About The Center (The full detailed job description linked here)

Since its founding in 1983, The LGBT Community Center (The Center) has been a place of hope and a refuge for the LGBTQ+ community in New York. The Center is today - as it was then - a place of safety, connection, activism, and joy.

The Center is a welcoming and inclusive space that offers a comprehensive array of services, both in-person and online. Each week, approximately 6,000 people come through The Center’s doors or sign online to participate in a range of programs, with 400 different support and social groups per month, as well as numerous special events. The Center also provides safe, nonjudgmental space for people to gather without programming, in the garden, the cafe, and in the Cyber Center. Among the many programs, youth can find a variety of activities in a dedicated youth-only wing, adults and youth can access career coaching and training programs to support economic advancement, and there is currently a licensed outpatient substance use clinic onsite and a licensed mental health clinic is slated to open in 2024. 

Greenwich Village is the home of The Center’s landmarked building. Celebratory and festive events take place at The Center year-round, including Pride activities, monthly family meet-ups, and parties for The Center’s broader community. The bright and cheerful space has both rotating and permanent art installations, including an iconic, original Keith Haring mural. The Center also hosts a coffee shop, cultural space and bookstore, and LGBT national history archive. The building was renovated in 2014 and is fully owned by The Center.

Since its founding, The Center has been a place for activist voices, from Larry Kramer to Mj Rodriguez, Audre Lorde to Edie Windsor, Keith Haring to Laverne Cox. Through the RiseOut People’s Platform, The Center partners with organizations across New York State and houses activists-in-residence to organize for LGBTQ+ rights.

For 40 years, The Center of New York has served as an anchor institution for the LGBTQ+ community and as a leading nonprofit organization, both in New York City and nationally. The Center provides a place to connect and engage, find camaraderie and support, and celebrate the vibrancy and growth of the LGBTQ+ community.

Commitment to Racial and Gender Equity

As The Center celebrates its 40th Anniversary, the time is right to reflect on the past and share the vision for the next 40 years, supported by new thinking around what “community” means in these times. Recent years have shaped all of us in ways that have spurred a profound commitment - in theory and practice - to racial, economic, and gender equity. The Center has a renewed sense of purpose to center the perspectives and needs of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color (BIPOC), as well as transgender and gender expansive (TGE) communities. New core values are guiding the direction The Center takes today and in the years to come, committing to the following: advocating for racial, gender, and economic justice using an intersectional lens; taking a community-driven approach; elevating collaboration; and fostering healing and joy. 

The Center is on a journey to becoming an anti-racist organization. This work begins with an acknowledgement of the intersectionality of The Center’s clients, recognizing that the majority of the people coming through The Center’s doors for services are Queer Trans People of Color (QTPOC). A multi-year effort has taken place to assess The Center’s areas for improvement and to implement a comprehensive plan to bring change. Since this work began in earnest, The Center has seen a clarified organizational identity, creation of shared language, adjusted compensation philosophy, revised performance evaluations, and implementation of organizational core competencies. Changes continue to take place at the tactical, systemic, strategic, and cultural levels to build on this organizational change. 

At 40, The Center looks back with both pride for all that has been accomplished and made possible but also with humility in acknowledgment of the mistakes that have been made along the way. There is still so much more to do together as The Center continues to build a future where our entire community shines.

Leadership and Staff

The Center’s Board of Directors is composed of a diverse and committed group of 19 leaders representing various facets of the LGBTQ+ community. The Board is responsible for oversight of the organization’s operations and guiding The Center’s long-term vision and planning. The Board also focuses on the continued financial stability of the organization and participates significantly in fundraising efforts. They bring enthusiastic support to the Chief Executive Officer and the Senior Leadership Team to contribute to The Center’s growth and strategy. 

The Center is home to approximately 100 full-time staff members, many of whom have served The Center community for more than a decade. Numerous staff members began their relationship with The Center as community members participating in Center services. 

About the Opportunity

The Center looks into a new chapter of leadership with the search for a Chief Executive Officer, as it celebrates its 40th anniversary. This role will serve as a key leader who will center the importance of racial equity, gender equity, and intersectionality in The Center of the future. With the partnership of a highly effective and committed Senior Leadership Team and Board of Directors, the CEO will lead the development of a new strategic plan that can apply a strategic lens to the continuation of core programming, while also identifying opportunities for innovation and evolution. They will carry an external profile as they serve as an internal leader for the staff.

The Center sits at a unique intersection of direct social services and advocacy. With this in mind, the Chief Executive Officer will apply their experience in visionary nonprofit leadership to build and hold meaningful relationships with people throughout The Center community, including participants, donors, partners and allies in government, staff, Board, and peer organizational leaders in New York and nationally. 

