Director of Development

April 2024 | Roxbury, MA
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Whittier Street Health Center seeks a Director of Development to lead a comprehensive development program.

About Whittier Street Health Center

Originally opened in 1933, Whittier Street Health Center (Whittier) is a comprehensive and innovative health care and wellness center championing equitable access to high quality, cost-effective health care for diverse populations. Whittier Street Health Center (WSHC) is a Joint Commission-accredited urban and NCQA recognized community health center operates within the dynamic of championing equitable access to high quality health care.

Whittier provides primary and specialty health care, oral health, mental health, substance abuse counseling services, and social and outreach services to individuals from culturally and circumstantially diverse communities.

Whittier serves as a center of excellence that provides these health and social services to achieve health equity, social justice, and economic well-being. 100% of Whittier’s social services are free.

Whittier cares for people in Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, the South End, and greater Boston, operating via flagship and satellite clinics, virtual care, six school-based health clinics, four mobile health vehicles, street outreach workers, and visiting nurses. Whittier provides 135,000 clinic and outreach visits and promotes economic opportunity through school partnerships and workforce development programs.  In addition, Whittier partners with public health officials and community leaders to target hot spots and steer policy.  

Whittier recently embarked upon a five-year strategic plan, with a vision to become an exceptional community health provider that addresses health care inequities, closes gaps in life expectancy, and pursues social justice.

Led by President and CEO Frederica Williams since 2002, Whittier was recently named as one of the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts by The Boston Globe Magazine for the 10^th consecutive year.

Mobilization for Health Equity and Social Justice

Whittier’s vision to achieve a state of wellness within all the neighborhoods of the city served by addressing the issues causing health disparities and the social determinants of health. This outcome can only be fully realized through the implementation of innovative and integrated service delivery, education, and prevention strategies that result in community empowerment, healthy lifestyles, and health equity.

To that end, Whittier is an innovative leader in related programs, services, research, and advocacy:

• The Mobile Tri-Diagnosis Team was created to integrate Whittier’s tri-diagnosis care under one team. The Team offers rapid HIV testing, education, screenings, and risk reduction interventions such as condom distribution. The Team also connects individuals to Whittier for medical care, social support services, and substance abuse counseling and treatment.
• Whittier’s Day Engagement Center supports the City of Boston’s plan to attract unhoused people to safe, welcoming drug-free spaces away from Mass and Cass. Staffed weekdays by full-time trauma-informed professionals, the Center promotes healthy lifestyles while providing access to medical, behavioral health, and linkage to housing, jobs, food and social support services.
• The Infectious Diseases Team provides testing assessment, medical case management, and peer support for people with a high-risk for STDs and STIs including HIV.
• The Neighborhood Trauma Team offers immediate support in Roxbury after exposure to violence, such as shootings and stabbings.
• The Housing Support Team helps patients secure safe and affordable housing and advocates for public policy support.
• In FY2023, Whittier expanded its pharmacy and teams of primary care, behavioral health, and oral health providers to address the surge in untreated conditions among patients who delayed care during the pandemic.
• The Food Pantry program, operating six days a week, has been expanded to meet the growing needs of patients struggling with food insecurity, underemployment, disabilities, or other health issues. Whittier also offers a Community Garden which provides fresh produce and serves in an educational capacity.
• Whittier launched its Center for Health Equity Research Center in 2023 to facilitate improvements in health care delivery and health outcomes in order to eliminate health disparities using tools that empower communities to develop, implement and evaluate health programs through research, education, training, and advocacy and utilizing evidence-based data and outcomes to inform policy changes, funding opportunities, program implementation and practices.
• The Boston Health Equity Program (BHEP), launched in 2012, was also recently expanded. This new model of primary care delivery combines care coordination, community outreach and education, and wellness support, explicitly seeking to eliminate health disparities and their associated costs.

About the Opportunity

With an operating budget of $27M, Whittier raises approximately $4m from a diverse array of private sources, including foundations, corporations, and individuals.

