Position: Vice President of External Affairs
Organization: FoodCorps
Location: New York, NY
Who We Are:
FoodCorps is a fast-scaling organization powered by a nationwide team of
leaders who connect kids to real food and help them grow up healthy. Through
our partnership with AmeriCorps, we recruit, train and place emerging leaders
in limited-resource schools for a year of service delivering our three-
ingredient recipe for healthy kids. Serving under the direction of a community
partner, our corps members work to put three drivers of health in place across
the physical, cultural and educational environments of the schools we serve:
1. Knowledge: food and nutrition education that gives kids the
information they need to make smart choices
2. Engagement: hands-on activities like gardening and cooking that foster
skills and pride around healthy food
3. Access: nutritious meals that farmers and school food service teams
work together to prepare and celebrate
Our Mission: Together with communities, FoodCorps serves to connect kids to
healthy food in school.
Our Vision: We are creating a future in which all our nation’s children––
regardless of class, race, or geography––know what healthy food is, care where
it comes from, and eat it every day. Through our work, future generations will
grow up to lead healthier and more productive lives.
What We're Looking For:
FoodCorps seeks a highly skilled, dynamic, and mission-driven Vice President
of External Affairs to help lead the organization through a period of
ambitious growth by overseeing fundraising, communications, marketing, and
government relations efforts. Reporting to and partnering with the Chief
Executive Officer, the VP of External Affairs will work closely with
colleagues on the Executive Team on the full range of organization-wide
strategic issues, with particular focus on scaling revenue streams and turning
FoodCorps into a national brand.
This full-time role is based in New York City, and requires frequent travel to
our other national office in Portland, Oregon and to key fundraising markets
for the organization, including San Francisco and Boston. Exceptional
candidates based in these locations may be considered at lower priority.
Responsibilities:
The VP of External Affairs will lead FoodCorps’ fundraising activities,
serving as chief out-the-door fundraiser, while working internally to ensure
that a strong team and robust systems are in place to meet revenue targets and
support ambitious growth, in a manner consistent with FoodCorps’ values. She
or he will play a key role in growing the organization’s budget from $9M to a
projected $20M+ over the next five years, likely with the deployment of a
growth capital campaign. In addition to the core responsibility of revenue
generation, the VP will also oversee communications and marketing functions,
stewarding the development of a brand that is gaining rapidly in influence,
and will oversee the government relations efforts that lay the groundwork for
a policy initiative central to our strategy for school food change.
The VP will oversee an External Affairs team of seven (four as direct
reports), all based in or near New York: the Communications Director
(supported by a Communications Coordinator), the National Director of
Corporate and Foundation Giving (supported by a Corporate and Public Affairs
Coordinator), the Foundation and Government Relations Manager, and the
Development Coordinator. An External Affairs Coordinator who reports to the
CEO and supports his fundraising work is also housed within the department.
Significant growth is expected, so the VP will have an opportunity to build
the team with hires at every level.
Strategy and Leadership
In partnership with the CEO, VP of Programs and VP of Finance & Operations,
the VP of External Affairs will:
Serve on the Executive Team, participating in all top-level management
conversations at the organization
Collaborate on strategic planning, playing a lead role in an anticipated 2016-
17 growth capital campaign
Improve the scalability and sustainability of the organization’s revenue
model, especially through expansion of its high-net-worth donor program and
the development and growth of earned income streams
Attend Board meetings and partnering with the Board to significantly increase
their giving and fundraising
Foster productive interface across department lines
Lead the External Affairs department with a focus on recruiting and mentoring
a high-performance team; set objectives, priorities and fundraising and
marketing targets; monitor results and evaluate performance
Financial Leadership and Management:
In partnership with 5 fundraising staff, the CEO and Board, the VP of External
Affairs will:
Set and deliver on ambitious fundraising targets ($10.5M for FY15, with rapid
growth anticipated)
Serve as chief out-the-door fundraiser for a portfolio of top-priority high-
net-worth individual donors, and directly expand the organization’s high-net-
worth donor pipeline significantly
Ensure robust identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship
practices are in place to enable the continued growth of funding from
individual, corporate, foundation and government donor partners
Deploy the CEO, founders, Board, alumni and other assets for donor cultivation
and solicitation
Play a leading role in a growth capital campaign anticipated for 2016-17, with
the goal of raising $10-15M in philanthropic equity above and beyond the
operating budget. This capital raise will enable several years of rapid
expansion, fund one-time investments in organizational capacity, and increase
operating reserves
Guide the continued development of our Salesforce database and suite of
prospect research tools
Develop and lead trainings for service members and partners on fundraising
techniques and protocols
Liaise with programs staff to ensure appropriate pursuit of and follow-through
on restricted funding
Liaise with finance staff to ensure accurate translation between fundraising
and financial functions
