President & CEO

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About NEO Philanthropy

NEO Philanthropy (NEO) nurtures strong, sustainable, and transformative movements for justice by connecting changemakers and funders, supporting emerging leaders and movements, and driving resources to groups accelerating change.

Founded in 1983 as Public Interest Projects, a 501(c)(3) public charity, NEO is a trusted link between funders and the grassroots organizations that power movements of transformation. NEO partners with changemakers and funders to build a more innovative, responsive, and accountable philanthropic sector that centers the wisdom and leadership of BIPOC and other marginalized communities.

Guided by principles of trust-based philanthropy, NEO moves resources to communities by supporting grassroots, constituency-led groups through grantmaking, fiscal sponsorship, and a range of field-focused capacity building initiatives. Immigration, voting rights, reproductive justice, racial justice, climate justice, and LGBTQ rights comprise NEO’s primary interest areas, although there is additional work that falls beyond these categories.

A 2024-2027 strategic plan focuses on four pillars: Shift Philanthropy to Center Equity; Connect Funders & Changemakers; Drive Resources to Most Impacted; and Support Emerging Groups & Leaders.

NEO’s core offerings in support of this plan include:

• Collaborative Funds. NEO has a long history of leading large-scale collaborative grantmaking that connects donors to support efforts they couldn’t effectively fund alone. NEO’s flagship funds include the Four Freedoms Fund (FFF), launched in 2003 to strengthen the immigrant justice movement, and the State Infrastructure Fund (SIF), launched in 2010 as a nonpartisan effort to strengthen state-based civic engagement and voting rights infrastructure. These funds expand and pool donor resources for greater impact, and invest in long-term capacity building for under-resourced social justice issues.
• Project Partnerships. NEO is a fiscal sponsor for projects running 501(c)(3) permissible, mission-aligned programs. NEO provides affordable, flexible shared infrastructure support for operations, finance, human resources, and compliance so that each of these partners can focus on their mission. With a fiscal sponsorship philosophy rooted in responsiveness, clarity, transparency, and relationship building, NEO supports more than 70 project partners committed to social justice and social change.
• Strategic Partnership Programs. NEO offers strategic advising, design, and implementation for bespoke funder initiatives, effectively serving as a one-stop shop to creatively address the needs of partner funders, donors, and field stakeholders. Examples of services include strategic grantmaking design to support smaller, less burdensome grants, participatory selection processes to center community perspectives of the focus populationin decision-making; issue and field development through coalition-building, convenings, and research on key issues of interest to funders.

In addition to these offerings, NEO provides shared infrastructure through a cost-sharing agreement to the NEO Philanthropy Action Fund, a separate 501(c)(4) with distinct functions and a separate board of directors that provides advocacy support to mission-aligned projects.

With notable growth over the last ten years, NEO is a fiscally-sound nonprofit with a projected FY26 operating budget of $175M, healthy reserves, and diverse revenue streams. Its offices, which serve as an active convening site for staff and fiscally sponsored projects, are located in Midtown Manhattan.

Seventy-five talented team members around the country power NEO’s funder collaboratives, donor services, and fiscal sponsorship as “Central Office” staff, bringing diverse experiences, service orientation, and passion for movement to their work. An additional 350 team members are engaged by fiscally sponsored projects but considered to be NEO employees. Under the leadership of Board Co-Chairs, Kerrien Suarez and Kristen Ruff, a nine-person board of directors represents different facets of NEO’s community, bringing expertise in movement support, philanthropic infrastructure, corporate leadership, and social justice.

Quick Facts

• Founded in 1983
• Headquartered in New York, NY
• 425 staff members, including employees of fiscally sponsored projects
• Cost-sharing agreement to NEO Philanthropy Action Fund, 501(c)(4)

In 2026, Michele Lord will retire as President of NEO following more than 25 years at its helm. Over the past two years, NEO has embarked on a thoughtful process of succession planning, strengthening organizational resources, and collaboration among fellow intermediaries. This groundwork has built clarity about the skills and attributes needed in NEO’s next President and CEO.

Recent organizational successes include:

• Significant growth in recent years in staff, budget, and programs, leading to an evolving business model that includes significant focus on building reserves.
• Organizing key intermediaries through new working relationships and a unified voice to advocate for new philanthropic resources, including general operating support.
• Investments in building its core operational resources, including new staff positions, a state-of-the-art office, and technological systems and remote resources.

NEO is prepared for its next chapter, with clarity about the heightened challenges and the associated scrutiny facing progressive philanthropy and movement organizations. The next President and CEO will lead the organization in navigating today’s political, relational, and reputational pressures with the support of the board, shared expertise from staff, and in community with peer intermediary organizations.

NEO seeks an inspiring and strategic President and CEO to guide the organization during a period of unprecedented complexity and nuanced needs from movement leaders.

