The Executive Director Job Profile was posted earlier this week on both the Sierra Club and Isaacson, Miller web sites. The profile was shaped by input provided to the transition committee and search firm through emails, a survey, individual interviews with current and past directors and senior staff, and group interviews with Club and Foundation boards and the Council of Club Leaders Excom. Many thanks for the thoughtful input.
With climate change now broadly recognized as an imminent threat to wild
places and to humanity, and with unprecedented interest in acting to address it, the Club needs a passionate and savvy executive to play a pivotal role in
leading the transition to clean, sustainable energy
sources.
The Club is simultaneously undergoing its own evolution and adaptation to the dramatic changes impacting environmental advocacy. Digital technologies have profoundly changed how citizens take action, communicate with one another, and relate to organizations. Grassroots groups now inform and mobilize their supporters through the web, and younger generations are typically found to be more responsive to specific calls to action than to invitations to join organizations as dues-paying members.
So the new Executive Director, working with the board, will be the "architect" who will gather the Club’s powerful grassroots resources, talented volunteer leadership, and professional staff to transform the Sierra Club as it responds to this highly dynamic landscape.
Here are the key opportunities and challenges we have identified for the executive director:
- Provide Strategic and Visionary Leadership for the Sierra Club
- Leverage, Engage, and Grow the Volunteer Base
- Serve as a Unifying and Decisive Staff Leader
- Generate Diversified Funding
- Continue to Raise the Profile and Build the Positive Reputation of the Sierra Club
- Understanding the Challenge (May, June) — Isaacson, Miller and Transition Committee [DONE]
- Networking and Screening (Summer 2009) — Isaacson, Miller [IN PROCESS]
- Narrowing the Field (Fall 2009) — Transition Committee
- Selecting Finalists (Fall 2009 - Winter 2010) — Transition Committee
- The Final Choice ("Early" 2010) — Board of Directors, with input from the Cabinet
You can see the full job description here and more detail on the see the remaining phases of the search here.
P.S. Fellow Director Dave Scott is seeking comments on the Club proposed new National Parks Management Policy.