Executive Director

Operation Fresh Start has exclusively retained The QTI Group to conduct the search for its new Executive Director.

Mission: Operation Fresh Start empowers emerging adults on a path to self-sufficiency through education, mentoring, and employment training.

Vision: All emerging adults ages 16–24 are assets in our community.

Values: Community, Commitment, Empowerment, Equity, Work

Operation Fresh Start is seeking a dynamic leader who embodies and empowers our mission and vision to lead the organization and provide educational and employment opportunities through mentoring, education, and employment training to young adults ages 16-24 in Dane County who face a variety of challenges and barriers. Join this collaborative, devoted, and progressive team committed to the organization’s values and collective goal of helping each of its graduates obtain sustainable employment and/or pursue higher education.

Mission and Culture Driver

• Inspirational and dynamic leader who is relationship-focused and committed to empowering and supporting the existing strong organizational culture.
• Understand individual teammate motivators & talents, and provide meaningful recognition, coaching, mentoring, change management, and development opportunities for staff.
• Commitment to learning, understanding, and stewarding OFS, its history, its programs, and its staff to effectively guide decision-making and best practices.

Advocacy and Equity Leader

• Serve as a leader in working with at-risk and marginalized youth and emerging adults.
• Champion engagement, educational, and workforce best practices as related to skill and career development.
• Demonstrate a high level of commitment and action in leading diversity and inclusion through an equity lens.
• Advocate on behalf of OFS to identify and respond to the needs of those we serve within the community.

Community Ambassador and Resource Development

• Serve as a liaison between OFS and partnering community organizations such as civic leaders, workforce development, educational institutions, businesses, and national, state, and local funding partners.
• Oversee the public image and brand of OFS as a national leader in services to disconnected and out-of-school youth.
• Partner with the Development Director and Development Committee to drive fundraising efforts, including donor cultivation, individual requests for donations, and donor recognition.
• Maintain knowledge of trends related to public and private funding opportunities that align with the mission and strategic vision for OFS.

Nonprofit Financial and Operational Management

• Partner closely with the Finance and Operations Manager and the Board Finance Committee to ensure continuous fiscal soundness and long-term financial viability.
• Maintain awareness and exercise sound judgment to ensure financial controls are in place to track and manage grant allocation and funding sources.
• Assure high quality, sustainable programs, services, and staff and make use of community resources and partnerships to meet the participants’ needs.
• Lead the effective functioning and decision-making of the Senior Leadership Team and serve as an active collaborator with the Board, Board Committees, and the OFS team.

Strategic Leadership

• Innovative leader with the ability to increase opportunities for youth through program assessment, growth, and diversification.
• Ensure the organizational structure aligns with and enables efficient execution of OFS’s mission.
• A servant leader who inspires staff with passion, transparency, and knowledge of how strategic objectives impact OFS’s mission and the broader Dane County community.
• Attract and hire staff and help recruit Board members and other community volunteers to support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization.
• Manage and lead a staff of 40, including 3 direct reports on the Executive Leadership Team.

Qualifications and Abilities 

• 5+ years of nonprofit management experience, including strategy development.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to present to large and small groups, including staff, community partners, and donor groups.
• Motivated to act with empathy, compassion, integrity, transparency, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• Excellent organizational skills, including planning, delegating, program development, and task facilitation.
• Desired education, BA/BS or MS or equivalent.

Target Start: March 2024. This provides an opportunity for onboarding and a smooth transition in partnership with the retiring Executive Director.

Operation Fresh Start (OFS) values equity, diversity, and inclusion as part of its mission to empower emerging adults on a path to self-sufficiency through education, mentoring, and employment training. OFS is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building and maintaining a culturally diverse workplace that is free of discrimination and harassment of any kind. We encourage women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.