The Beacon Fund invests in expanding people’s opportunity to thrive. We focus on positive social change by removing systemic barriers to success for individuals and their communities. Based in Denver, Beacon achieves its purpose through three primary initiatives:
1) Career and post-secondary success
2) Immigrant advocacy and integration
3) Nutrition and food access
Beacon advances the work of these initiatives through broad set of tools including philanthropic grants, investments, and advocacy support. A core set of beliefs guide our work: the power of partnership; humility in knowing that we do not have all the answers; respect for individuals to discover and engage in building a lifestyle of their choice; and an openness to adapt to ever-changing needs and to new ways of creating positive change.
About the Position
The Director of Immigration will help lead Beacon Fund’s Immigration Initiative. The Immigration Initiative currently has two core focus areas: 1) ensuring that immigrants have the tools to unlock their full potential and work together with long-time residents to build welcoming and connected communities and 2) ensuring that immigrants have meaningful access to new and existing legal opportunities that allow them to come, stay, earn citizenship, and fully contribute to the country. The Director will develop strategies and partnerships in support of these ambitious goals and use impact data, expertise, and a continuous learning posture to enhance their approach. The individual will also guide the program with respect to public policy and issue management. The program goals will be met ideally through collaboration and networking with national and local entities long working within this arena, including those within government, the broader philanthropic community, business, advocates, and those currently serving immigrants and their communities.
Specific duties include the following:
Strategy Development and Implementation
• Advise the Beacon Fund’s principals and other delegated decision-makers by planning and managing meetings with clear information and facilitation of discussion to ensure good governance, sound investment decisions and thoughtful long-term planning to achieve impact.
• Develop, execute, and refine strategies to accomplish program goals.
• Construct high impact portfolios using a flexible range of impact-first capital, balanced with appropriate risk taking.
• Manage opportunities with a lens towards reputational risk, impact risk, and financial risk.
• Understand the relevant policy landscape, its players, and opportunities locally and nationally.
• Develop and refine impact measurement framework to support enhancement of Beacon’s strategy at the partner level and initiative level, and over time, to inform Beacon’s understanding of its organization-wide impact.
• Collaborate with other Beacon Directors, senior leaders, and staff to identify cross-initiative learning, partnerships, and investment opportunities.
Network Building
• Serve as a recognized and respected representative of Beacon/the Principals to partners, communities, and networks that are critical for the development and execution of strategies.
• Build relationships and stay up to date on developments in the field, including innovative ideas, evidence for impact and emerging organizations and thought leaders so they may inform the program strategy and our broader approach to achieving impact.
• Catalyze collaboration across system stakeholders. Influence new funders and innovators to join our space, and ultimately shape markets through taking on and managing risk and deploying capital for impact.
• Effectively steward Beacon resources in pursuit of leverage to attract additional resources and in collaboration with our partners.
• Build relationships and look for opportunities to collaborate and co-create with other teams within the organization
• Generate new knowledge and new tools that enhance our impact and encourage the field to evolve in positive ways.
Portfolio Management
• Use creativity, relationships, expertise, and experience to build out and manage pipeline of opportunities for grants, advocacy contributions, PRIs and impact investments.
• Oversee opportunities from inception to completion, including due diligence, structuring, ongoing management, continuous learning and adaptation, and board reporting.
• Evaluate potential follow-on grants and make recommendations to Beacon’s principals and other designated decision-makers.
• Provide value-adding support, access to resources, and governing oversight as appropriate, to maximize the probability and speed to impact for individual grantees and partners, as well as our collective portfolio.
• Actively collaborate with co-funders and other partners in our sector where we have investment, leveraging our networks to help organizations grow and seek new milestones.
Team Building and Operations Support
• Contribute to the effective operations and processes of our lean team to continuously ensure our resources and processes align with our ambitions.
• Contribute to Beacon’s culture by actively and thoughtfully incorporating our values and principles throughout our work.
• Actively mentor Beacon’s support staff (philanthropic, operational, and investment) and delegate appropriately to staff working within and across initiative areas.
• Coordinate with individuals across the broader organization to support efficient and effective execution of Beacon programs, including Communications, Legal, Operations, Investments, and others.
• Develop and manage both operating and program budgets to support our strategy.
Who we are looking for
We are seeking an outstanding, seasoned professional who brings considerable experience in a service-oriented organization. The ideal candidate possesses experience in philanthropy, advocacy/public sector, and impact investing with a mix of the following core competencies, experiences, and capabilities:
Required Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree or higher, or equivalent professional experience
• Experience developing and executing strategic plans and impact measurement plans
• Demonstrated expertise and experience with local or national efforts to improve opportunities for immigrants within communities and across immigration systems
• Significant track record of building and maintaining community partnership and network success
• Experience using different types of capital (e.g., grants, advocacy contributions, and impact investments) to advance social impact goals
• Experience negotiating large and significant grants and contracts
• Financial and budgeting experience
• Exceptional oral and written communications skills
Preferred Candidates may also have one or more of the following:
• Public affairs, government, and/or advocacy experience
• Experience with startups, continuous improvement, evaluation, and knowledge management
• Professional experience in impact investing, which may include time at a strategic consulting firm, family office, or venture firm, as well as in the philanthropic and/or nonprofit sectors.
Personal attributes that support your success
• Strategic thinker and relationship builder who has the ability to manage change by building and joining networks of others already leading in this arena, both nationally and locally
• Excellent listener; team player; client service orientation and the ability to serve the vision of the organization’s leadership
• Positive attitude toward what is possible; ability to envision and approach with bi-partisan and nonpartisan solutions
• Innovative and creative thinker
• High energy individual who is secure and confident in self and in decision making
• Ability to listen and respond well to feedback
• Ability to influence without formal authority
• Ability to collaborate with other active entities
• Experience in managing up, down, and laterally
Benefits Information*
Compensation Range: $180,000-$210,000
Benefits Information: We offer a comprehensive and generous benefits package which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401 (k) retirement plan, and paid time off.
*This information is provided to comply with Colorado Law
We an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building and maintaining a culturally diverse workplace that is free of discrimination and harassment of any kind. We encourage women, minorities, individuals with disabilities and veterans to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.
Basic Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree or higher, or equivalent professional experience
• Experience developing and executing strategic plans and impact measurement plans
• Demonstrated expertise and experience with local or national efforts to improve opportunities for immigrants within communities and across immigration systems
• Significant track record of building and maintaining community partnership and network success
• Experience using different types of capital (e.g., grants, advocacy contributions, and impact investments) to advance social impact goals
• Experience negotiating large and significant grants and contracts
• Financial and budgeting experience
• Exceptional oral and written communications skills