The President and CEO will bring a record of bold, values-driven leadership and articulate a compelling vision for resourcing movement leaders at a pivotal moment. As a passionate ambassador for NEO’s mission, they will advance the organization’s strategic priorities, steward a broad network of partners, and shape national conversations at the intersection of progressive philanthropy and movement building.

Key responsibilities for the President and CEO will include the following:

Vision and Strategy

As NEO enters a new chapter amid increasing political pressures, the President and CEO provides clear strategic focus and leads disciplined, consultative decision-making across the senior team. They rigorously assess new opportunities for alignment, capacity, and impact, and communicate decisions with clarity and consistency.

• Set a bold vision that elevates NEO’s mission to resource movement leaders.
• Through strategic planning processes, intentionally align NEO’s programs, operations, and financial resources; implement plans inclusive of annual goals, business plans, timelines, budgets, and communication strategies.
• Strengthen connectivity between movement and philanthropy, with specific attention to organizing and raising visibility of the importance of intermediaries to build capacity for movement leaders.
• Nurture a strong, transparent relationship with the board; seek and support board involvement with NEO’s strategic direction; serve as a liaison between board and staff; implement the board’s overall organizational goals and direction.
• Ensure consistency with equity practices throughout NEO’s programs, partnerships, initiatives, policies, operations, and workplace culture.

Mission-Oriented Leadership

Serving as a trusted advisor and convener for funders and movement leaders, the President and CEO influences the field’s philanthropic priorities, stewards complex donor relationships, and positions NEO as essential infrastructure for social movements and progressive donor networks. They navigate the duality of philanthropy and activism—engaging donors while advocating to them for systems-wide change necessary for movements to thrive.

• Ensure that NEO’s offerings, including collaborative funds, project partnerships, and other donor services are high-quality, innovative, align with strategic plans, and meet the diverse needs of movement leaders.
• Assess NEO’s opportunities for evolution, including but not limited to new initiatives, collaborative funds, and fiscally sponsored projects.
• Provide guidance and partnership to Collaborative Funds to deepen impact and donor engagement.
• Support Project Partnerships with identification and consideration of potential projects, building on strategic networks and deep understanding of the field’s needs.
• Explore opportunities to reimagine the NEO Philanthropy Action Fund to position its future.

External Relations

Deeply networked in progressive philanthropic circles, the President and CEO understands the ecosystem and needs of movement and intermediary work. They translate for diverse audiences—traditional philanthropic institutions, movement-aligned funders, and emerging partners—to share and build support for strategic and transformative vision that centers movement. They contribute to field-building alongside peer intermediaries.

• Invest in strong working relationships and collaborations with a range of key partners, content area experts, supporters, and others to advance movements’ interests and to firmly establish NEO as a thought-leader and advisor.
• Cultivate meaningful, reciprocal relationships with current and prospective funders to ensure NEO is representative of and responsive to varied and evolving needs of its donors.
• Serve as principal spokesperson, representing NEO’s interests on behalf of movement to philanthropy, intermediaries, program partners, grantees, the media, and various publics.
• Guide external communications strategies that elevate the impact of movement, including credible and authentic thought leadership for partnerships, initiatives, advocacy, and convenings that advance philanthropic resources for movement leaders.
• Establish a cohesive strategy for organization-wide resource development, including stewarding current philanthropic partnerships and identifying new, mission-aligned opportunities; partner with programmatic leadership to ensure continuity across different fundraising efforts.
• Build cohesive narratives about the breadth and depth of NEO’s work, translating offerings for different audiences.

Operational and Organizational Excellence

A strong operational foundation will be a key priority to ensure effective service to NEO’s partners. The President and CEO applies expertise to assess and strengthen organizational functions, with a constant eye toward risk management and opportunities to deepen offerings. They champion and invest in elevating NEO’s racial equity work internally and externally.

• Ensure NEO has the infrastructure needed to achieve its mission, including the effective administration and integration of human resources, financial management, technology, and legal and regulatory compliance across departments.
• Oversee mission alignment in evaluation of potential growth plans, including business operations, financial sustainability, and advancing organizational equity practices.
• Lead, develop, mentor, and retain an effective team that reflects well-defined roles and responsibilities. Supervise executive leaders and facilitate strong working relationships, clear communications, and effective and timely decision-making processes across departments.
• Promote a sustainable, values-aligned, and collaborative workplace that integrates high performance with work-life balance.
• Provide strategic oversight of financial management, including the integration of departmental leaders’ input into budget assumptions, support of long-range budget planning and analysis, responsible stewardship of fiscally-sponsored projects, and grant administration in accordance with funders’ requirements.
• Partner with the Board to facilitate governance work by assisting the executive committee with the development of annual board workplans; supplying consistent and accurate reporting on programmatic, operational, and financial effectiveness; and supporting recruitment efforts.
• Ensure compliance with bylaws, state and federal guidance, fiscal sponsorship and grantee agreements, and other contracts and legal agreements.

