The Doe Fund is seeking a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and experienced leader to be the next President of this vital organization. Reporting directly to the Board, the new President will play the lead role in the growth and impact of The Doe Fund’s groundbreaking programs around racial and economic justice, homelessness, housing, workforce development, criminal justice reform, and addiction.
On Christmas Eve, 1985, New York City transit police evicted a homeless woman known only as “Mama” from Grand Central Terminal into the freezing cold. The next morning, she entered the Terminal, laid on a bench, and passed away of pneumonia. Mama was one of the hundreds of homeless people George T. McDonald grew close with over 700 consecutive nights handing out food to those who called the Terminal home. They appreciated this help, but again and again, they told George the same thing: “What I really need is a room and a job to pay for it.”
Mama’s death made George realize that merely providing clothing and food would never create real change. It was in her memory that George founded The Doe Fund, named for the pseudonym authorities used on her death certificate. Together with his wife, Harriet Karr-McDonald, they created Ready, Willing & Able to help people rebuild and achieve economic mobility after homelessness and incarceration. Today, Ready, Willing & Able has helped nearly 30,000 individuals transform their lives. Though George McDonald passed away in early 2021, The Doe Fund will continue his vision for generations to come.
The Doe Fund’s (TDF) mission is to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and criminal recidivism for under-served populations including people experiencing homelessness and incarceration, veterans, and people living with AIDS. The Doe Fund’s flagship program, Ready, Willing & Able, employs a three-legged stool approach to recovery and reintegration that combines paid work, transitional housing, and holistic supportive services. The program has been replicated in six cities across the country. The Doe Fund has an extensive track record as a nonprofit provider working with a consortium of partners to deliver on complicated affordable & supportive housing projects.
For more information on The Doe Fund, please visit: https://www.doe.org/
Work Works and Ready, Willing & Able
Work Works is The Doe Fund’s holistic model that combines paid work with career training, transitional housing, and comprehensive supportive services. Work Works is cost-effective, successful, and scalable. In addition to New York City and with the direct involvement of The Doe Fund’s organizational leadership, regional models have been developed in Philadelphia, PA, Boulder and Aurora, CO, Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC.
The signature program of the Work Works model is Ready, Willing & Able, a 12-month residential program that provides a working way home for men with long histories of incarceration, homelessness, and unemployment. This is done through paid work – complemented by holistic social services, career and workforce development training, continuing education, and sobriety support. It is the first program to combine paid work with comprehensive supportive services to help disenfranchised men ascend the economic ladder. Ready, Willing & Able represents a core component of the spectrum of care The Doe Fund offers to New Yorkers in need. Today, Ready, Willing & Able has capacity for 661 trainees across three facilities in New York City and operates three social enterprises generating over $10 million in economic impact annually.
Best known for the Men in Blue who provide supplemental sanitation services across 115 miles of NYC streets, Ready, Willing & Able also offers training in carpentry, welding, the culinary arts, building maintenance, security, and pest control. The program also provides Workforce Development training in computer literacy, adult basic education, and job readiness.
To address the crises of homelessness and recidivism, Work Works is a critical intervention for disenfranchised men to become employed in the mainstream workforce and achieve independent housing.
Permanent Affordable and Supportive Housing
New York City’s notorious shortage of affordable housing is one of the largest barriers to economic independence. Without access to safe, stable housing, New York’s most vulnerable populations are at even greater risk of becoming homeless. That’s why The Doe Fund has been developing high-quality, affordable homes since 1996 to support individuals and families with long histories of poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, physical disabilities, mental illness, and HIV/AIDS. In 2018, The Doe Fund was included in Affordable Housing Finance’s Top 50 Affordable Housing Developers.
People who have been incarcerated once are seven times more likely to become homeless than those who have not, and people who have become incarcerated more than once are 13 times more likely to become homeless. People experiencing unsheltered homelessness are more than twice as likely to have contact with the justice system than those living in shelters, and are nine times more likely to have spent one night in jail over the last six months.
The Doe Fund believes housing must be integrated into a broader more comprehensive continuum of care for vulnerable citizens. Their current portfolio includes 14 properties and over 1,000 units of affordable/supportive housing for special needs populations including veterans, families, and individuals with disabilities, mental illnesses, and HIV/AIDS. This translates into over one million square feet of housing, approximately 85% for permanent affordable and supportive housing, and 15% for transitional housing.
Never before have issues at the core of The Doe Fund’s mission been more at the center of national dialogue. As our city and country grapple with the widespread consequences and fallout from the pandemic and reckon with events that reveal the pervasiveness of systemic racism, organizations addressing disparities play an essential role in our recovery. At this moment of urgency, The Doe Fund has an opportunity and responsibility to provide leadership and solutions around racial and economic justice, homelessness, housing, workforce development, criminal justice reform, and addiction.
Internally, TDF has been impacted by the recent passing of its Founder and President. The organization is currently restructuring and building capacity to respond to the opportunities and urgency of the moment. The new President will work to provide stability and leadership, inspire and motivate staff, and build a culture that supports TDF’s mission.
A visionary President will collaborate with the Board and Senior Executives to position TDF as a resource in both local and national recovery efforts. They will ensure the continued success of the organization’s local program initiatives; enhance the relevance of and revenue generated by its innovative social enterprises, and position The Doe Fund as a scalable model capable of influencing policies and redirecting resources around homelessness and criminal justice reform.
The President will develop cross-sector partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including government agencies, policymakers, elected officials, private funders, thought-leaders, and change makers.
This is an exceptional opportunity for a passionate and visionary change maker with business acumen to elevate a renowned organization with pioneering and award-winning programming to the next level of impact.
The President will embrace innovation, foster alignment around strategy and vision, build TDF’s culture, lead the senior team, and allocate capital appropriately. Reporting to the Board, the President will set important goals for the organization and work systematically to meet them. The President will work with the Board and Senior Leadership to define TDF’s priorities and direction. Together, they will assess and evaluate strategies, decide how the organization will differentiate itself from other like-minded organizations, set budgets, forge alliances, and build partnerships to further the mission.
The President will play a formative role in building the culture of TDF around accountability and results so that the very best in the field find the organization to be a solid professional home with ample opportunities for advancement and professional growth. The President will prioritize training, mentoring, and capacity building at TDF.
Administration
Board Relations
External Affairs
Program and Business Development
The Doe Fund is an equal opportunity employer and they highly encourage applications from candidates regardless of race, color, citizenship, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran or reservist status, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law.
All job offers at The Doe Fund are contingent upon the job applicant submitting proof that they are vaccinated by their start date or have approved medical or religious exemption as an accommodation.
Please email your cover letter and resume in confidence to: thedoefund@developmentguild.com
Kieran McTague
Senior Vice President and Director, New York, Principal
Development Guild DDI