Executive Director

Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation • Kansas City Metropolitan Area, KS

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

Advocates for Immigrant Rights & Reconciliation (AIRR) is seeking an Executive Director to serve as its senior organizational leader. This role is responsible for translating the organization's mission, values, and strategy into sustained organizational impact. Reporting to and partnering with the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will provide leadership across fundraising, organizing and campaign strategy, people and volunteer leadership, external relationships, and financial and operational systems. AIRR is at a critical stage of development, requiring a leader who can strengthen its foundation, expand and diversify resources, support sustainable workloads, and deepen accountability to immigrant communities while maintaining its grassroots, power-building identity. The organization views organizing as a strategy for developing collective leadership and community power. The Executive Director will be AIRR's primary external representative, engaging with funders, partners, public officials, coalitions, and media, while remaining deeply connected to staff, volunteers, and community leaders. Leadership at AIRR emphasizes building alignment through collective decision-making, transparent communication, and treating community leaders as partners. The Executive Director must lead collaboratively while maintaining clear responsibility for implementation, performance, results, and complex decisions.

Requirements

• At least five years of relevant, progressively responsible leadership experience, with a demonstrated record of delivering meaningful organizational, policy, campaign, fundraising, or community outcomes.
• Leadership experience in a nonprofit, advocacy, community organizing, public service, philanthropy, or other mission-driven environment, including direct experience working within or alongside a community-organizing or power-building model.
• Demonstrated fundraising and donor-development capability that has resulted in secured revenue, strengthened funding relationships, or a more diversified funding base.
• Experience developing, managing, or monitoring organizational or program budgets, with the ability to understand, explain, and use nonprofit financial information in decision-making.
• Experience supervising, coaching, coordinating, or developing staff, contractors, volunteers, or community leaders and contributing to a healthy and accountable organizational culture.
• Experience working with a nonprofit Board, advisory body, coalition, or comparable governance or stakeholder group.
• Professional proficiency in Spanish and English, including the ability to communicate, facilitate meetings, build relationships, and represent the organization in both languages.
• A demonstrated record of building trusted and accountable relationships with immigrant communities through organizing, advocacy, professional, volunteer, or community leadership experience.
• Strong written and verbal communication, facilitation, relationship-building, public-presentation, and conflict-navigation skills.
• High judgment, emotional intelligence, integrity, discretion, and comfort leading through ambiguity, competing priorities, growth, and change.

Nice To Haves

• Experience serving in a senior leadership or hands-on executive role within a small or growing organization.
• Experience leading advocacy campaigns, coalition work, or strategies designed to influence local, state, or federal policy.
• Knowledge of the Kansas City region's immigrant, nonprofit, philanthropic, government, faith-based, and advocacy communities.
• Knowledge of federal, state, and local immigration policy and the ways immigration systems affect communities in the Kansas City region.
• Experience strengthening organizational infrastructure, internal controls, grant compliance, human resources practices, or operational systems during a period of growth or transition.
• A bachelor's degree, advanced study, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and relevant experience in nonprofit management, organizational leadership, public policy, community development, or a related field. Formal education is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Board's primary strategic partner, translating mission, priorities, and strategy into an annual operating plan, budget, and clear areas of accountability.
• Balance long-term sustainability and growth planning with the immediate needs of the communities AIRR serves.
• Serve as primary staff liaison to the Board, preparing timely materials and recommendations and promptly escalating significant financial, legal, operational, or reputational concerns.
• Develop and execute a sustainable, diversified revenue strategy spanning institutional grants, individual giving, sponsorships, events, and strategic partnerships.
• Ensure effective execution of the full grants lifecycle, including prospect identification, proposal development, grant administration, compliance, relationship management, and funder reporting, personally leading high-priority efforts as needed.
• Build authentic, durable relationships with current and prospective donors and funders and engage the Board appropriately in resource development.
• Strengthen AIRR's case for support and ensure that fundraising and external communications accurately reflect its mission, organizing model, community relationships, and impact.
• Represent AIRR with funders, partners, coalitions, public officials, media, and other external audiences in a culturally responsive and mission-aligned manner.
• Provide strategic direction for local and regional advocacy campaigns grounded in AIRR's organizing and power-building model, and supervise and support the staff and leaders responsible for implementation.
• Build and sustain trusted, accountable relationships with immigrant community members, volunteer leaders, organizers, and directly affected constituencies.
• Create meaningful and structured opportunities for community members and volunteer leaders to help shape AIRR's priorities, programs, campaigns, and major decisions.
• Maintain accountability to directly affected communities as programs, partnerships, campaigns, and revenue grow.
• Track the effectiveness of organizing and leadership-development strategies using measures that reflect community power, leadership growth, and mission impact.
• Recruit, supervise, coach, support, and evaluate staff and oversee contractors, interns, and volunteer leadership structures.
• Develop staff and volunteer leaders through feedback, accountability, training, and professional growth.
• Build sustainable staff, volunteer, and community-leader pipelines through training, coaching, delegation, and meaningful opportunities for leadership.
• Foster a transparent and participatory workplace culture that engages tension and conflict directly, honestly, equitably, and with care.
• Protect organizational health by supporting sustainable workloads, effective collaboration, sound people practices, and appropriate compliance with employment policies and requirements.
• Develop annual budgets, forecasts, and financial recommendations and monitor revenue, expenses, cash flow, grant restrictions, reserves, and internal controls.
• Provide the Board with timely and understandable financial information, identify emerging risks, and recommend corrective action when needed.
• Ensure organizational compliance and forward-looking planning, including key 501(c)(3), grant, employment, insurance, reporting, and records-management requirements, in partnership with staff and professional advisors.
• Maintain reliable administrative infrastructure, including contracts, technology, insurance, facilities, data and document management, and confidentiality protections for community members, donors, volunteers, and staff.
• Assess and strengthen AIRR's operational systems so they can support responsible growth without creating unnecessary bureaucracy or weakening community accountability.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and benefits package.
• A structured leadership transition, including introductions across all constituencies, orientation to AIRR's organizing model, dedicated financial onboarding, a documented decision-making framework developed with the Board, and a collaborative 30-, 60-, and 90-day plan.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: Associate degree