Experience, Skills, and Qualities

This position will be a challenging and rewarding opportunity that requires a diverse set of skills and experiences. While we understand that no single candidate can possess every qualification listed below, the following are priority areas that align with each of the key responsibilities.

Vision and Strategy

• Strong understanding of the philanthropic landscape, trends, and funder engagement with movement spaces, evidenced by leadership roles in grantmaking, philanthropy-serving or infrastructure organizations and/or movement or power-building organizations.
• Significant track record of executive or senior management experience in philanthropy, intermediaries, movement-support organizations, or related organizations.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to forecast trends, synthesize complex information, and connect ideas to action, such as goals, frameworks, budgets, and measurable outcomes.

Mission-Oriented Leadership

• Experience with NEO’s mission of resourcing movement leaders, with a particular emphasis on social justice issues related to immigration, democracy, reproductive justice, racial justice, climate justice, and/or LGBTQ rights.
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing racial, gender, and economic equity, with a strong analysis of race, class, power, privilege, ability, and wealth—particularly as they operate within philanthropy. Experience operationalizing that analysis internally and externally.
• Bold, courageous, and trustworthy leadership style. Ease with duality of philanthropy and movement-building, including fundraising while advocating for systemic change.
• Capacity to analyze legal, reputational, and other forms of risk in complex situations and to make informed decisions.
• Experience working with 501(c)(4)s is considered a plus.

External Relations

• Highly relational leader with strong public presence and listening skills; translates trends and needs into compelling narratives for diverse audiences. A bridge-builder, with a compelling voice that can engage both movement and philanthropic leaders.
• Networks in progressive philanthropy with understanding of the role that philanthropy plays in today’s political and social arenas.
• Engagement with movement leaders and/or movement infrastructure with understanding of the unique challenges facing leaders today.
• Success with senior-level fundraising efforts, including strategizing and securing support through partnerships, institutions, and/or high-net-worth individuals.
• Comfort serving in representational capacities, such as speaking on panels, committees, and in the media.
• Experience convening and managing diverse coalitions and networks to build alignment, shared purpose, and collective action.

Operational and Organizational Excellence

• Strong supervisory record in matrixed team environments; cultivates a healthy, inclusive, and high-performing team culture.
• Proven ability to lead organizations or teams through complex change, including setting strategic direction and inspiring vision amid uncertainty.
• An effective coach and communicator, with a history of cultivating a culture of transparency, collaboration, and shared accountability; high emotional intelligence with the ability to flex leadership styles to engage staff and foster collaboration across teams.
• Solid knowledge of nonprofit financial management, including budgeting, reporting, accounting, auditing, and financial oversight.
• Prior experience working with or serving on a board of directors, with skill in fostering productive, generative dialogue between boards and executive leadership.

Compensation

The Board is targeting a salary of $400,000, commensurate with experience. Benefits include a generous package including health, dental, and vision insurance, a retirement fund with employer matching, and paid time off.

Working Location & Travel

NEO employees are located across the country, with offices located in New York City’s Midtown neighborhood. This position is ideally based in the New York City office, but the board will consider primarily remote candidates.

Regular presence in New York City is essential, at least twice a month. This role also involves significant travel to represent NEO at meetings and conferences, cultivate relationships, and steward fundraising efforts. If not based in the region, candidates should anticipate spending up to 40% of their time traveling, while those based in the region can expect travel of approximately 20%.

Application Process

NEO has exclusively retained the services of two executive search firms, Do Good Connections and Good Insight, working in collaboration with a Search Committee composed of board and staff members. Applicants should submit a resume that demonstrates their alignment with and specific qualifications for this role. Direct confidential inquiries to Melissa Madzel and Carlyn Madden at View email address on click.appcast.io. Upload application materials at: hyperlink.

Applications will be accepted through the end of the search process, although applications received before April 6, 2026 will have significant preference. Qualified applicants will be contacted on a rolling basis, with Search Committee interviews expected to take place between April and May 2026.

Selection Process

The selection process is expected to include:

• Resume review by the Do Good Connections and Good Insight teams (with at least two sets of human review, no use of an AI screener)
• Two screening interviews with the Do Good Connections and/or Good Insight team
• Review of written materials that will be requested of leading applicants
• Two rounds of interviews with the Search Committee comprised of board and staff members
• Engagement with NEO Philanthropy staff and board leadership (in a structure and design that is to be determined)
• Final interview with the full NEO Philanthropy Board of Directors

Accommodations for Applicants with Disabilities

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive hiring process. Please contact View email address on click.appcast.io if you require accommodations to fully participate in the application or interview process. We will work with you to meet your accessibility needs.

NEO Philanthropy is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. NEO Philanthropy's work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners,

respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.