In the initial stage of their leadership, the CEO should accomplish the following: 

• In partnership with the broad community - including staff, external constituents, and Board - envision and lead strategic planning and prioritization for The Center
  • Rally the staff and Center constituents around a vision for the future (short and long-term) that is relevant and resonant for staff and community
  • Set a clear organizational direction for The Center, engaging deeply with community and staff to build a vision that is reflective of many voices

• Serve as an active and leading voice in the LGBTQ+ and nonprofit communities in New York and nationally
  • Identify and leverage networks for advocacy, working with peer organizations, their leaders, and government to name and bring attention to challenges specifically impacting the LGBTQ+ community
  • Represent The Center in appropriate forums within the LGBTQ+ and social justice spaces, as well as the broader nonprofit ecosystem
     
• Build upon the strong fundraising foundation, continuing to engage existing supporters of The Center, and bringing in new supporters and partners
  • Diversify both funders and types of fundraising activities, in partnership with the Development Team
  • Build strong relationships with the Board, partnering with them to drive fundraising for new and existing programs 

• Lead the Executive Team in a way that maintains and advances the work and mission of The Center, while ensuring that The Center is a positive and collaborative work environment
  • Build strong relationships at all levels of the organization in order to promote collaboration
  • Empower the Executive Team to make and communicate hard decisions
  • Work with and through the Executive Team to operationalize the strategic plan and vision

Areas of Demonstrated Leadership

Ideal candidates for the CEO role will offer a broad set of leadership skills, with deep personal connection to the LGBTQ+ community and movement. The expected areas of leadership and associated key qualifications are listed below. We encourage the interest of candidates who hold a majority of these experiences and skills, even if not every requirement listed. 

Mission and Values Alignment

• Demonstrated commitment and lived experience core to the mission and values (Racial, Gender, and Economic Justice; Community-Driven Approach; Collaboration; and Healing & Joy) of The Center and to serving as a leader within the LGBTQ+ movement
• Track record of leadership in complex nonprofit organizations, specifically focused in either social justice or direct service; Advocacy and/or community organizing experience is a significant plus
• Understanding of the specific challenges related to racial and gender equity within the LGBTQ+ community; Recognition of the community’s vitality that flourishes by lifting up the most marginalized voices
• Belief in a community-driven approach and understanding of an institution as a place of healing and joy

Executive Leadership

• History of successful and transformational nonprofit organizational leadership, including working with and through Boards of Directors and in partnership with community and staff to advance the mission of an organization
• Experience leading strategic visioning and implementation through thoughtful change management 
• Budgeting and fiscal management experience
• Demonstrated alignment with The Center’s Core Competencies: Centering Community & Equity; Adaptive Collaboration; Strategic Thinking; Managing Responsible; Relationship Building; and Courageous Accountability

Community and Fundraising Partnerships

• Experience representing an organization externally with donors, constituents, press, peer organizations, and government for the purpose of building an organization’s support and mission
• Ability to effectively partner with the Board and Development Team to raise significant funds through a combination of individual donors, foundations, and government sources
• Compelling speaker with capacity to use storytelling to engage diverse audiences through individual conversation, press, or public speaking and knowledgeable about when to use others to share a message

People-Centered Team Leadership

• High emotional intelligence and collaborative orientation; Able to build relationships at all levels of an organization and with broad and diverse external constituencies
• Experience effectively managing seasoned, senior leaders
• Track record of building a collaborative and engaged culture, breaking down silos and promoting intra- and inter-team collaboration

Compensation, Benefits, and Location

This is an in-person position, based out of The Center in New York City. The CEO will be expected to be onsite at least four days per week. 

The salary range for this role is $320,000 to $350,000. The Center offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 401K with an employer contribution, voluntary life and LTD, employer paid STD insurance, paid parental, family care and gender affirming healthcare leave. The Center also offers a generous paid time off policy.

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The Center was born of community activism in response to the AIDS epidemic, ensuring a place for LGBTQ+ people to access information, care, and support that they were not receiving elsewhere. We opened in 1983 to help people who had doors constantly closed in their faces, ostracized by family, friends, and shunned by the general society. Since that time, we have continually provided a wide array of services and programs to serve our community, with an intentional focus on providing support to those who are most vulnerable. We have always taken great care to be a space that responds to community need; engaging in diversity, equity and inclusion work is another outgrowth of those ongoing efforts. We recognize that in order to help LGBTQ+ individuals and our diverse community achieve parity in health, justice, opportunity, and success outcomes, our organization must hold a strong foundation and competency in, as well as invest organizational focus on, equity and inclusion frameworks, practices, and policies. This is also true in our hiring and retention of staff.

The Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer.