Description

To guide this new chapter of confidence and impact, CFGA seeks an executive who can lead both inside and outside the institution, a credible
and present ambassador who, as one staff member put it, “is as committed to internal excellence as to external impact.”

• Internally, the next CEO will inherit a group of talented and deeply committed colleagues ready for greater clarity, collaboration and stability, keen to be part of a workforce that is as strong and values-driven as the impact CFGA seeks in the larger community.
• Externally, stakeholders will embrace a CEO who combines vision and relationship-building with disciplined execution—a leader who listens well, communicates transparently, and serves as a compelling champion for strategic philanthropy backed by the responsive staff, reliable systems and strategic discipline that sophisticated donors and community partners expect. 
• The successful candidate will strengthen confidence among donors and external partners  while developing the people, culture and systems required to serve them and the broader community with consistency, responsiveness and respect. Among the key priorities the next CEO can
  expect:

Lead with trust, inside and out
Relationships are the lifeblood of community philanthropy. The next CEO must enjoy connecting with people and earn the confidence of an
unusually complex set of constituencies. That takes more than a public presence; it takes humble confidence and the ability to move comfortably
among people and institutions that do not always share the same language or priorities.
Empower a confident, unified team
CFGA’s senior team and staff are talented and will rally around decisive leadership. The CEO needs to be a genuine leader of people, someone who
builds trust deliberately and exhibits a style of engagement that invites collaboration, expects vigorous discussion and rewards initiative.
Make CFGA one of Atlanta’s first calls
CFGA should be among the first institutions people turn to when they want to understand the region’s needs, invest in its future, or bring others together around shared civic purpose. The next CEO needs to be a credible ambassador for that role, a model of leadership exercised with discernment. Neither the Foundation nor its CEO
needs to lead on every issue, but where its mission and resources are uniquely relevant, CFGA should be ready to educate, convene and act—and be widely respected for doing so.
Sharpen strategy and strengthen capacity

CFGA’s aspirations are high. The next CEO must help the board and staff translate those aspirations into a clear strategy grounded in the people, systems and partnerships needed to do the work. This calls for sharp choices, cohesive priorities, and a culture of transparency that reinforces confidence and accountability. Operational effectiveness is inseparable from mission impact, and a successful strategy depends on the willingness to say “no.” Working in concert with the board, staff and key constituencies, the
CEO must determine how the Foundation can best create distinctive, measurable value and ensure the stable, sustainable capacity to deliver that value.

Strengthen the operating foundation
A foundation with assets approaching $2 billion needs systems and discipline equal to its complexity. The CEO does not need to be the organization’s chief operating expert but rather must empower and hold accountable leaders who are—with clear decision rights, modern technology, reliable reporting and strong internal controls.

Make local knowledge the differentiator for
donors
CFGA’s value proposition must stand out in a crowded philanthropic marketplace. The CEO should be able to explain how CFGA offers
something far more powerful than administrative convenience: informed giving rooted in local knowledge and real relationships. As one supporter put it, “CFGA should be known not only for the resources it stewards, but for the trust it earns, the relationships it builds, and the positive impact it helps create throughout the region.”

Convert our equity commitment into durable
impact
Equity and shared prosperity remain central to CFGA’s aspirations for the region. The CEO must carry that work forward with credibility and discipline, honoring community voice, engaging donors in learning and action, and making sure the Foundation’s own culture reflects the values it advances externally. The next chapter should preserve the best of CFGA’s place-based and systems-change work while sharpening the priorities, partnerships and measures that turn aspiration into durable impact.

Grow the resources and networks that increased
impact requires
Atlanta has a fast-rising and increasingly diverse base of wealth. For example: Plenty of entrepreneurs, creatives and professional athletes call Atlanta home, but historically they have not seen—or, in many cases, been invited to see—Atlanta’s community foundation as their philanthropic home. Similarly, next-gen families of means have interests and outlets that may differ greatly from those of their forbears. Each of these groups and others like them represent explicit opportunities for the Foundation.
CFGA’s growth in scale and impact requires that both legacy donors and their 21st century counterparts find the Foundation’s role and resources compelling, as without them, there is no Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

The Relationships The CEO reports to: The Board of Directors, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.
And leads: A staff of about 50, through a five-person Senior Leadership Team.
While stewarding key relationships, such as those with: Donors, fundholders and philanthropic families; professional advisors; nonprofit and community partners; public,corporate, civic, faith, academic and philanthropic leaders; peer foundations locally and nationally; elected and appointed officials; media and other voices shaping Atlanta’s civic life; and CFGA’s own staff.

Requirements

The Candidate
The next President & CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta will be a seasoned, credible and emotionally intelligent leader with the experience and judgment to lead a complex philanthropic enterprise to greater impact.

The search committee is open to a range of backgrounds and leadership pathways. Demonstrable success in traditional place-based philanthropy or mission-driven financial platforms is certainly of interest, but CFGA is also receptive to leaders who have proven themselves at scale in other settings, demonstrated through a combination of civic impact, enterprise leadership, resource development, and community trust.

What matters most is the proven ability to lead a complex civic institution with integrity, relational skill and operational discipline, in service of a
better Atlanta.

This is not a role for someone seeking a finished institution or a narrow philanthropic platform. It is a role for a leader drawn to complexity, energized by Atlanta’s possibilities, disciplined about execution and committed to learning from donors, staff, community leaders and residents whose lived experience must inform the work.

 CFGA expects to appoint a CEO who is:

• Ambitious for Atlanta, not just the institution; someone who understands CFGA as a platform for regional generosity and shared prosperity.
• A trusted relationship builder equally experienced in hiring, developing and empowering a strong staff as in deepening ties with donors, civic leaders, board members and program partners.
• A clear communicator, able to make the case for thoughtful philanthropy and local impact to an array of audiences.

• A confident fundraiser and donor developer who understands that generosity grows through trust, stewardship, imagination and disciplined execution.
• A strategic executive, capable of turning a curated set of bold, board-approved aspirations into operating priorities and measurable outcomes.
• A financially and operationally sophisticated generalist with enough command of finance and technology to lead (but not micromanage) a complex institution.
• Grounded in equity, with the lived commitment and experience to advance diversity and inclusion as core to the mission.

CFGA’s CEO should embody:

• Integrity, humility and authenticity in all settings.
• Genuine enjoyment of people and relationships.
• Emotional intelligence and steadiness under pressure.
• A bias for clarity: clear priorities, clear communication, clear accountability.
• The courage to be bold, the discipline to be practical, and the patience to build trust over

For the right leader, this is an uncommon opportunity to help one of Atlanta’s most important civic institutions become more focused, more connected and more consequential at a moment when the region’s needs and its possibilities are unparalleled.

To suggest a prospect, or express interest in the position, please email [email protected] or call Sam Pettway, Crystal Stephens or Patti Kish at 404-BoardWalk (404-262-7392). For the current status of this and other searches, please visit www.BoardWalkConsulting.com