Liaise with partner organizations to ensure thoughtful and mutually beneficial
fundraising at our field sites
Engage with and leverage benefit from the Board Finance and Development
Committee
Protect the integrity of the FoodCorps brand and program by overseeing the
funder selection process and declining funding from sources that would
compromise the organization’s values or strategic priorities
Communications and Marketing (Pending Candidate Review):
In close collaboration with co-founder and Communications Director Jerusha
Klemperer, the Communications Coordinator, the CEO, our corporate, celebrity
and media partners, and others in External Affairs, the VP will:
Seek out and forge brand-building relationships with high-profile celebrity,
media and marketing partners
Oversee communications, ensuring clear, compelling and consistent internal and
external messaging
Oversee marketing, enabling dramatic growth of the organization’s brand
through corporate and celebrity campaigns, a brand refresh and website
redesign, and a metrics-driven approach to optimization
Oversee media relations, earning coverage for FoodCorps in national and local
press and new media
Oversee online fundraising, growing the pipeline of small and mid-level donors
who support FoodCorps
Engage across the organization to ensure the development of top-quality
collateral
Government Relations:
In partnership with the Government and Foundation Relations Manager, the CEO,
and key members of the Programs team and Board, the VP of External Affairs
will:
Work with the VP of Programs and their AmeriCorps Partnerships Manager to
ensure that FoodCorps maintains strong relationships in national service
community and grows its AmeriCorps funding stream
Work across the organization to ensure that FoodCorps maintains strong
relationships and cultivates diverse and influential champions in the White
House and on Capitol Hill
Oversee continued relationship-building with the USDA, ensuring continued
growth of funding through direct agreements and the pursuit of appropriations
for Farm Bill provisions relevant to FoodCorps
Oversee efforts to protect the nonpartisan, big-tent identity FoodCorps has
been careful to cultivate
Support efforts to train and engage alumni and partners as effective advocates
for policy change
Lay groundwork for the organization to launch a larger policy initiative that
will leverage FoodCorps’ direct program impact for systemic change in the
future
Qualifications:
Strong candidates will bring exceptional out-the-door fundraising skills with
high-net-worth donors, a proven record of teambuilding, leadership, and data-
driven decision-making as a manager, experience in an entrepreneurial, high-
growth environment, a desire to work in a collaborative and inclusive culture,
strong analytical and strategic skills, and a personal connection to the
FoodCorps mission. The ideal candidate will be able to contribute meaningfully
to all areas of External Affairs, not just to the core responsibility of
fundraising.
Other desired qualifications include:
A minimum of six years of fundraising experience preferred, ideally in a high-
growth nonprofit, with a measurable track record of identifying, cultivating
and soliciting 6-, preferably 7-figure gifts from individuals
Deep knowledge of fundraising best practices, including compliance and
reporting, identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship cycles,
and systems for information and performance tracking
The skills to craft and present a compelling business case for FoodCorps and
its return on investment
Proven ability to strengthen FoodCorps’ brand and broaden its audience through
the development and implementation of effective marketing strategies,
particularly with celebrity and corporate partners
Exceptional relationship-building skills, with a focus on cultivating
partnerships, not just transactions
Strong people and team management skills, with a proven record of hiring,
training and growing staff. Ability to mentor team members in general and to
coach fundraisers and grant-writers in particular.
Standout abilities as a written and verbal communicator, with an approach
tailored to diverse audiences and experience creating top-quality development
collateral
A data- and accountability-focused mindset, with the ability to take a
numerical and statistical lens to the web of human relationships that make up
a donor pipeline; a hunger for setting and meeting targets
Attributes:
In addition to the skills above, ideal candidates will also offer the
following personal characteristics:
Mature and proactive attitude, with excellent judgment and creative problem-
solving skills, and experience serving as a business partner to the CEO, Board
and leadership of a complex, multi-stakeholder entity
A collaborative and flexible style, with a learning orientation and team
approach
A high degree of intercultural competence, and a commitment to building a team
that is racially and socioeconomically diverse, inclusive and welcoming to
members of all backgrounds and identities
A compelling personal connection to the FoodCorps mission and demonstrated
interest in and familiarity with issues of education, food, equity, child
welfare or health
Compensation and Benefits:
Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.
To Apply:
FoodCorps has engaged Koya Leadership Partners to help in this hire. Please
submit a compelling cover letter and resume to Molly Brennan at
https://koya.refineapp.com/jobPosting/apply/846
FoodCorps is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages
applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBT
applicants.
About Koya Leadership Partners:
Koya Leadership Partners is a national retained search and consulting firm
that works exclusively with non-profits and social enterprises. We deliver
measurable results, finding exceptionally talented people who truly fit the
unique culture of our client organizations. For more information about Koya
Leadership Partners, visit www.koyapartners.com.
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