About March for Our Lives

Born out of a tragic school shooting, March For Our Lives (MFOL) is a courageous youth-led movement dedicated to promoting civic engagement, education, and direct action by youth to eliminate the epidemic of gun violence. In 2018, the March For Our Lives was the single largest youth-led protest since the Vietnam War with 1.2 million people convening in DC and 800 sibling marches across the world. MFOL turned a moment into a movement of hundreds of thousands of young people fighting for common sense gun safety reform. In the past four years, MFOL has passed 60+ gun safety laws at the state level, lobbied in the courts to maintain those laws, and turned out hundreds of thousands of young people to vote.

March For Our Lives is entering a new phase of its life – one that’s focused on maintaining the urgency to act on the gun violence crisis and on scaling their movement to reach all corners of the country. “What will make more people care about gun violence prevention?” That is arguably the central question that the larger movement must answer and that MFOL focuses upon.

Policy change is at the heart of MFOL’s programs and operations – it is where they aim to have the most impact. As an organization started because of a school shooting, they prioritize the experience of students in advocacy and programming. MFOL is acutely aware of the breadth of gun violence outside of school shootings, and so their policy platform focuses on an intersectional approach that would not only prevent school shootings, but also everyday gun violence.

March For Our Lives Culture

March For Out Lives’ people are motivated by the mission, and are proud of the contribution that  staff make to the world. Life at MFOL is centered around work/life integration, valuing inclusion, and prioritization of policies that support a regenerative environment. At MFOL, they are creating a thoughtful, liberating & healing culture and not ignoring the world around them. They listen, they are allies and they are supported with training, counseling, and coaching.

MFOL’s leadership structure is unique. MFOL believes in the power of youth leadership and youth vision to create change. To that end, the organization is youth-led: their leadership consists of young people, their ideas & programs are sourced from young people, and they actively make every effort to create opportunities for young people on the organization’s staff.

At the same time, as youth, they recognize the power and the impact that comes from mutual respect and dialogue between generations. As valuable as the fresh perspective that youth can provide is the expertise that comes from experience. To that end, the Board of Directors and staff are made up of a combination of young people and folks older than 26.

And so, March For Our Lives is youth-led, but guided by the experience and expertise of those that fall outside of Gen Z. They believe that with young people leading the charge and experienced folks helping them along the way, there is nothing that they cannot achieve.

For more information on March for Our Lives, please visit https://marchforourlives.com/.

The Opportunity

March for Our Lives seeks a new Executive Director to lead the organization in the next phase of its life. The Executive Director is charged with direct management of all five teams at the organization, as well as ensuring financial sustainability and effective processes. The Executive Director will share leadership responsibilities with a youth President. Where the youth President is charged with aggregating and collaborating on programmatic vision, serving as a spokesperson, and supporting MFOL’s internal culture, the Executive Director is the “Chief Executor” ensuring that MFOL threads a strategic needle and turns youth vision into action.

The Executive Director’s responsibilities include:

Strategy & Vision

• Lead the development of a 3-5 year strategy that solidifies the place of the organization as the essential and vibrant youth-led movement for the gun violence prevention space;
• Make strategic determinations regarding the functions of the organization in terms of staff, process, and programs;
• Collaborate with the youth President on sourcing and filtering ideas from youth that are developed into annual programmatic plans, ultimately in line with the 3-5 year strategy.

Operations & Execution

• Translate and guide youth vision into strategic execution, achieving programmatic goals and successes;
• Operationalize and organize the staff in the best possible ways to achieve impact;
• Provide overall leadership to ensure the organization is functioning in a way that supports the evolving needs of communities, programs, and staff; this includes overseeing annual budget preparation, expense and revenue management, developing and monitoring long- and short-term financial plans, and setting financial priorities;
• Develop and champion effective internal processes that enhance collaboration and decision-making between all teams and ensure multi-directional communications and feedback loops across the organization.

Fundraising

• Oversee the full life cycle of a multi-channel fundraising strategy, including major gifts, institutional funding, offline events, digital solicitation, and experimental tactics;
• Deepen relationships with existing major donors at the advisement of the Development & Partnerships team;
• Take meetings with both new and existing donors to keep March For Our Lives embedded in their portfolios;
• Serve as a thought leader and spokesperson in traditional fundraising spaces and arenas, including conferences, coalitions, and leadership collectives.

Team Management

• Hire, retain, and develop a leadership team with a deep commitment to building an environment that respects and values diversity with special attention paid to the inclusion of remote team members and part time youth staff;
• Serve as a thought partner and mentor to the President and all youth leaders at the organization;
• Create a practice of mentorship between adult allies and youth leaders.

Board Management

• Serve as primary staff liaison to the Board of Directors; cultivate a strong, transparent working relationship with the Board, ensuring open communication and strategic alignment around organizational mission, programs, and progress towards financial, operational, and impact goals;
• Exercise best practices in governance and ethics, in all ways focusing on what will best serve MFOL’s mission and goals;
• Continue to build a diverse and inclusive Board, representative of MFOL’s communities, donors, and partners.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will have most, if not all, of the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:

• A proven track record of providing leadership and management for a national, mission-driven organization or program; experience having worked with students or youth is essential;
• Ability to lead with influence and inspiration, building collaboration and buy-in toward a common vision from a wide range of stakeholders;
• Experience directing and managing organizational change and building a strong culture of creative problem-solving and operational efficiency;
• An ability to be a strong yet compassionate and empathetic leader;
• A demonstrated commitment to the values of equity, diversity, and inclusivity;
• Cultural competence, with the ability to work effectively with people of diverse races, ethnicities, nationalities, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expression, socio-economic backgrounds, religions, ages, English-speaking abilities, immigration statuses, and physical abilities in a multicultural environment;
• Instincts and experience that come from winning successful strategic organizing efforts; track record of mobilizing large numbers of people into action and building community leadership;
• Experience working in gun violence prevention in communities of color useful, but not required.

Compensation

$150,000 – $175,000, commensurate with experience. This position is remote, with a preference for individuals based in New York City or DC. March for Our Lives is a national organization and significant travel will be required.

Contact

Trisha Sutrisno and Amber Gomes of Koya Partners have been exclusively retained for this search. To express your interest in this role please submit your materials here or email [email protected] and [email protected] directly. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.

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March For Our Lives is an Equal Opportunity Employer and will consider applicants for positions without regard to any category protected by applicable federal, state or local law, including but not limited to: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status or uniformed service member status. Women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, young people, and members of other historically disenfranchised populations are strongly encouraged to apply.

Koya Partners is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email [email protected] If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.

About Koya Partners

Koya Partners, a part of the Diversified Search Group, is a leading executive search and strategic advising firm dedicated to connecting exceptionally talented people with mission-driven clients. Our founding philosophy—The Right Person in the Right Place Can Change the World—guides our work as we partner with nonprofits & NGOs, institutions of higher education, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.

For more information about Koya Partners, visit www.koyapartners.com.