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About the Columbia Slough Watershed Council

The Columbia Slough Watershed Council is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 1994 with an annual budget of about $500K. The Council’s mission is to protect and enhance the Columbia Slough and its watershed through community engagement, education, and restoration. The Council is a diverse and highly engaged group of neighbors, property owners, businesses, environmental groups, recreation advocates, and government agencies who work to restore and enhance the 60 miles of waterways, wetlands, and slow-moving channels known as the Columbia Slough. The watershed spans from Kelley Point Park to the west through Gresham and Fairview to the east, covering aquifers relied upon by the populations of Portland, Gresham, and Fairview.

The Columbia Slough Watershed Council serves the region of ceded land that was the traditional home of Chinook peoples, including the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, and Molalla tribes. The Council is committed to ongoing collaboration with Tribal entities to amplify their voices, issues, and needs to promote accurate historical narratives that help reverse harmful cultural and economic stereotypes.

About the Position

The Executive Director serves as the face of the Council and oversees strategies to fulfil the organization’s mission and strategic plan. The Executive Director manages all aspects of the Council’s day-to-day operations, including coordinating the board, supervising staff, budgeting, and achieving organizational goals. The Executive Director operates under the general direction of the Council’s Board of Directors.

Essential Functions

Leadership & Strategic Planning

• In partnership with the board and staff, the Executive Director develops, communicates, and executes the organization’s vision and strategic plan.
• Leads our efforts for achieving the organization’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) goals, ranging from recruiting and retaining diverse staff to evolving culture and programs to be inclusive and representative of the community at large.
• Responsible for all fiscal, operational, and personnel oversight.

Program Oversight

• Supervises staff of four employees, each with their own program area.
• Ensures appropriate allocation of staff time to efficiently achieve goals, reduce costs, and limit stress.
• Ensures staff work collaboratively and coordinate across program areas.

Financial Management & Fundraising

• Works with staff to create an annual budget and ensures program managers work within budget constraints.
• Ensures restricted grant funding is used appropriately and effectively.
• Builds long-term financial stability that is a balance of private and government grants, corporate and individual support, and fee-for-service programs.
• Creates and supports a culture of philanthropy, where all staff understand their role and potential to advance fundraising within their program and across the organization.
• Serves as a primary contact for major donor fundraising, with additional support from program managers, as needed.
• Oversees fiscal sponsor relationship with People of Color Outdoors.

Serve as the Face of the Council

• Fosters relationships with elected officials and leaders within Portland, Gresham, Fairview, Multnomah County Drainage District, Columbia Corridor Association, and Port of Portland, among others.
• Establishes and strengthens relationships with the community, partners, and funding organizations.
• Represents the Council at events through public speaking and membership on community committees.

Board Support

• Coordinates and nurtures a high-functioning, consensus-based oversight body.
• Works with the board and communities to recruit and retain new board members.
• Works with the Executive Committee to oversee annual meetings calendar, to create meeting agendas, and to provide background materials.

Preferred Qualifications
This is an extensive list, and we highly encourage all who are interested to apply, even if they cannot meet every attribute listed.

• A commitment to urban watershed and wildlife protection through public education, recreation, habitat restoration, policy, and advocacy.
• At least 6 years of professional experience in fields relevant to nonprofit management, including staff and stakeholder relations and fundraising.
• Ability to develop and track organizational budgets, including operating cash flow, restricted, and unrestricted funds.
• Excellent communication skills, including writing, public speaking, and networking.
• Ability to serve, engage, and partner with the historically excluded Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who live, work, and recreate in the watershed.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including staff management, fostering a healthy, open, inclusive office environment, and partner collaboration.
• Demonstrated success with nonprofit fundraising, including grant writing and management.
• Organizational leadership experience, including running effective and efficient meetings, hiring and managing staff, and working with a board of directors.
• Demonstrated understanding of the disproportionate impacts of environmental pollution and social justice issues on communities of color.
• Strong grasp of intersectional disparities experienced by BIPOC communities and of structures and systems that impede equitable participation.
• Proficient in standard computer software, including Microsoft Office or Google Suite.
• Ability to speak and write in Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, or another language spoken in the watershed (preferred).
• A positive and friendly outlook; ability to motivate staff, board members, volunteers and partners toward a common cause.

Commitment to Diversity & Equity

The Council is committed to building an internal cultural and natural environment that is equitable and inclusive. The Council has a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee and corresponding JEDI Plan with internal and external goals. All Council employees are expected to serve diverse audiences and help advance our strategies for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Columbia Slough Watershed Council is committed to:

• Reflecting the diversity of the community in our board, staff, volunteers, and community engagement.
• Ensuring that our internal culture, business practices, and programs are welcoming and advance our equity and diversity goals.
• Empowering people to make positive change in their community and environment.

A core priority moving forward is to infuse Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) into all the goals and work of the organization. This position will serve as the leader in achieving the organization’s JEDI goals through engagement with staff, board members, donors, volunteers, government agencies, and the public. We recognize that in order to serve diverse communities, we must also have diversity represented in our staff. The next Executive Director must:

• Offer personal interest and commitment to working in a diverse and inclusive work environment that places a high value on equity.
• Participate in promoting a positive workplace culture of collaboration, innovation, and respect. Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish effective working relationships in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment.
• Effectively engage with underrepresented communities on the importance of habitat and wildlife protection and the economic and environmental impacts on those communities.
• Understand the historical and political impact that conservation policy has had on diverse communities.

Click here to view the Council’s Equity Action Plan.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

Columbia Slough Watershed Council is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity, and complies with all federal, state, and local laws concerning employment discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. To this end, the Council ensures equal opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race; color; age; gender identity or expression; sexual orientation; religion; marital status; national origin or ancestry; citizenship; lawful alien status; physical, mental, or medical disability; veteran status; or liability for service in the United States Armed Forces.

The Council is an equal opportunity employer. BIPOC, transgender, gender non-conforming and gender non-binary job applicants, as well as applicants with disabilities and applicants with criminal record histories, are encouraged to apply.