UPDATE: As of March 23, 2024, we are no longer accepting applications for this position.

New Urban Arts’ Executive Director Daniel Schleifer will be stepping down this summer. As a result, we are searching for a new Executive Director! Read on for details, or download a pdf here.

About New Urban Arts
New Urban Arts (NUA) is a welcoming community of high school students and adult mentors in Providence sharing space, skills, and resources to inspire creative expression. Since 1997, we have served over 7,000 Providence teens and 200 artists. Each year, our public programs reach over 2,000 visitors and participants. We provide programs at our storefront art studio and nearby Central High School. Our core program, Youth Mentorship in the Arts, brings Providence public high school students together with local artists, building powerful mentoring relationships through the arts in our storefront studio. Notably, the program is open-door, drop-in, and student-driven. At NUA Knights, our program site at Central High School, we offer a suite of afterschool programs, in the arts and beyond. Other programs include summer programs and post-secondary advising.

To learn more about NUA, our history, impact, and our staff, visit www.newurbanarts.org.

To get a sense of our programs in action, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tePJRZyB9EI

NUA’s programs respond to historic disinvestment in arts and enrichment programs and a shortage of flexible learning spaces for public high school students. Most of our students are low-income youth of color attending public schools.

Overview
New Urban Arts is looking for a new Executive Director to:

• Lead the organization’s vision
• Develop and manage the immense talent on our team
• Oversee programs in collaboration with our program directors
• Manage fundraising and finances
• Liaise with the Board of Directors

We’re looking for a visionary partner. This job description intentionally does not include every responsibility the Executive Director will manage. Instead, this posting is intended to invite you to see yourself as the steward who can bring new life and energy to NUA.

The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors and is responsible for consistently achieving its mission and financial objectives. They are responsible for the overall administration and management of NUA, including programs, fundraising, and business operations, as well as providing leadership and professional development to talented and committed staff. The Executive Director will be expected to give participatory leadership to NUA’s diverse staff, students, their families, its partners, and other stakeholders. The Executive Director will directly supervise a Director of Development, a Director of Finance and Operations, and two program directors: The Studio Director and the NUA Knights Director.

Responsibilities
Leadership

• Continue and deepen the organization’s vision while partnering with the Board of Directors and staff in implementing the organization’s strategic plan, vision, and growth goals. NUA’s current strategic plan expires at the end of 2024, so one of the Executive The Director’s first duties will be to create a new one.
• Model and facilitate inclusive decision-making and transparency.

Talent Development and Management

• Support and maintain a work environment in which staff expects excellence and investment in their professional growth and in which they can thrive.
• Conduct reviews with staff at routine intervals throughout the year to ensure that staff and the Executive Director have open lines of communication and commonly established expectations for their work and for the direction of the organization.

Program Oversight

• Cultivate and maintain partnerships with institutional and community partners to support NUA’s students and their families.
• Establish and maintain metrics and best-practice data analytics to monitor and assess the effectiveness of NUA’s programs.
• Develop and establish new areas of work and revenue for the organization, including identifying and cultivating relationships with new funding partners and serving as the lead facilitator for business development that fits NUA’s mission.

Development/Communications

• Work closely with the Director of Development in managing relationships with major donors, including prospect research, stewardship, solicitation, and acknowledgment.
• Establish good working relationships and collaborative arrangements with community groups, funders, politicians, and other organizations to help achieve the organization’s goals.
• Oversee all marketing and public relations strategies.
• Cultivate the support of the program team for the organization’s fundraising and communications efforts.

Financial Management

• Provide for and supervise all fiscal reporting, including grant reports, IRS filings, and other required documents.
• Ensure effective audit trails.

Board of Directors

• In partnership with the Executive Committee and Board Chair, prepare board meeting agendas, related materials, information, and reports.
• Support Board efforts in fundraising.
• Staff Board committees as appropriate.

Who We Are Looking For
In order to meet the above responsibilities, we expect an incoming Executive Director to possess at least five years of meaningful experience in high organizational leadership, plus strong management, finance, and fundraising skills. Beyond these, we are looking for:

• A collaborative and inclusive leader with a participatory leadership style that can use those skills to develop and guide NUA’s vision and mission.
• A commitment to serving NUA’s students and families, a dedication to low-income communities and communities of color, and a deep belief in the rights of those communities to have spaces for imagination and creativity.
• A commitment to bringing racial and economic justice awareness to the organization’s work.
• Someone who has demonstrated leadership experience in communities and institutions with high diversity.
• A dynamic and engaging leader who attracts talented staff and values time spent motivating and mentoring them to deliver consistently high performance and realize their professional and personal goals.
• A strong, organized, and disciplined operating executive who can demonstrate a track record of delivering on strategy and organizational goals while carefully adhering to the mission and values of an organization engaged in improving the circumstances of others.
• Someone with superb communication skills, including written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Someone who has routinely spoken in public and on behalf of a company or organization to promote its agenda.
• Someone with a track record in building long-term partnerships and effective relationships with outside organizations or companies.
• An experienced fundraiser with demonstrated success raising money for non-profit organizations from diverse funding sources: individuals, foundations, government, and corporations.
• Someone with experience collecting, assembling, and utilizing data to establish metrics to drive decision-making.
• Someone with experience working with and managing multiple stakeholders, including a Board of Directors.
• Someone with knowledge and understanding of current thought leadership, federal and state policies, and social policies connected to art, arts education, youth development, afterschool programs, and summer learning.
• Someone with a demonstrated passion for the arts and creative expression, particularly for populations historically excluded from cultural institutions.

Details
Time: Full-time
Compensation Range: $85,000-$95,000
Benefits: NUA provides medical, dental, and retirement benefits to full-and part-time staff.
Application Due Date: March 22, 2024
Start Date: Summer 2024

To Apply
Email a resume and cover letter to edsearch@newurbanarts.org, subject: “Executive Director.” In your cover letter, please tell us why you want this position and why you’d be a good fit. No calls, please. Send your resume and cover letter as two separate PDF attachments. Do not include them in the body of your email.

New Urban Arts is an equal opportunity employer.
BIPOC candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.