As everything changes, we do as well. David Wynde and Jedidiah Chavez, two of our search consultants are moving on to new opportunities.

 

David is officially retiring to enjoy his grandchildren.  We should all be so lucky!  His work on Finance and Operations searches has been incredible and the amount of knowledge he has shared with us and with nonprofits about finance roles, updating financial reporting, and engaging with finance teams has been incredible.  We’re going to miss him in our searches.

 

Jedidiah has accepted a full-time role in fundraising, so the community will continue to benefit from his expertise.  His work on development searches in Oregon, as well as Washington and California, has been very much appreciated.  He has defined roles, supported candidates and clients, focused on the key work of development, and supported interview teams in understanding this key role.  We are sorry to see him go and excited for his new opportunities. 

 

And we are thrilled to add Nick Brodnicki to the NPN team!  Nick was most recently the COO of the Portland Rose Festival Foundation and the Executive Director of the American Heart Association.  He will join us as a consultant available for internal searches as well as support the building of additional services to our clients including business/fundraising assessments, business plans, and corporate engagement strategies.  We are excited to have him join our Search Consultants team!

 

Our permanent staff of Krystal Ngene, Carly Brown, and Nina Nguyen continue to be the glue of our organization.  Their skills and talents with search committees and candidates continues to amaze me every day.  It is an honor to have such an incredible team supporting the community of nonprofits.

So, what are we thinking about 2025?  Fear, anger, hope, opportunity, it is a true jumble.  But, we all like to imagine what it might be like—good or bad.

 

From my perspective, I am carrying forward 2 key feelings/observations.

1. First, as we continue to operate in a world of “me” over “we,” the role of the nonprofit/social sector continues to become more and more important.  We are a safe-harbor for people searching for community, kindness, support, and engagement.  Whether it is your volunteers, clients, board, or staff, the social sector is the only sector focused on the safety net.  That safety net includes the basics of human care:  housing, food, and safety, and the safety net for emotion, demonstrations of care, opportunities to feel value, and to step out of focus on individualism. 

It is a very big burden to place on a single sector that is too often underfunded and underappreciated, and yet we are the harbor.  That isn’t going to go away and leaning into that role may be one way nonprofits gain visibility and recognition.  Being a source of good in a world of darkness makes all of you unique—makes the sector a leader and makes advocacy even more important.

 

2. Second, we are continuing to see a lack of young leaders stepping into positions in nonprofits and we are continuing to see long-time leaders retire or move into consulting.  The prediction of this happening has been around since I started at WVDO in 2008.  It isn’t going away.  As the pressures on the sector increase, finding individuals willing to step in and carry the burden forward is becoming harder and harder.  Part of this is a need to change how we view the skills needed to be a leader:  are there opportunities to sector-switch?  Are we so unique that you can’t do our roles without 5+ years of nonprofit experience?  How do our leadership teams support the work that needs to be done?

And we also need to think about how unique we’ve made ourselves and whether we need to become less “unique” in our management functions.  Are we corporations—no.  Are we unicorns?  I hope not.  Otherwise, extinction is our future.  We are hybrids—we actually exhibit all of the strengths of flexibility, customer service/support, people-first management, and more.  But we often create systems (with the help of the grant cycles) that make our functioning seem mysterious, non-transparent, and unattainable to someone interested in supporting our work.  Again, to survive, we may need to become a little less unique.

Can we do all of this in 2025?  Of course!  Aren’t we known for taking impossible goals and ideas and making them happen on a daily basis?

 

Reality:  no.  But we can advocate, we can welcome, we can focus on our mission, and look for partners—whether in the form of other nonprofits, for-profits, or individuals, that bring light and support to our work.

 

Here’s to thinking positively.  Here’s to being open to new ways of thinking about achieving our goals.  Here’s to not giving up and making room at the table for new ideas and new people.

Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) (Portland, OR) is hiring a Public Programming Manager. Salary: $70,000-$72,000. Closes 1/11/2025.

 

Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) (Portland, OR) is hiring a Development Coordinator. Salary: $58,000-$60,000. Closes 1/12/2025.

 

Rogue Climate (Phoenix, OR or Coos Bay, OR) is hiring an Executive Director. Salary: $90,000-$96,000. Closes 1/12/2025.

 

Our Just Future (Portland, OR) is hiring a Director of Resource Development and Communications. Salary: $105,000-$120,000. Closes 1/18/25.

 

Vestibular Disorders Association (VeDA) (Portland, OR) is hiring a Development Director. Salary: $85,000-$90,000. Closes 1/23/25.

 

A to Z Staffing, Inc. (Portland, OR) is hiring for Temporary, Fractional, Interim positions. Hourly rate: $22-$75.

 

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