Executive Director

The Edward M. Dowd Foundation seeks a creative strategic leader with strong organizational and business acumen to serve as its Executive Director. The Executive Director will have the opportunity to work with a mission driven board of trustees committed to the betterment and enrichment of life in the Monterey and Santa Clara counties in northern California. The trustees are looking to bring new energy and fresh approaches to its grantmaking and want to collaborate with an executive director to set an exciting new strategic direction for a lasting legacy as they spend down the Foundation’s endowment in the next twenty or so years. The trustees are open to a variety of approaches as to how they can effectively and responsibly support the community and thus require a capable and astute executive director to lead them in charting a path. 

Edward M. Dowd established the Foundation to support organizations and causes that spoke to him personally following a successful career in real estate. The Foundation focuses on capital and programmatic support in the areas of arts and education, health and human services and support for veterans. The Foundation is deeply embedded in the Salinas and Santa Clara communities and focuses most of its grantmaking to nonprofit and charitable organizations in this region of California. 

The Executive Director reports directly to the Board of Trustees of the Foundation and has responsibility for development and execution of a strategic plan, maintaining the grantmaking application process, timely disbursement of funds, and overall due diligence of the nonprofits it supports. The success of the Executive Director will be determined by their ability to develop an exciting and forward-looking strategic plan; working collaboratively with the trustees on all manner of Foundation business; serving as an effective ambassador to the broader community; and determining the future needs for a Foundation that will spend down its endowment in the next couple of decades. 

Julie Filizetti is leading this search with Kahn Lee and Gabi Harrington.

The Edward M. Dowd Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. It does not and shall not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, or disability, in any of its activities or operations.