Executive Director for Respond Now

We are seeking a Dynamic, hands-on Executive Director to lead critical safety-net organization in south suburbs

Executive Service Corps of Chicago is conducting a search on behalf of Respond Now for an Executive Director role. In this document, you will find details about the role, Respond Now, the responsibilities and requirements for the role as well as compensation, benefits, and where to apply.

Opportunity Overview:

Respond Now stands at a pivotal inflection point in its history. Having scaled to an annual budget of ~$3.8M and a staff of 26 serving over 12,000 individuals across the Chicago Southland, the organization requires a visionary, entrepreneurial Executive Director to transition it from its current operational foundation into a fully modernized, scalable, and resilient institution.

This is explicitly a call for a ‘builder,’ not a caretaker. The next leader will not simply manage steady-state operations, but will actively continue to build the organization's credibility, diversify revenue streams, and inspire its team members to continue to help families in need in the Chicago Southland.. For an executive leader driven by high-impact organizational transformation, this role offers an extraordinary opportunity to stabilize, professionalize, and scale an essential community anchor.

Position: Executive Director

Reports To: Board of Directors

Location: 1439 Emerald Avenue, Chicago Heights, IL 60411 

Compensation for this role will range from $110,000 to $140,000/yr and it is fully benefitted

Respond Now Mission:

Respond Now connects those in need with health, hunger, and housing services in the Chicago Southland. We do this by:

• Helping people through their temporary emergencies with financial assistance
• Providing food to families and individuals in need
• Providing sound referrals and counseling for other needed services

About Respond Now:

Respond Now provides a host of essential services to over 12,000 people in need in south suburban Cook County. Vital services such as food, rent and mortgage assistance, utility assistance, clothing, and transportation are provided to families in over 22 communities in the Chicago Southland. Respond Now is a United Way sponsored agency with funding from private donations, government grants, and corporate and foundation support. It is a recipient of the Greater Chicago Food Depository Quality Performance Award and the Rotary Club of Chicago Heights Paul Harris Community Service Award. Respond Now is an organization with annual funding of $3.8M and 26 staff members.  

For additional information on Respond Now please visit their website here: https://respondnow.org/

Respond Now is entering an exciting next phase of growth and impact. The Executive Director will serve as a visionary and dynamic leader responsible for advancing the organization’s mission, enhancing the organization's credibility with donors and the board, providing oversight and direction with regards to financial standing, strengthening sustainability, and shaping its future. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will build on a strong foundation of community trust and program excellence while reimagining how the organization grows, engaging donors and partners, and expanding its reach on behalf of families in need in the Chicago Southland.

This is a unique opportunity for a mission-driven leader to make a lasting impact and help guide Respond Now into its next chapter. The Executive Director will provide strategic, operational, and fiscal leadership, ensuring the organization continues to deliver excellent programs for families in need to over 12,000 people in need in south suburban Cook County.

Key responsibilities for this role include (but are not limited to):

Financial Health - The fundraising function reports to the Executive Director; a key component of this role will involve your involvement in cultivating relationships with corporate, foundation and government funders, and promoting financial transparency and credibility with those funders, as well as the Board of Directors.

The Director of Finance will report directly to you in this role. You will be heavily involved in working with this Director of Finance to oversee financial reporting. Although the Executive Director does not directly prepare these reports, oversight of this function will be a key component of this role.

The Executive Director maintains a personal portfolio of high net worth donors and asks as the ‘face’ of the organization to individual donors, corporate benefactors, government grantors, and state grantors as well. 

Partner with staff managing each segment, such as major gifts, grants, events, corporate sponsorships, planned giving, appeals, crowdfunding, and third party events, to ensure successful achievement of goals.

Programs - Provide strategic direction to Respond Now’s programs. This will include looking at cost / benefit analyses to evaluate grant opportunities vs costs of programs, analyzing cost-effectiveness of current programming, and analyzing where Respond Now can offer the greatest good to the greatest number of those in need.

Lead the organization through its next phase of development by translating vision into action, aligning programs, operations, and resources with strategic priorities.

Provide inspirational leadership to the Board, donors, staff, volunteers, and stakeholders, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, collaboration, and positivity.

Organization Mission, Strategy & Leadership - Serve as an inspirational leader to internal staff members. This will include creating and fostering an environment where team members continue to feel empowered to contribute to the overall growth of Respond Now.  

Partnering with the Board of Directors to establish and evolve the organization’s strategic plan(, ensuring Respond Now fulfills its mission while positioning the organization for long-term growth and sustainability.

Partner closely with the Board of Directors to ensure effective governance, fiduciary oversight, and strategic alignment.

Ensure timely, transparent, and forward-looking communication to support informed decision-making and sustained organizational momentum.

Responsible for leading the staff to operate within the approved budget, ensure maximum resource utilization and maintenance of the organization in a positive financial position.

Ensure Respond Now is in compliance with relevant state and federal laws, regulations and with standard accounting procedures, working with accounting firm and annual auditing firm as needed.

Talent Management - Oversee employment and administrative policies and procedures for all functions and for the day-to-day operations of Respond Now.

Build a high-performing leadership team and play an active role in attracting, retaining and developing a best-in-class staff. You will have a team of 3 reporting to you in this role.

Ensure new staff members are on-boarded and trained appropriately.

Establish and monitor staff performance and set development goals, assign accountabilities, set objectives and establish priorities with staff members.

Mentor and develop staff using a supportive and collaborative leadership approach.

Requirements:

• 5 years of successful leadership experience as an Executive Director with a nonprofit. This is an absolute must have. We will need to see a proven track record working with programs in the human services sector within the nonprofit community.
• At least 4 years of experience in a nonprofit with establishing successful fundraising campaigns (including Federal, State and County grantors, corporate, foundations and wealthy individual donors), and excellent donor relationship management skills.
• At least 4 years of staff management experience to include hiring, performance management, firing skills requiring excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills such as negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
• Energetic, flexible, collaborative, and proactive; a team leader who can successfully guide change initiatives that result in positive and productive impact to strengthening the culture and achieving strategic initiatives.
• Extremely strong organizational abilities, including planning, delegating, program development and task facilitation. Demonstrates an ability to multitask and meet deadlines on projects.
• Ability to challenge legacy thinking while also learning from board and staff members with long tenure at this nonprofit.
• We are seeking a true 'builder' as opposed to a caretaker. We all know nonprofits where you could - in a way - put them on 'cruise control'. For this role, we are seeking that person that will put their foot on the accelerator as opposed to setting the cruise control.