Executive Director 

Mosaic seeks an Executive Director who is passionate about Mosaic’s mission to amplify the power of the environmental field by strengthening movement infrastructure—the connections and shared resources all social movements need to succeed. With its innovative and progressive model of grantmaking, Mosaic aims to make transformative investments that build the power of the environmental field by addressing how positive gains are made.

Launched in 2020 following a two-year design process that engaged a diverse set of activists, organizations, funders, and other stakeholders, Mosaic is led by a rotating Governance Assembly of leaders from environmental, justice, and philanthropic organizations and supported by a small staff. With proposals sourced from the field, the Governance Assembly makes grants to support field-wide capacity building through leadership development, communications, shared resources, and fostering relationships within the environmental and justice communities.

The Executive Director will own initiative-wide responsibility and lead core operational functions to implement Mosaic’s innovative model. The Executive Director will work closely with the Governance Assembly to set strategy, make grants, and lead the learning and evaluation process around Mosaic’s efforts. This role will include the management of three team members with the potential for future additional direct reports.

This role requires an outcome-oriented self-starter who strongly believes in Mosaic’s mission of engaging the entire field—from the frontlines to the “Big Greens”— to create the alignment, shared tools, and scale needed to win environmental victories during this critical decade. The role calls for a strategic and nimble professional with a deep understanding of social movements, exceptional communication skills, strong collaboration and facilitation instincts, and fundraising ability.

Mosaic is working with Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, on this recruitment. Confidential inquiries, nominations, and applications should be directed to the search firm as indicated at the end of this document.

MOSAIC
A stable climate, clean air and water, healthy communities, and thriving natural systems all hang in the balance during this critical decade. Set in motion by a convening of funders and field leaders and supported by analysts at The Bridgespan Group, Mosaic asked 100 diverse organizations what they need most to strengthen their capacity to meet the pace and scale of environmental challenges today. Mosaic launched to provide the consensus answer: shared tools and connections — known as movement infrastructure — that can support the scaled action needed to win the most significant victories. Mosaic was created in response to a collective recognition that, although the U.S. environmental movement has achieved historic victories, the pace and scale of the challenges we face demand even more. The environmental movement will not achieve climate and environmental goals without a stronger, better- connected movement that is capable of driving and sustaining meaningful change.

Therefore, the mission of Mosaic is to amplify the power of the environmental field by strengthening movement infrastructure. A fiscally sponsored project of Tides Center, Mosaic is led by a rotating Governance Assembly of leaders from environmental, philanthropic, and justice organizations. With this participatory grantmaking approach, Mosaic aims to make transformative investments that build the power of the environmental field by addressing how we win. With ideas proposed from the field, the Governance Assembly makes grants to support capacity building through six key areas of movement infrastructure: (1) shared and persuasive communication; (2) support for and development of leaders; (3) tools and training for change-making; (4) accessible knowledge about the field; (5) strong relationships and trust; and (6) nimble and rapid resource deployment.

MOSAIC’S IMPACT
Since 2020, Mosaic has funded collaborative projects that build population-level power and enable stronger advocacy on climate, land, water, health, justice, and more. Mosaic’s power-building grants are responsible for stronger connectivity in the field, the addition of influential and missing voices who can connect with tens of millions in the political middle, stronger communications, and better skills – with a focus on groups with fewer resources working from and with the frontlines. These power-building investments are being pursued in ways and contexts that drive key policy wins in the near term, like supporting the communication and network infrastructure focused on achieving the landmark IRA in 2022, supporting efforts to ensure the promise of Justice40, and advancing local and national conservation efforts by providing multi-million dollar infusions around 30×30 to preserve land and water.

Recognizing that a hallmark of successful movements is the ability to both bond those already in affinity and bridge those who are not yet, Mosaic uniquely connects climate, environmental, and justice leaders in aligned strategy through Mosaic’s Governance Assembly. Skilled facilitation, deep conversation, and the commitment of the diverse Governance Assembly enable Mosaic to tap the perspectives of a large ecosystem of organizations and build strategic, consensus-driven grant slates

Mosaic seeks to spotlight key approaches to environmental advocacy and achievement, drawing greater attention to well-demonstrated but often overlooked aspects of the social science of change-making. The interest of a range of publications – including Inside Philanthropy and mainstream media like Forbes and Fast Company – in Mosaic’s focus on movement infrastructure, participatory grantmaking, and the cutting-edge work of grantee partners generates conversations in philanthropic and advocacy circles. Additionally, Mosaic’s unique data and information generated through annual open RFPs provide an unparalleled view of the movement’s needs, providing critical information to the environmental field, philanthropic community, and civil sector, including federal agencies like the White House, USDOT, and USEPA.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR – KEY OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
The Executive Director will be an outcome-oriented self-starter who believes in Mosaic’s mission of engaging the full field—from the frontlines to the “Big Greens”— to create the alignment, shared tools, and scale needed to win environmental victories during this critical decade. The successful candidate will be passionate about thinking about how change happens and energized by working collaboratively with field organizations to support the movement. This role reports to Mosaic’s Advisory Board (which serves as the executive body within Mosaic’s Governance Assembly and the liaison to Mosaic’s fiscal sponsor, the Tides Center) and will include the management of three team members with the potential for near- term future additional direct reports. Mosaic grants approximately $7 million annually, and as of 2023, Mosaic has made $20+ million in grants to 95+ collaborative projects that collectively support 3,500+ organizations. All of Mosaic’s 12+ funders have renewed their support for Mosaic.

