The Executive Director will champion visual arts educators and the value of visual arts and design education nationally. They will lead a strategic vision that further strengthens NAEA, support its members, and assure the long-term growth and impacts of a diverse professional association. Advancing strategic partnerships and collaborations with other arts and education associations, the Executive Director will serve as an ambassador who heightens NAEA’s national and international visibility and influence while cultivating relationships and support for NAEF. Reporting to the NAEA Board of Directors, the Executive Director will mobilize human, financial, and technological resources to effectively achieve NAEA goals, increase its membership, support NAEF philanthropic funding, and enhance interorganizational capacity building and performance.
Roles and Responsibilities
Visibility, Advocacy, and Strategy
- Identify and articulate critical issues in the art and design education field, serve as a champion, and proactively advocate for the value of art education with public policymakers, funders, the media, and other stakeholders.
- Transform NAEA’s strategic goals into specific, measurable, attainable, reviewable, and timely action plans to enrich visual arts education and related fields.
- Develop strong policy and advocacy collaborations with the Arts Education Alliance, Arts Education Partnership, Americans for the Arts, National Association for Music Education, National Coalition for Core Arts Standards, State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education, and many other national, state, and provincial chapters and associations that advocate for the value of art education.
- Foster alliances with other organizations in the arts, education, art education, and related areas that fortify the NAEA and the states, districts, provinces, and regions that it serves.
- Fulfill other visibility, advocacy, and strategy roles and responsibilities as needed.
Resource Identification, Cultivation, and Activation
- Nurture collaborative relationships with government agencies and advocacy organizations that support arts education funding, particularly those whose purpose are in alignment with NAEA’s mission.
- Increase philanthropic resources that enhance NAEA’s strategic vision and support its growth and sustainability.
- Oversee efforts to increase memberships and emerging leadership from diverse individual, educational, institutional, and business constituencies.
- Promote the advantages of the investment in and value of NAEA as well as the planned giving legacy opportunities for NAEF.
- Develop strategies that enhance funding opportunities and options that broaden and deepen the impacts of NAEA members in the communities they serve.
- Assume other resource identification, cultivation, and activation roles and responsibilities as needed.
Member Learning, Knowledge, and Support
- Oversee integrated, insightful, and relevant multiyear convention programming and planning.
- Provide orientation, education, and engagement of board members to maximize their leadership abilities and overall effectiveness.
- Communicate with NAEA members and foster high levels of collaborative participation, satisfaction, retention, and the recruitment of new members and early professional art educators.
- Energize, engage, and support volunteer leaders in addressing goals and priorities.
- Stay abreast of issues and trends impacting the arts and education sectors and serve as a thought leader, more specifically as it relates to visual arts education.
- Encourage innovative membership services and growth in publications, research, and emerging technologies.
- Invite, support, and seek ways to effectively communicate research that promotes quality in, adds knowledge to, and information about the value of art education and related fields.
- Welcome and engage culturally diverse perspectives and communities as part of NAEA’s mission.
- Accept other member learning, knowledge, and support roles and responsibilities as needed.
Organizational Planning, Development, and Vibrancy
- Effectively plan with and facilitate the policy and governance roles of the NAEA and NAEF boards.
- Identify and enhance organizational resources that are needed to ensure short-term effectiveness and long-term sustainability.
- Maintain an organization with the highest ethical standards and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements for the smooth operation of NAEA.
- Oversee NAEA’s organizational operations, personnel, financial planning, and reporting.
- Serve as an effective steward of public and private resources, exemplify accountability and transparency, and comply with federal, state, and local regulations.
- Guide, mentor, and supervise a senior leadership team that demonstrates a diverse, inclusive, productive, and collaborative work environment.
- Ensure that NAEA’s personnel policies, procedures, and performance standards support employee empowerment and retention.
- Undertake other organizational planning, development, and vibrancy roles and responsibilities as needed.
Traits and Characteristics
The Executive Director will be a knowledgeable and passionate advocate for art education. As a persuasive and dynamic leader, the Executive Director will be driven by new ideas and opportunities to set and achieve collective goals. With a focus on NAEA’s role in service to its members, the Executive Director will demonstrate a collaborative and inclusive leadership approach in advancing strategic initiatives that achieve positive impacts for the multi-faceted art education field. Driven by altruism and deeply appreciative of multiple viewpoints, the Executive Director will recognize, respect, and promote diversity and inclusion in all its forms. An experienced leader with a record of commitment to public policy and advocacy, the Executive Director will exhibit exceptional team building capabilities, adapt to various situations with consideration of both people and context, and interact frequently with an array of stakeholders.
Other key competencies include:
- Diplomacy and Interpersonal Skills – The flexibility to anticipate, understand, and meet the needs of many parties while listening actively and respectfully, building rapport, communicating transparently, and relating well to an array of unique internal and external stakeholders while facilitating mutually beneficial outcomes.
- Leadership and Teamwork – The ability to communicate persuasively and effectively in public presentations, small group discussions, and written and verbal communications while motivating others with knowledge, advance preparation, enthusiasm, direction, and active participation.
- Member and Donor Focus – The capacity to exemplify best practices in promoting member satisfaction with a high value on identifying and satisfying multiple stakeholder needs, the tenacity to building authentic rapport, and the dexterity to relating well to a variety of people and experiential perspectives regardless of cultural background.
- Time and Priority Management – The dexterity to manage, prioritize, and complete multiple complex tasks, mobilize wide-ranging resources, and deliver desired outcomes within allotted time frames.
- Professional and Personal Accountability – The integrity to be answerable for personal and professional actions while readily modifying and adapting to change with resilience, flexibility, and humility.
Qualifications
A master’s degree or equivalent experience in education, the arts, business, or a related field and a minimum of eight years of senior management experience at a cultural organization, cultural association, educational institution, nonprofit organization, government agency, or similar entity are required. Possession of the Certified Association Executive credential, or other licenses and certifications, is appreciated but not required. Experience in advocacy, public relations, fundraising, and media with extraordinary interpersonal and written skills is needed. Leading candidates will have a proven track record in working with a diverse group of individuals and strategic partner organizations who come from a range of cultural backgrounds, ideological approaches, professional experiences, and geographic areas. Due to the nature of the role in advocacy, national fundraising activities, and hybrid office work schedule, the Executive Director must live in the Metropolitan Washington Area.
Compensation and Benefits
NAEA offers an equitable and competitive compensation package with a base salary estimated to be in the range of $225,000 to $275,000. NAEA employees receive a number of employer provided and subsidized benefits, including healthcare and dental insurances; short- and long-term disability and life insurances; flexible spending account; matching 403(b) after one year of employment; accrued vacation and sick leave; and reimbursement of parking or Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority expenses.
Applications and Inquiries
To submit a cover letter and resume with a summary of demonstrable accomplishments (electronic submissions preferred), please visit https://artsconsulting.com/opensearches/arts-consulting-group-seeks-finance-operations-associate/.
NAEA follows an equal opportunity employment policy and employs personnel without regard to race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status. It is the policy of NAEA to select, place, train, and promote the best qualified individuals based upon relevant factors such as work quality, attitude, and experience so as to provide equal employment opportunity for all of its employees in compliance with applicable local, state, and federal laws.
