Family Futures Executive Director

Job Description

Job Description

Salary:

Title: Family Futures Executive Director

Location: Grand Rapids, MI

Reports to: Board of Directors (BOD)

FLSA Status: Exempt, Regular Full-time

Date: May 14, 2026

About Family Futures

At Family Futures, we believe every child deserves to be happy, healthy and safe. That starts by building strong families, which we support through services like parent coaching, developmental screening, education, home visiting and prevention-based programming. When parents and caregivers have the skills and support to create safe and nurturing environments, their children have a foundation from which they can thrive. And when families and children thrive, our whole community benefits.

Role

The executive director role provides leadership of Family Futures in its efforts to shape a community in which ALL children are supported in their healthy development, with a focus on pre-natal stages through age 5. The executive director leads a high-performing team, provides vision for programs and services, and helps lead community initiatives that benefit children and families.

Primary Responsibilities

Leadership:

• Provide forward-focused leadership aligned with Family Futures mission, guiding the organization through innovation to support families and children.
• Cultivate effective strategic partnerships and initiatives and grow funding and support for the organization.
• Ensure Family Futures supports the best practices of a trauma-informed organization by leading with the core values of providing physical and emotional safety for all; fostering trustworthiness and transparency; making individual choice a priority; encouraging collaboration by sharing power; and building empowerment through recognition of strengths and skills to build a realistic sense of hope and possibility.
• Create an open, transparent, and supportive work environment.
• Ensure diversity, equity and inclusion are part of everything the organization does.
• Keep the organization current on applicable technology, trends, events and policy developments affecting children and families.

Planning:

• Partner with the board of directors to set the annual and long-term mission-focused vision and goals and cascade these goals through the organization and with community partners.
• Work with the board and leadership staff to periodically review and update the mission, vision, strategic forecast and strategic framework.

Accountability:

• Work with staff to ensure adherence to a Results Based Accountability framework.
• Lead the organization to achieve its mission through the creation, implementation and evaluation of programs and other activities.
• Assign staff to lead and implement contractual and other scopes of work.
• Ensure programs are managed to ensure fitness, efficiency, effectiveness and accountability.
• Maintain accountability practices for all staff, vendors, independent contractors, and community partners.
• Ensure compliance with all laws and stakeholder obligations. Reduce unnecessary organizational risk and work with the Finance Committee to make sure all appropriate insurance and financial best practices and ethics are followed.

Resources:

• Lead fund development and donor relations for the organization, growing individual, corporate and organizational giving with support from staff and the board. Focus on developing new donor relationships to provide new funding sources for the organization while growing funding among existing donors and funders.
• Ensure strong financial management, including working with the board to create, pass, and adhere to an annual budget. Ensure regular, accurate financial statements are provided to the board for review of the financial health of the organization.
• Develop proposals for funding, meeting all process and reporting requirements.
• Create an organizational infrastructure to support the deliverables of the organization, including those conveyed in contractual commitments.
• Assess capacities and capabilities within the organization, including that of the Executive Director, to result in realistic expectations for each position in the organization.
• Ensure hiring processes that reflect the resources available and capacity needs of the organization to achieve a productive, results focused environment.
• Ensure strong management of all systems, including technology, financial controls, accounting, human resources, operations, stakeholder management, fund development, risk management, legal/compliance/contracts, and volunteer management.
• Ensure training of staff to develop understanding of the policies, procedures and practices of the organization.

Communication/Advocacy/Education:

• Ensure the development and implementation of internal policies and communication processes to support the desired organizational culture, reflecting the values and tenets of a trauma informed organization.
• Position the organization to attain its mission to shape a community in which ALL children are supported to reach their full potential, leading where appropriate within the communities served.
• Serve as primary spokesperson and ambassador for the organization. Proactively seek appropriate opportunities to raise the organizations profile.
• Advise the board on material matters that impact the organizations ability to function effectively.
• Ensure the organization has public-facing branding, communications, media, and public relations efforts, including reputation management.
• Ensure the organization is represented at appropriate community or sector events, activities, or coalitions.

Perform other responsibilities as delegated and documented by the board of directors.

Required Education, Training, and Work Experience:

Requires a masters degree in public administration, social work, social sciences, nonprofit administration, human ecology or related field with a minimum of seven years work experience, including experience in administrative and/or leadership roles. Specific knowledge and skills required include team leadership, staff development, budget and financial controls, non-profit management, process and system development, community advocacy, grant development, donor cultivation and planning.

Communication Requirements:

Requires strong written and verbal communication skills. Requires daily use of writing skills in the preparation of proposals, reports, letters, emails and other communications. Verbal communication skills required include public speaking and meeting facilitation. Well-developed interpersonal skills are essential for effective communication with organizational stakeholders.

Required Technical Skills:

Requires knowledge of Microsoft Office software, donor management programs and the ability to learn funder, government and other organizational software and platforms.