Executive Director of Homeless Empowerment Project, Inc. job listing

Executive Director

Homeless Empowerment Project, Inc. (part-time position)

The Homeless Empowerment Project (HEP) is a not-for-profit corporation with an annual budget of $150,000 and five paid staff positions (all part-time). For 23 years, every two weeks HEP has published Spare Change News, a street newspaper addressing issues of homelessness, poverty, and social justice in the Greater Boston area.

The Executive Director works with HEP’s Board of Trustees to carry out the mission of the organization and to manage its business. The Executive Director reports to the Board, collaborating with Trustees to strengthen the capacity of HEP and to extend the influence of Spare Change News.

The Executive Director leads HEP’s efforts to realize its mission by expanding the organization’s fundraising activities, public outreach and support, business development, and organizational management. The person in this role:

• Works with the Board and volunteers on donor development and grant writing, leading the effort to raise the money needed to fund organizational growth.
• Takes responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the distribution and business offices in Cambridge, and oversees the program to recruit, train, and support our vendors: Those individuals who sell Spare Change News and are key stakeholders in–and contributors to–the organization and the paper.
• Supervises and supports the work of the Spare Change News Editor-in-Chief and the editorial and production team.
• Working with the Board, plans budgets and oversees spending.
• Advocates for HEP with donors, policymakers, service providers, and community leaders.
• Defines the duties of, recruits, and hires any additional staff and supervises the work of staff and volunteers, following policies and budgets established by the Board.

Qualifications: The Executive Director is a spokesperson for the organization, and shares with the Board responsibility for generating enthusiasm and support for the Homeless Empowerment Project. To succeed, the person in this role will need the following qualifications, experience, and characteristics:

• Strong leadership and delegation skills, and effective managerial and fundraising ability, with a working knowledge of nonprofit or for-profit fiscal management.

• Demonstrated commitment to issues of homelessness, poverty, income inequality, and social justice and a proven ability to work with people of diverse racial, ethnic, sexual orientation, age, and income backgrounds.

• Experience supervising staff or volunteers and working with a Board of Trustees or similar organization.
• Proficiency at fostering relationships with organizations and individuals, locally and regionally, with whom HEP shares common interests.
• Ability to identify and cultivate sources of financial support.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate. Must speak effectively in public; write well for print and electronic media, including email and social media; and skillfully manage interpersonal and media relations.

Annual salary is $20,000 for 20 hours per week, paid biweekly. The job includes two weeks paid vacation and ten holidays, with no other benefits.

Interested? Please email resume and cover letter to:

Search Committee, Homeless Empowerment Project

Bob Woodbury, Chair     woodbury@gmail.com

The Homeless Empowerment Project is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation, with an annual budget of $150,000 and five paid staff positions (all part-time). For 23 years, every two weeks HEP has published Spare Change News, the oldest surviving street newspaper in the U.S., addressing issues of homelessness, poverty, and social justice in the Greater Boston area.

HEP pursues a three-fold mission for addressing homelessness:

• Produce a product–Spare Change News–that homeless and low-income people can sell with dignity, thereby earning income and developing skills to escape homelessness.
• Provide a way for low-income and homeless people to tell their stories.
• Educate the general public about the realities faced by people living in poverty.