: www.zenhospice.org
Compensation: $90-$105K plus 100% employer paid health, dental and vision insurance. An employee contributed 403b plan also available.
Send cover letter, resume and salary history to: ZHP.EDsearch@CompassPoint.org
First round interviews for this position will be held February 19th & 20th, 2009
No calls or faxes, please!
As a core value, Zen Hospice Project values diversity in race, class, culture, and religion.
We welcome a diverse pool of candidates in this search.
This search is being assisted by Executive Transitions, a program of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in San Francisco.