Executive Director

Executive Director

Common Counsel Foundation

 

THE OPPORTUNITY

 

Common Counsel Foundation (CCF) is looking for our next Executive Director, seeking a candidate who will help us define a new era of leadership and partnership in social justice philanthropy.

 

Founded in 1988, CCF works across the United States in relationship with frontline grassroots organizations, progressive donors, and social justice movements. We are seeking a dynamic, bold leader who can inspire and challenge us and the sector, who can build diverse partnerships and deep relationships, and, most importantly, who intimately understands the power of unlocking resources in support of community-led change.

 

We have undergone a period of dynamic change which has enabled us to expand the scale and strategic impact of our work. We need a leader who can help us expertly navigate and chart a values-aligned course through the current complex political and philanthropic environment, someone who brings new ideas and possibilities to our work and is equally at home being a champion, strategist, and institution builder. We are looking for someone who is an organizer at heart who can build, strengthen, and grow with vision, solidarity, integrity, and purpose.

 

CCF’s next Executive Director will also play a critical role in securing long-term financial sustainability through organizing and democratizing the flow of resources with sector partners. This role calls for someone who can hold complexity with clarity, communicate openly with vision, and center care and collective wellbeing. This moment requires clear strategic direction and grounded, transparent leadership.

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

 

The Executive Director will hold the following key responsibilities:

 

• Advance CCF’s mission and movement alignment, serving as a key leader, advocate, and organizer for social justice philanthropy that centers community power and relationships and shifts resources towards movements.

• Model transparent, accountable, and values-aligned leadership across the organization and with partners.

• Lead organizational strategy and long-term movement alignment, including the development of a clear strategic plan and organizational direction; identify priorities for the organization’s next chapter; and determine what work should be strengthened, adapted, or sunsetted in alignment with strategy, capacity, and resources.

• Build and sustain an inclusive, collaborative, trust-centered organizational culture by centering transparent communication, care, and collective wellbeing. Foster an organization that draws in, retains, and inspires a diverse, professional, and experienced staff. Ensure strong supervision and team structures and create professional development opportunities. Guide the team thoughtfully through transitions, ensuring staff feel valued, informed, and supported.

• Strengthen organizational governance by partnering closely with the Board. Supervise and support senior leaders (CFO, Director of Housing Justice, Director of Strategic Philanthropy, Director of Philanthropic Advising) to ensure coordination, communication flow, and strong cross-functional alignment across teams.

• Lead fundraising and financial strategy with staff and Board by stewarding values-aligned donor and funder relationships, organizing new aligned funding and investment opportunities, and ensuring long-term organizational sustainability. Guide financial planning with the CFO to support strategic clarity, sustainability, and transparent decision-making.

• Deepen external presence, leading clear intermal/external communications as a spokesperson, and deepening relationships across philanthropic and movement ecosystems. Ensure CCF’s voice reflects the organization’s evolving strategic focus and commitment to community power and movement accountability.

• Develop and expand relationships and networks with CCF’s funding partners, movement leaders, and colleagues in the philanthropic sector to leverage sectoral influence towards values-aligned change.

• Listen deeply to our movement partners and allies and lead from a space of solidarity and collective good. Ensure that movement partnerships inform organizational strategy, resource allocation, and programmatic direction in meaningful and consistent ways.

 

CANDIDATE PROFILE

 

Common Counsel Foundation’s next leader will bring at least 10 years of experience as a successful senior leader in an organization of similar scope and complexity. The ideal candidate will also possess a background in U.S.-based social justice organizing and philanthropy. They will be a compelling spokesperson who inspires confidence, creativity, and action with a vision that is grounded in the realities of the communities we serve and the world we are working to achieve. We are searching for a leader who embodies many of the qualifications below but encourage applications from candidates who may not possess all of the following:

 

VISION & INNOVATION | Demonstrated ability to envision and implement bold, transformative ideas, moving from theory to practice. Comfortable holding ambiguity and complexity, capable of shaping muddy places and spaces into clear pathways and partnerships.

 

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT | Committed to social justice and building community power. Able to articulate and orient work with a nuanced intersectional understanding of power, privilege, and oppression. Sees organizing as a foundational strategy to transform power dynamics within mainstream philanthropy. Brings an existing network of relationships with social justice movements. Has first-hand experience as a philanthropic disruptor and/or organizer of a community-led change process.

 

PHILANTHROPY & ALIGNED FUNDRAISING EXPERTISE | Has philanthropic experience that includes a solid understanding of current national funding trends (particularly related to CCF’s core work of donor organizing, pooled funds, fiscal sponsorship, etc. ); specific priorities for different regions and communities; and systems, challenges, and opportunities of the philanthropic sector including managing and delivering capital. Demonstrated success in relationship-based fundraising that builds institutional resilience, flexibility, and community power. Demonstrated record of sound financial planning, oversight, and accountability. Brings an existing network of connections and relationships in philanthropy.

 

RELATIONSHIP BUILDER | Recognizes relationships as the cornerstone of their work. Skilled at building and maintaining quality relationships across communities and constituencies with diverse stakeholders and allies. Gifted in facilitation, comfortable with conflict, and effective in resolving tension points. Understands accountability as a core dimension of all relationships.

 

EQUITY ADVOCATE | Brings a sophisticated intersectional analysis to social justice philanthropy and movement building across identities and experiences (geography, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, class, language, disability, immigration). Recognizes the layers of oppression experienced by many in our community–especially Black, Indigenous, and people of color–and works to build understanding and collective action. Sees diversity and justice as interconnected.

 

COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP STYLE | Exhibits a style of leadership that is collaborative, transparent, and empathetic. Is fully committed to building a leaderful organization with distributed power. Creates an environment of listening and learning; respects the voices and expertise of colleagues, community members, and movement partners. Brings self-awareness, self-reflection, and humility to their role and ability to demonstrate collegial leadership, knows when to use positional leadership to strengthen organization-wide effectiveness.

 

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT | Experience with organizational development and managing change. Strong orientation towards systems thinking and organizational learning. Brings direct experience in systems building, growing staff leadership, fostering team culture that embodies our values and vision.

 

GOVERNANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY | Practical understanding of risk management, legal compliance, and financial accountability, including the wisdom of knowing when to consult legal counsel. Experience working with financially complex organizations is a plus. Grantmaking experience is a plus.

 

LOCATION AND TRAVEL

 

With headquarters in Oakland, CA, previous Common Counsel Foundation Executive Directors have been based in the Bay Area. While the organization has a strong preference for a Bay Area-based Executive Director (and can arrange a relocation funding package if appropriate), with a national funding scope, we recognize that the right candidate may be located outside of California for this next organizational iteration.

CCF’s executive leader is expected to travel both locally and nationally. Out of area travel by plane and spending time away from home is required for approximately 30% of the year.

 

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

 

Common Counsel Foundation’s next Executive Director will be compensated in the range of $225,000-$295,000, commensurate with experience, as well as a compelling benefits package. It may also include a relocation package if required. Grounded in the organization’s commitment to equity, CCF adheres to a policy that the salary of the highest paid employee will be no more than three times the lowest paid employee.

 

CCF recognizes that the success of the organization lies in retaining an engaged staff and so we strive to offer a holistic compensation and benefit package that includes competitive pay, quality health benefits, generous paid time off including paid sabbaticals, flexible work schedules, professional development opportunities, and non-elective contributions to a retirement savings plan.