Director, Strategic Initiatives & Executive Affairs

ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE SOUTHERN CA•Los Angeles, CA

8h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Strategic Initiatives & Executive Affairs serves as a force multiplier for the CEO, ensuring that our leader’s time, voice and relationships are deployed where they matter most. This is a rare opportunity to operate at the highest level of a mission-driven organization -- shaping strategy execution, stewarding critical relationships, and helping build the kind of culture where our people can do their best work and serve our clients. This role requires someone who thrives on complexity, operates well in ambiguity, is well organized, communicates with clarity and heart, and holds an unwavering commitment to social justice and civil rights. The Director, Strategic Initiatives & Executive Affairs works in close partnership with the executive and senior leadership teams, and serves as a key liaison between the CEO and internal staff, board members, and external stakeholders. Acting as a trusted representative of the CEO, the position helps foster a collaborative, inspirational and productive organizational culture. The Director, Strategic Initiatives & Executive Affairs supports day-to-day administrative oversight, facilitates cross-departmental communication, and advances strategic initiatives. This role aids in managing Board of Directors (BOD) engagement and meetings, and stewards the CEO’s external voice in partnership with the communications and marketing leaders.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree, with preference for a degree in a related field
Minimum of ten (10) years of professional experience, with at least three (3) years in a senior coordination, strategy, operations role in a nonprofit, advocacy or mission-driven environment
Demonstrated commitment to racial justice, civil rights, and/or social justice
Valid driver’s license and/or access to alternative transportation

Nice To Haves

Project Management Certification preferred
Bilingual (in languages spoken by our clients), a plus

Responsibilities

Orchestrate and optimize the CEO’s daily workflow, ensuring seamless prioritization of high-impact activities and strategic communications across phone and email
Manage the CEO’s calendar with an eye toward organizational priorities, relationship stewardship, and sustainable use of the CEO’s time and energy
Serve as a partner to the CEO in managing and nurturing external relationships with funders, donors, community partners, and public officials
Advance donor engagement and stewardship by facilitating high-touch check-ins, tracking relationship milestones, and supporting the CEO in cultivating long-term philanthropic partnerships
Contribute to the development of high-impact communications and fundraising collateral, including executive presentation decks, donor-facing materials, and strategic messaging assets
Prepare the CEO for meetings and engagements: synthesizing briefings, tracking follow-ups and ensuring no relationship falls through the cracks
Compose, refine, and manage high-level correspondence with precision, aligning tone and content with executive intent and organizational voice
Coordinate multifaceted travel while ensuring accommodation is within organizational guidelines
Oversee end-to-end expense management, ensuring compliance with financial policies, timely reconciliation, and accurate reporting
At the direction of the CEO and the Chief of Staff/Chief Transformation Officer (COS/CTO), create and oversee organizational dashboards, including strategic plan and organizational health metrics, ensuring that leaders have the information they need to make decisions and course-correct in real time
Project manage key organizational-wide initiatives, with ownership of strategic plan implementation – tracking milestones, coordinating across leadership, and surfacing risks and opportunities for CEO and COS/CTO review
In partnership with the CEO and COS/CTO, support leadership meetings, agendas, and documentation to support strategic alignment
Track and report on cross-functional initiatives, ensuring timely execution and alignment with organizational goals
Uphold governance standards and optimize decision-making processes across leadership and teams
Spearhead the end-to-end coordination of BOD meetings, including the development of meeting agendas, executive-level materials, direct coordination with board members, and documentation of meeting minutes to ensure governance continuity
Partner with leadership to ensure a coordinated, well-managed Board experience that reflects the professionalism and mission of the organization
Support the CEO and executive leadership in managing BOD relationships, customized to individual Board members’ preference (e.g., high-touch and robust engagement for some, and light-touch with minimal communication for others)
Partner with HR to foster a people-centered, inspirational and joyful organizational culture that is grounded in the mission and animated by accountability and innovation, including by designing and implementing staff engagement initiatives that strengthen connection, belonging, and shared purpose across both the Los Angeles and the Orange County offices
Shape and execute CEO internal communications to keep staff informed, inspired and connected to the mission and direction, in partnership with the M&C leader
Support internal communication initiatives, ensuring clarity, alignment, and timely dissemination of critical information across cross-functional teams
Manage and steward the CEO’s voice, including social media presence and other public-facing communications, in partnership with the Communications staff
Shape and execute CEO internal communications to keep staff informed, inspired and connected to the mission and direction
Develop, curate, and deliver comprehensive briefing materials, decks, and agendas tailored to diverse audiences for high-stake internal and external engagements
Lead special projects and initiatives from planning through execution, as prioritized by executive leadership, including development and management of project plans, timelines and deliverables