What are the responsibilities and job description for the MV Vision Fellowship Executive Director position at COCO Search (Vineyard Vision Fellowship)?
Executive Director
MV VISION FELLOWSHIP FUND
Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
March 2026
Make a difference for your Island.
The Martha’s Vineyard Vision Fellowship: Who We Are
For 20 years the Martha’s Vineyard Vision Fellowship (MVVF or “the Fellowship”) has invested in the future of Martha’s Vineyard through an initiative unique on the island. The Fellowship empowers promising Islanders who are committed to the environmental and social sustainability of Martha’s Vineyard. Each year, new Fellows and Scholars join an almost 200 member community of Island changemakers and innovators, dedicated to the Vineyard. If you share this commitment, consider whether serving as MVVF’s next Executive Director is the right way for you to support the Vineyard community!
The Vision Fellowship invests in Islanders through three types of awards:
Mid-Career Vision Fellowship Awards
These awards are for mid-career individuals who are pursuing degree programs (postgraduate and undergraduate) and professional development certification courses, trainings, and workshops.
Project-Based Vision Fellowship Awards
These awards are for individuals who propose projects or activities that clearly address or advance one or more of the Vision Fellowship’s sustainability areas of interest on the Island.
Vision Scholar Awards
These awards are for college-bound high school seniors whose educational goals are strongly aligned with one or more of the Vision Fellowship’s sustainability areas of interest.
MVVF also actively promotes community among the Fellows, to provide support for projects, mentorship in developing one’s education and career, education on critical Island issues, and advice and resources for Fellows current and past.
The Role
The Executive Director of the Fellowship serves multiple roles, from researching Island issues and initiatives to serving as coach and mentor to Fellows, Scholars, and prospective Fellows and Scholars; from overseeing the application process to overseeing the annual budget and fellowship disbursement process. A survey of Fellowship stakeholders found that among the most critical roles the Executive Director plays is fostering community among the Fellows. This combination of excellent management skills and a deft sense of opportunities and needs on the Island will be central to the next Executive Director’s success.
As the Fellowship completes 20 years, and the Island faces urgent challenges, the Executive Director will collaborate with the Board to ensure the Fellowship maintains its positive impact. The Fellows community is strong, but can continue to support each other and the Island in tackling these challenges. The issues are interrelated and resources are limited, with many feeling an increased sense of urgency around everything from housing to climate resilience, ticks to drinking water. The next Executive Director will help ensure the Fellowship’s efforts are best positioned to make a difference for the Island community. In doing so, the Executive Director can rely on, but will also provide organizational support for, the MVVF Board of Directors, Grants Committee, and Advisory Council. This multi-faceted role results in a day-to-day and week-to-week schedule that will offer the successful candidate variety, inspiration, and a full to-do list.
Among the core responsibilities for MVVF’s Executive Director are the following:
Fellowship Program Leadership
Conduct and coordinate outreach to recruit prospective Fellows and Island-based sponsoring organizations for those Fellows.
Facilitate the annual grant cycle including conducting the initial review of potential applicants, and coordinating the nomination, application and interview process with the Grants Committee.
Develop and implement programming to help foster community building and information sharing within the Vision Fellowship community.
Provide ongoing support to all Fellows and alumni and encourage communication, accountability (through individual meetings and reports), and connections among Vision Fellowship community members.
Maintain an up-to-date and substantive understanding of critical Island issues as well as leaders, nonprofits, businesses, and other efforts tackling those issues.
Act as liaison between the Fellowship and the Vineyard nonprofit community, Fellowship mentors, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School, Falmouth Academy and other educational institutions as appropriate.
Board Support
Facilitate Board meeting planning, agenda setting, and annual budget review.
Draft agendas and facilitate meetings of the Grants Committee and Advisory Council, and identify Fellows available and willing to serve on those committees when openings arise.
Ensure the Fellowship complies with all nonprofit recordkeeping and fiscal responsibilities.
Organizational Management
Ensure sound fiscal management by overseeing the budget and maintaining financial records with the support of a bookkeeper.
Maintain and manage all electronic records and data with a consultant.
Manage ongoing special projects, including, for example, the Island-wide Food Waste Project and the Vision Fellowship Film Archive project.
Regularly update the website, including individual Fellow bios and program information.
While ensuring the Fellowship is a well run Island nonprofit, the Executive Director must also provide the perspective, tact, discretion, and kindness to continue to nourish a community of Island individuals united in working to make Martha’s Vineyard a livable, sustainable home.
Candidate Qualifications and Qualities
This is a unique role with responsibilities that could be met through a variety of skills, experiences, expertise, educational paths, and enthusiasms! Nonetheless, there are some essential qualifications and qualities the Board anticipates the next Executive Director will demonstrate. These include the following:
A demonstrated and deep understanding of the critical issues facing Martha’s Vineyard as a home, economy, environment, and community of people.
Particular expertise in one or more of the Fellowship’s priorities would be ideal.
A commitment to living year-round on Martha’s Vineyard, in every season.
Humility and a commitment to fostering connections among and following the lead of the Fellows, rather than advancing a personal agenda.
Previous experience or expertise in leading a nonprofit, especially on Martha’s Vineyard, would be ideal.
Supporting a board of directors as engaged decision makers.
Previous experience assessing grants and projects or admissions or student potential.
Prior experience as a coach, mentor, or advisor to both youth and adults.
Expertise in project management and project planning.
Extraordinary organizational skills to manage events, annual reports, budgets, Fellows’ stories, and strong communications among the Board, Committees, and almost 200 Fellows.
Excellent communications skills for drafting both internal and external materials, as well as comfort with public speaking and facilitating meetings.
Comfort with technology to maintain the website, draft materials for online editing and sharing, manage Zoom calls, track the budget, and compile Fellowship applications.
Clear evidence of a commitment to the Island community and care for its community members and future.
Compensation
MVVF offers a competitive annual salary for the Executive Director position, estimated to begin at $100,000 annually, with benefits to be determined as part of the total compensation negotiation.
To Apply
The Fellowship Board imagines there are many potentially successful profiles for the Executive Director candidates. Please submit a thoughtful cover letter and detailed resume to our search consultant, CoCo Search/Carolyn O’Brien Consulting, LLC at this link. We will do our best to speak with every applicant, but please recognize there may be significant interest in this position, and that may not be possible. The Board is immensely grateful for the impressive dedication to the Martha’s Vineyard community that Fellows, prospective Fellows, Scholars, mentors, partners, and others have shared with us for the past 20 years.