NW Straits Seeks Executive Director

— from Jill Clark for NW Straits Foundation —

The Northwest Straits Foundation is seeking a dynamic, experienced leader to share our vision of diverse communities working together to restore a thriving marine ecosystem in the Northwest Straits of the Salish Sea and inspire others to act on their love and appreciation of our marine environment.

The Northwest Straits Foundation is the non-profit partner of the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative, a nationally recognized collaborative model for marine conservation. The intention behind the Northwest Straits Initiative is that small groups of people, working to protect and restore their local waters, can create an ecosystem-wide impact.

To this end, the Foundation works to protect and restore the marine environment of the Northwest Straits by promoting and implementing science-based restoration and stewardship, and facilitating education projects in collaboration with seven county-based Marine Resources Committees and the Northwest Straits Commission. The Marine Resources Committees represent the diverse stakeholders of their communities and are based in Clallam, Jefferson, San Juan, Whatcom, Skagit, Island and Snohomish Counties. The Commission provides a regional focus on the overall health of the marine ecosystem, and ensures that the Committees have the resources they need to improve the health of their local marine waters.

The Foundation, Commission and the Marine Resources Committees work seamlessly together to engage the citizens of northern Puget Sound to carry out significant restoration projects with regional impact and importance. Over the past sixteen years, Northwest Straits Initiative partners have mobilized hundreds of community volunteers to complete scores of local marine conservation projects that have protected and restored more than 800 acres of marine habitat in the Northwest Straits of the Salish Sea, including removal of more than 5,300 derelict nets and 3,700 shellfish pots from the shallow waters of Puget Sound through the Foundation’s Derelict Gear Removal program. We offer the opportunity to affect a legacy of positive change in our marine ecosystem that will last for generations.

The Northwest Straits Foundation invests in the work of the Marine Resources Committees and the Commission in ways that accelerate success and deepens collective impact. As a nonprofit, the Foundation is able to act nimbly, respond quickly to requests, grow relationships and resources with project partners and funders, execute collaborative agreements, and deepen connectivity among our Initiative partners to ensure local projects have regional impact throughout of the Northwest Straits of the Salish Sea. The success of the Northwest Straits Foundation includes investing more than $2.2 million of private and corporate contributions in marine conservation education, projects and stewardship throughout the region, building regional programs like our Nearshore Restoration and Derelict Gear Removal Program, and working with our Initiative partners to maximize citizen engagement in marine conservation activities.

Looking ahead, the Foundation’s work will be guided by a newly approved three-year Initiative-wide strategic plan. Key among the plans’ goals are to 1) restore more than one mile of shore-line and 25 acres of nearshore habitat in seven counties; 2) engage at least 10 private land-owners in shoreline restoration and stewardship; 3) reduce Puget Sound crab pot loss by 25% by 2017; 4) incorporate Foundation and MRC projects into agency planning documents, including the Salmon Recovery work plans, and Puget Sound Action Agenda.

To achieve these goals, the Northwest Straits Foundation is looking for candidates that have a record of attracting and retaining diverse board members, bringing out the best in a dedicated and hard-working staff, and raising the public profile of organizations by working in collaboration with others. The Northwest Straits Foundation is funded through a combination of public and private grants, private donations from individuals and corporations. We are looking for an individual with proven experience raising funds and building organizational capacity with comparable funding streams.

We encourage experienced nonprofit leaders who want to put their expertise and passion to work in service of a proven organization that values diversity, integrity, science and creativity to apply. Prospective applicants are requested to send a resume, cover letter and three references to jobs@nwstraits.org. Priority will be given to candidates who apply by May 4, 2015.