Provide strategic and focused leadership of the organization in collaboration with the Governance Assembly
The Executive Director will guide Mosaic toward reaching the organization’s full mission of building a more connected, aligned, and powerful U.S. environmental movement through field-wide movement infrastructure and provide thought leadership about movement trends, needs, and opportunities to best meet environmental goals. The Executive Director will align and convene the diverse members of the Governance Assembly to develop and implement focused strategies for building greater field alignment and connectivity and support the translation of Mosaic’s strategic programmatic goals into grantmaking and programmatic efforts that will include measuring Mosaic’s impact and outcomes against the initiative’s goals. The Executive Director will assess and build upon the work and strategies already underway while working quickly to harness resources and expertise to continue to grow the scale and impact of the organization. The Executive Director will provide orienting frameworks, reports, and decision points and otherwise support the work of the governance groups with leadership and project management.

Direct Mosaic’s grantmaking to build field-wide connections and shared resources
The Executive Director will partner with the Governance Assembly as a thought leader and strategist to set grantmaking strategies and will design and oversee the grant review and selection process, ensuring efficient and inclusive execution of an annual grantmaking RFP process. The Executive Director will support the Governance Assembly’s decision-making and supervise the timely release of funding and external communication of decisions with all applicants and grantees. They will maintain strong relationships with grantees by providing support, coaching, and connection. They will also develop and implement a monitoring, evaluation, and learning plan across grantmaking efforts.

Represent Mosaic externally and articulate Mosaic’s vision in ways that inspire and engage current and new partners

The Executive Director is a spokesperson of Mosaic and must engage externally with a wide array of constituencies. They will be expected to communicate authentically with diverse audiences and perspectives and encourage connection and alignment with a breadth of stakeholders, including philanthropic partners; grantees; field members; and the broader public. They will lead efforts to broaden and build an inclusive Mosaic community that reflects the diversity of the environmental movement, with attention to including historically marginalized people and organizations, and they will lead in-person and virtual meetings to connect the Mosaic community around strategy and grantmaking activities.

Provide sound financial stewardship and attract resources to support Mosaic’s work and mission

In partnership with the Governance Assembly, the Executive Director will develop strategies to meet fundraising goals and play a pivotal role in fostering and reinforcing strong relationships with a wide range of funders towards strong fiscal stewardship of the initiative. They will deepen the support of current donors and cultivate relationships with new donors to maintain and grow the philanthropic resources for Mosaic’s grantmaking and operations. The Executive Director will write compelling proposal narratives and grant reports and presentations that communicate the importance of Mosaic’s mission to enhance movement infrastructure within the environmental movement. They will also have the opportunity to hire a development staff member to assist in attracting resources to support Mosaic’s mission.

Lead and empower a lean, focused, and highly capable team
The Executive Director will build and oversee a strategic, action-oriented, and lean team to advance and execute on Mosaic’s priorities. They will leverage the expertise and strengths of the staff and empower and support them to do their best work both independently and collaboratively.

QUALIFICATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS

An ideal candidate will bring many of the following professional attributes:

• Strategic and creative thinker with experience in the development and execution of strategy to achieve social goals, forge new ground, and produce significant and sustained programmatic results and improvements;
• Extensive knowledge of environmental, social justice, systems change, policy analysis, and movement building;
• Coalition building experience and passion to support pluralistic, collective impact outcomes across the environmental movement;
• Deep understanding of social movements and capacity to iteratively improve program implementation by thinking critically about theories of change;
• Fundraising ability, with a track record of successfully marshaling resources in support of organizations, projects, or initiatives;
• Demonstrated commitment to justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion;
• Understanding of the complex interactions among the environmental and social justice fields, and a depth and range of collaborative working relationships across relevant organizations;
• Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and an ability to adapt communication style to different cultural environments;
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills. Strong record of representing an organization to wide-ranging audiences and stakeholders in ways that inspire confidence, engagement, and partnership;
• A network in the philanthropy community and an understanding of grantmaking practices;
• Self-starter, highly motivated, resourceful, and able to manage multiple projects simultaneously
• 10+ years’ relevant work experience; 4-5+ years’ experience directly managing others;
• Flexibility, emotional intelligence, and a willingness to help others.

APPLICATIONS, NOMINATIONS, AND INQUIRIES
Mosaic has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in this recruitment. Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Nominations, inquiries, and applications, including a resume and a letter of interest, should be sent electronically and in confidence to:

Andrew Lee, Managing Partner
Alexandra Lolavar, Associate
Isaacson, Miller
1800 K Street, NW, Suite 750 Washington, DC 20036

https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/tides/executive-director-mosaic

The starting salary for this position is anticipated in the range of $200,000-$260,000. Mosaic offers an excellent benefits package, which includes group health insurance, dental, vision benefits, life and disability insurance, FSA/Transit spending accounts, EAP, vacation time, paid holidays, and a 401(k) plan. This position will be based in San Francisco, CA.