What are the responsibilities and job description for the Community Impact Officer position at The John R. Oishei Foundation?
The Community Impact Officer will lead strategic community investments and engagement efforts, serving as a trusted partner to organizations, especially on Buffalo’s East Side. This role drives key focus areas, including Individual and Joy, Restoration & Resilience, by supporting community-driven opportunities, strengthening relationships, and advancing equitable, trust-based grantmaking practices. The Community Impact Officer coordinates programs, evaluates impact, ensures compliance, and collaborates with diverse stakeholders to elevate community leadership and address root causes. This position serves as a connector, listener, and advocate, ensuring all work is grounded in community voice and collective transformation.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategy & Portfolio Management
The John R. Oishei Foundation is in a period of bold transformation. Rooted in Buffalo, we are working alongside East Side communities to dismantle systemic barriers and build long-term prosperity. As our Leader of Strategic Communications, you’ll help shape how we show up—internally and externally—and lead the way in shifting narratives toward justice.
Compensation & Benefits:
In addition to your application, please Include a cover letter that outlines your interest in this role and what the East Side of Buffalo means to you.
About The John R. Oshei Foundation
The John R. Oishei Foundation is a private, place-based foundation working to advance racial equity and financial prosperity in the Buffalo-Niagara region. With $315 million in managed assets and an annual operating budget of approximately $15 million, the Foundation supports community-led solutions that build long-term systems change and a more racially just and vibrant Western New York.
We are transforming how we work—centering values in every part of our operations, showing up in community with humility and accountability, and sharing power with those most impacted by systemic injustice. We are especially focused on Buffalo’s East Side, working alongside community members and organizations to build prosperity, grow community-owned assets, and elevate joy, resilience, and restoration.
The John R. Oshei Foundation provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, The John R. Oshei Foundation complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities.
Key Responsibilities:
Strategy & Portfolio Management
- Serve as an Oishei Foundation “brand” ambassador - proactively communicate the Foundation’s strategy & plans.
- Lead, execute, and manage the Individual and Joy, Restoration and Resilience portfolios focused on elevating and supporting organizations and entities providing spaces that uplift the abundance and strength of individuals and resources in the community.
- Lead the co-design and execution of the foundation’s role in supporting community organizing and collective power movements.
- Meet with partner organizations on a fluid and relational basis, depending on their capacity and interest, to understand their work and learn.
- Prioritize initiatives rooted in the East Side of Buffalo
- Manage and evaluate internal progress while supporting community partner impact. This includes identifying opportunities for community partners to receive organizational infrastructure support.
- Develop and manage program plans, budgets, and timelines.
- Internally support and partner in identifying research and analysis to inform program design and strategy.
- Prepare reports, presentations, and documentation for internal and external stakeholders.
- Build authentic, long-term relationships with grassroots leaders, nonprofits, and residents.
- Facilitate listening sessions/community convenings, site visits, and collaborative gatherings to elevate community voice, support unity, and learn through community presence.
- Act as a bridge between institutional resources and community aspirations.
- Support leaders and organizations in building personal and organizational capabilities to become more powerful in accordance with their own strategies and goals.
- Champion partner organizations and organize opportunities for people with influence across sectors to help build greater resources and impactful systems change.
- Represent the organization at meetings, conferences, and public events.
- Develop and demonstrate a deep understanding of the TBP framework.
- Champion practices that reduce barriers to funding, including streamlined applications, multi-year support, and onerous reporting.
- Promote transparency, mutual accountability, and shared learning.
- Steward unrestricted general operating investments and seek to provide flexible support tailored to community needs.
- Collaborate with partners, grantees, and other stakeholders to ensure successful program delivery.
- Identify opportunities for program improvement and innovation.
- Work across internal teams and external partners to align strategies and share insights. This includes data collection and evaluation, grants management, and budgeting.
- Stay informed on local policy, economic trends, and community innovations.
- Contribute to narrative change, storytelling, and community-informed learning that amplifies impact.
- Ensure compliance with organizational policies and funding requirements.
- 7 years of experience in philanthropy, community engagement, nonprofit leadership, social justice, or related fields
- Lived experience and/or deep knowledge of communities served, particularly Buffalo’s East Side
- Proven ability to manage multiple portfolios with strategic clarity and operational excellence
- Experience in senior roles with power-building organizations focusing on systems change, leadership development, narrative change, and/or fundraising
- Preference to candidates from multidisciplinary backgrounds outside of philanthropy, including but not limited to grassroots leadership, community organizing, arts and culture, policy, community organizing, etc.
- Experience having played a role (internal or external) that was critical to an organization's growth and/or increasing its impact and power
- Experience building and executing programs to organize social justice causes and economic mobility
- Experience executing community convenings with various stakeholders to inform strategies, build stronger relationships, and build community resources
- Familiarity with trust-based philanthropy and power-based strategies
- Clear track record of delivering results
- Strong project management skills, demonstrated through previous projects managing multiple internal and external stakeholders (e.g. working across organizations)
- Mastery of building meaningful relationships in philanthropy, social movements, and the broader sector
- Solid research and analytical skills, and the ability to cull and synthesize information from large bodies of knowledge and complex concepts, and draft summaries, analyses, and recommendations
- Strong commitment to addressing racial inequities and demonstrating anti-racism practices throughout the work
- Systems thinker with a passion for equity and innovation
- Comfortable navigating complexity and adapting to evolving priorities
- Strong interpersonal skills, cultural humility, and a collaborative spirit
- Ability to apply a broad knowledge of the concepts, practice, principles, and procedures of community investing
- Ability to effectively coordinate the work of team members
- Ability to work collaboratively, contribute productively to collective decisions, and execute in alignment with them
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Familiarity with monitoring and evaluation frameworks
The John R. Oishei Foundation is in a period of bold transformation. Rooted in Buffalo, we are working alongside East Side communities to dismantle systemic barriers and build long-term prosperity. As our Leader of Strategic Communications, you’ll help shape how we show up—internally and externally—and lead the way in shifting narratives toward justice.
Compensation & Benefits:
- The compensation range for this position is $90,000 - $100,000 annually, commensurate with experience.
- Exceptional Benefits including 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance and 401k with a 7% match
In addition to your application, please Include a cover letter that outlines your interest in this role and what the East Side of Buffalo means to you.
About The John R. Oshei Foundation
The John R. Oishei Foundation is a private, place-based foundation working to advance racial equity and financial prosperity in the Buffalo-Niagara region. With $315 million in managed assets and an annual operating budget of approximately $15 million, the Foundation supports community-led solutions that build long-term systems change and a more racially just and vibrant Western New York.
We are transforming how we work—centering values in every part of our operations, showing up in community with humility and accountability, and sharing power with those most impacted by systemic injustice. We are especially focused on Buffalo’s East Side, working alongside community members and organizations to build prosperity, grow community-owned assets, and elevate joy, resilience, and restoration.
The John R. Oshei Foundation provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, The John R. Oshei Foundation complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities.
Salary : $90,000 - $100,000