Executive Director (Part-Time), Byway Foundation

LeaderFit•Kansas City, KS

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Byway Foundation is a newly established private foundation that is a continuation of a four-generation legacy of family philanthropy. The Foundation partners with entrepreneurial, frontline organizations pursuing practical and innovative solutions within their local contexts, bringing hope and meaningful improvement to the margins of society. The name 'Byway' reflects the Foundation's identity and posture. A byway is a lesser-traveled road, chosen with the intention of discovery, even when the destination is not yet fully known. We believe meaningful change is often found by journeying alongside those pursuing innovative work beyond established paths: efforts that are too small, too new, or too unconventional to attract conventional funding, but whose ambition and ingenuity mark them as worthy of serious investment. Byway Foundation exists to journey with such partners, accompanying them on roads less traveled. This posture is rooted in the Christian story. A biblical understanding of stewardship, service, and responsibility informs how we give, how we relate to our partners, and how we understand the resources entrusted to us. The relationship between the founders and the ED will be shaped by these shared convictions about generosity, humility, and care for the vulnerable. This is not a role where faith is incidental to the work; it is foundational to it. Our work is organized around four focus areas: Healthy Families - Strengthening the conditions in which children and families can flourish, particularly in communities affected by poverty and disadvantage Healthy Neighborhoods - Supporting the renewal of places where disinvestment, neglect, or marginalization have eroded community life, dignity, and opportunity Healthy Land - Advancing the transition from extractive industrial agriculture toward practices that restore soil, sustain independent farmers, and steward the land for future generations Healthy Imagination - Supporting artists, creators, and innovators who are working from a biblical imagination to produce excellent, compelling work in art, storytelling media and outreach programming that engages culture with depth and beauty. Byway Foundation is resourced for sustained, long-term grantmaking of approximately $2 million annually, directed primarily toward Kansas City, then the wider Midwest, with a maintained connection to the United Kingdom. We aim to make multi-year unrestricted grants to a focused number of partners, typically at the $100,000 per year level. We aim to be a capacity-building funder: our goal is to help organizations reach the next stage of their life cycle by investing in the organizations themselves, including funding the less glamorous initiatives required for organizational health and growth. The Opportunity Byway Foundation is seeking its first Executive Director. This is a foundational hire in every sense: the person who steps into this role will shape the culture, relationships, and operational character of the Foundation from the ground up. The ED will serve as the primary public representative of Byway Foundation, responsible for building the Foundation's presence and network in Kansas City, cultivating relationships with potential and existing partners, managing due diligence and grant processes, and providing strategic counsel to the founders on all funding decisions. The role is relational and strategic in nature rather than primarily administrative. Operational infrastructure, including systems for grant management, reporting, and compliance, will be built with the support of contracted operational resources; the ED will provide input and oversight on that process but will not be expected to build it alone. The founders and the ED will meet regularly, typically every other week, to review the partnership pipeline, discuss strategic questions, and maintain close alignment on the Foundation's direction and priorities. The founders will remain actively engaged in the Foundation’s strategic direction and expect to be genuine participants in major funding decisions. This is a part-time role designed for someone who brings deep experience in the nonprofit or philanthropic sector and a well-established network in the Kansas City community. We are looking for someone who treats this as a meaningful, focused commitment: a substantive engagement that draws on accumulated wisdom, relational skill, and professional excellence.

Requirements

Strategic acuity: the ability to see patterns across a portfolio of partnerships, to think critically about where the Foundation can have the most meaningful impact, and to advise the founders with candor and insight.
A great networker and convener: a demonstrated gift for building and maintaining networks, with the credibility and relational skill to convene stakeholders across sectors — nonprofits, funders, government, and community — and to help a small foundation carry influence well beyond its size.
Initiative and ownership: this role rewards someone who acts within agreed direction without waiting for sign-off, who would rather put an idea on the whiteboard than stare at a blank one, and who creates clarity where it does not yet exist. This is not an administrative support role.
Comfort operating in an entrepreneurial environment where structures are being built, not inherited. This role requires someone who is energized rather than unsettled by ambiguity, and who brings the professionalism to create clarity where it does not yet exist.
Candor within trust: the ability to advise the founders with candor and insight, to disagree honestly, and to help sustain the kind of relational trust that makes a genuine clash of ideas productive rather than personal. Outside of the Foundation’s core values, everything is open to debate, and the strength of an idea matters a great deal.
Deep familiarity with the Kansas City nonprofit landscape, including established relationships with community leaders, organizations, and philanthropic peers. Where those roots are still deepening, a demonstrated record of building and sustaining strong networks in a comparable context is essential.
Significant professional experience in the nonprofit, philanthropic, or social sector, with demonstrated judgment in assessing organizational health, leadership quality, and strategic potential.
Intellectual curiosity and a genuine desire to understand the systems, communities, and challenges in which the Foundation's partners operate. This role rewards someone who reads broadly, asks probing questions, and brings fresh thinking to the work rather than relying solely on established expertise.
A commitment to excellence and professionalism that honors our relationships, our partners and our community.
Alignment with the Foundation's values as described above, including its Christian foundations and its orientation toward the poor, the marginalized, and the overlooked.
The founders remain actively engaged in the Foundation's strategic direction and retain final authority over all funding decisions. The ED's role is to bring the best possible thinking, relationships, and counsel to the table, and to represent Byway in the world with integrity and skill.
The relationship between the founders and the ED is built on mutual trust, honest dialogue, and a shared commitment to the work.

Responsibilities

Serve as the public face and primary representative of Byway Foundation in the Kansas City community and beyond, carrying the Foundation's values and posture into every engagement.
Build and steward the networks that extend the Foundation’s reach and influence, convening nonprofit leaders, philanthropic peers, government agencies, and community stakeholders around shared challenges and building momentum behind promising initiatives.
Research, identify, and cultivate relationships with potential partners aligned with Byway's focus areas, building a pipeline of partnerships through proactive outreach, network development, and community engagement.
Conduct initial screening of potential partners and exercise independent judgment in declining organizations that do not align with the Foundation's focus areas or partner profile.
Manage the due diligence process for prospective partners, assessing organizational health, leadership quality, governance, and financial stewardship in accordance with the Foundation's grantmaking policy.
Present research, assessments, and recommendations to the founders for all new grant commitments, providing honest counsel and vigorous advocacy for the partnerships they believe in.
Maintain ongoing relationships with funded partners, including at least one substantive conversation per year with each partner and oversight of the annual reflection and reporting process.
Contribute to the Foundation's strategic thinking, including periodic review of focus areas, grantmaking approach, and the effectiveness of the Foundation's own practice.
Provide input and oversight on the development of operational systems and infrastructure, working alongside contracted resources to establish the tools and processes the Foundation needs to operate with excellence.
In the Foundation's early years, assist in the transition of existing UK partnerships from a prior giving structure into Byway's direct care, ensuring continuity and relational integrity throughout the process.