Whittier has identified institutional giving as an area of continued focus, while aiming to launch a $10M major gifts campaign to support the Boston Health Equity Program.

Reporting to and in close collaboration with the President & CEO, the Director of Development (DOD) will lead a comprehensive development program, defining and executing the strategy to increase and sustain annual philanthropic support from foundations and corporations, events, and individuals. The DOD will also hold responsibility for marketing and communications, working to build awareness of Whittier’s program and services with community members, patients, and donors.

The development department currently works with external consultants for events, public relations, and grants, and there are three full-time positions to be hired, focused on grant writing, communication, and database management, respectively. The DOD will primarily focus on overseeing institutional giving, events, and marketing, with a Major Gifts Officer to be hired to work directly with the President and CEO on individual giving.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership

• Effectively manage a comprehensive funds development plan that will enable the timely implementation of the strategic plan and meet the ongoing financial needs of the organization
• Participate in defining and carrying out development objectives and priorities for entire organization
• Take a leadership role in developing and implementing the Center’s Marketing Plan to support business goals, mission and vision
• Hire, manage, and motivate a development team of 3 including a Grant Writer, Communications Specialist, and Development Associate
• Ensure development team meets necessary organizational goals through the effective supervision and integration of development staff into overall agency
• Manage external vendors and consultants including PR and events

Fundraising

• Cultivate, manage, and steward relationships with donors and prospects, particularly corporations, foundations, and individuals; leverage the CEO’s and other appropriate senior managers’ time in cultivating high-potential donor and prospects
• Design and implement individual strategies for soliciting corporate & foundation gifts and charitable grants to support Whittier’s initiatives
• Write and prepare high-quality proposals, grants, reports, mailings, and acknowledgements required to support ongoing fundraising activities
• Actively research grant opportunities that align with the Center’s Strategic Plan initiatives and operating support needs
• Collaborate with President & CEO and Major Gifts Officer on management of President’s Advisory Committee and individual major gift cultivation

Special Events

• Partner with consultant and senior leadership in the strategic planning of events throughout year, including cultivation, fundraising and recognition of high-end donors
• Lead efforts and directly solicit sponsorships from corporations and individuals in support of special events.

Marketing and Communications

• Working collaboratively with the PR Consultant and other consultants, effectively promote key areas of health services, organizational strengths, and philosophical uniqueness that establish clear areas of market differentiation and initiatives to maintain the Center’s leadership as a premiere urban health center
• Collaborate with the senior managers and Marketing Committees (Internal and External) on the development of all marketing materials (website, annual reports, advertisement, flyers, etc.) to position Whittier for success and heighten its visibility among Whittier’s constituents (funders, strategic partners, current and potential patients and donors, healthcare and human services community, public at large)

Key Qualifications

• Seven+ years of advancement or related experience, preferably in a leadership role, with a track record of success, particularly in donor cultivation and stewardship
• Success in identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors, particularly foundation and corporations
• A solid understanding of and exposure to individual giving
• Display comfort and confidence as a Whittier ambassador when engaging with internal and external stakeholders
• Strategic thinker who can develop and implement a fundraising vision and partner with senior and volunteer leadership
• Ability to research potential sources of foundation and grant support from local and national funding sources.
• Experience with successful special events in a nonprofit environment.
• Demonstrated experience and interest in managing and/or mentoring staff
• High level of initiative and adaptability, able to set priorities, manage multiple projects, and work independently
• Clear and effective communicator with demonstrated writing, speaking, and listening skills.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects and to initiate new ones.
• Working knowledge of Boston corporate philanthropic community and familiarity with Boston’s communities of color strongly desired.
• Comfort with using technology including Excel, PowerPoint, and Raiser’s Edge

Compensation

The salary range for this position is $150,000+, commensurate with experience.

All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

All Whittier Street Health center employees are required to be vaccinated for influenza and COVID-19 unless they have a valid medical or religious exemption.

If you are interested in being considered for this search, please use the form below to submit your cover letter and resume in confidence.

Kieran McTague

Senior Vice President

Mary Plum

Senior Consultant