Summary
Description
POSITION: Executive Director
ORGANIZATION: Kids in Need of Dentistry (KIND) was established in 1912, and for over a century, our focus has been on care access, bringing services to kids and families in pragmatic and innovative ways. KIND’s mission is to increase the oral health and happiness of Colorado children in need by eliminating dental disease through treatment and education. We envision healthy mouths, minds, and bodies for every child. KIND values providing thorough, high-quality services to not only treat existing dental issues, but also prevent future dental disease, and reduce fear and anxiety associated with dental visits. Above all, KIND values providing quality care, with kindness. Our children and families often see us after years without treatment, years without regular cleanings, and sometimes years without access to the luxuries of a toothbrush and toothpaste.
KIND’s programs work synergistically to forward these goals. KIND’s missional goals reflect a targeted effort to increase equity by empowering self-agency and breaking down barriers for communities of greatest need and disparity in access to resources. KIND is already on track to meet these goals. In 2023, we reached approximately 8,400 individuals across clinical, educational, and outreach programs. We are reducing dental anxiety for approximately 80% of the individuals we serve.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY: KIND seeks a passionate and experienced executive to build upon the legacy of our current director, who is stepping down after 7+ years. The ideal candidate will partner with the leadership staff and Board of Directors to develop and execute a vision for the next chapter of KIND, building on past achievements as a direct services leader in the oral health space, and leading KIND to expand its work of systemic change. Our current Executive Director is leaving KIND after successfully completing an extensive capital campaign to move KIND into office and clinical spaces in the heart of our served communities, as well as establishing Colorado’s first oral health promotora program, which operates through an apprenticeship and mentorship model. We aim to identify a candidate who can bring the work of the organization to life in powerful and innovative ways within our new facility and through this new program.
JOB RELATIONS: Responsible to the KIND Board of Directors
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Leadership:
- Using the power of storytelling, ignite and kindle the passion for our mission with all organization stakeholders – staff, board, volunteers, donors – propelling them to invite people to join in our work.
- Build a real sense of belonging for those who have found their way to our organization, ensuring that our ecosystem is diverse, equitable and inclusive.
- Model the leadership you look to see in others by tending to your own self care.
- Embody a non-anxious, grounded presence, even in times of crisis, fostering confidence in others.
- Lead the organization’s collective liberation efforts, ensuring that the entire team is on a journey to build the type of organization our BIPOC community members want to call home.
- Act as a catalyst for major community initiatives, bringing diverse groups together for collective impact.
Board Partnership:
- Build, cultivate and nurture a true partnership with the Board of Directors built on mutual respect and trust.
- Lead the board to fulfill its role within the organization which is aligned with current needs and lifecycle. Clarify the role of the board and provide annual priorities.
- Provide the Board of Directors with the resources, information, and training necessary to fulfill their duties and to be organizational ambassadors.
- Actively engage with the Governance committee to help identify prospective board members who bring the skills, attributes and lived experience necessary for the board to be the best partner it can be.
Vision and Strategy:
- In partnership with the board and staff, align the organization around a compelling vision for the future, clarify and distill this vision so that it is useful in rallying stakeholders, engaging donors, and resources.
- Ensure KIND is continuing its 113-year legacy by setting the pace for what’s possible in the oral health field in our country.
- Co create goals, strategies, and tactics with staff. Use them to build annual plans that introduce an accountability component to the strategy we develop.
Management
- Build, lead and retain an effective and diverse staff team dedicated to the mission and with the requisite skills to be successful in their work.
- Establish effective decision making at all levels to ensure that voices are heard and that short-and long-term goals are met.
- Ensure the organization is resting on a fiscally sound foundation and that relevant parties are informed about fiscal status and that financial information is communicated in a manner accessible to all.
Impact
- Oversee a programmatic portfolio that is designed with a deep understanding of the communities we serve and that aligns with our mission and our long-range plans.
- Ensure effective systems for program evaluation and regularly evaluate the program portfolio, ever mindful of the need to adapt to the needs of our communities.
- Bring a spirit of innovation to the program work with an eye toward piloting new solutions to age-old problems. Ensure our solution is on the leading edge of the oral health field.
Grow Resources
- Serve as the fundraiser in chief of the organization, supporting the Development Director in setting fundraising strategies and working with staff, board, and volunteers to identify prospects and close gifts.
- With an understanding that non-profit revenue streams must be diverse for sustainability, build, and oversee a strategy to balance the organization’s fundraising to earned services revenue ratio, increasing organizational sustainability, and decreasing overall reliance on fundraising.
- Through the efforts described under Leadership and Vision & Strategy above, work to increase organizational resources and partnerships at state and national levels to increase KIND’s capacity for growth.
IDEAL CANDIDATE:
- Deep belief in and passion for our organization’s purpose
- Exudes humble confidence
- Compelling communicator and storyteller
- Keen understanding of the ability to listen, meet people where they are and engage in meaningful dialogue with stakeholders
- Leads and manages with intention
- Culturally responsive and emotionally intelligent
- Committed to diversity, equity and inclusion
- Demonstrates compassion and empathy, especially in times of crisis
- Digitally savvy with enthusiasm about its possibilities
- Leads and manages with a growth mindset, open to learning and adapting
- Courageous and compassionate truth-teller
- Recognizes that leadership is a joyful responsibility
QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree in Nonprofit Management, Public Health, Communications, Business Administration, or a related field; MPH, MBA, or similar advanced degree preferred.
- Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in public health or related field, with at least 5 years in leadership roles.
- Experience with government and healthcare funding systems a plus
- Previous experience with non-profit organizations a plus
- Experience working in deadline-driven environments
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
- Salary Range: $105 – $120K, based on experience.
- Benefits include: Healthcare plans, IRA plan and match, flexible paid time off, accrued sick time, cell phone credit, paid holidays, and organizational mental health days, and more.
ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY STATEMENT
KIND's three missional goals include 1) Improving perceptions of dentistry, 2) Increasing health equity through collaborative care, and 3) Activating oral health stakeholders in and by the communities we serve. These goals express KIND’s intent about how we will fulfill our mission of increasing the oral health and happiness of Colorado children in need. That is, in and by the communities we serve. This guiding principle references our organizational core value of prioritizing community-led solutions in our program design.
Our organizational identity has been painstakingly built through trust-building and power-building within our community over the years, which has led to an intentional overlap in staff leadership and served community members. This overlap has created a staff leadership team who identify as a scrappy group of health equity warriors with a strong sense of ownership about how KIND fulfills its mission.
KIND seeks a new leader who will nurture the community and staff’s ownership of our mission and goals, through trust-building, leadership development, and boldly uplifting and acting directly in response to the voiced needs of our community, above other competing needs, and voices in the public health space.
Send cover letter and resume to: info@kindsmiles.org
