EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MNLCT

Reporting to the Chair of the Board of Directors, the Executive Director is the key leader of MNLCT. In partnership with the Board of Directors and the Leadership Team, the Executive Director is responsible for providing strategic leadership to the organization and overseeing its effective and efficient operations.

About the Organization: 

The Mennonite New Life Centre Toronto (MNLCT) is a vibrant, multi-cultural settlement agency for newcomers to Canada. The Centre provides a variety of settlement services, including information/orientation, language instruction, mental health supports and capacity building workshops, public education and bridging to employment. The Centre is a tech-forward charity that utilizes technology solutions to meet the needs of its stakeholders. As a result, several of our services and programs are delivered in a hybrid format, offering clients and participants options to receive services through virtual and in-person services. 

About the Role:

Reporting to the Chair of the Board of Directors, the Executive Director is the key leader of MNLCT. In partnership with the Board of Directors and the Leadership Team, the Executive Director is responsible for providing strategic leadership to the organization and overseeing its effective and efficient operations. Using an inclusive, caring, and collaborative approach, and an anti-oppression and gender justice framework, the Executive Director inspires staff, establishes, and fosters internal and external relationships and manages the organization.  The Executive Director also ensures accountability, performance and risk management are    effectively sustained.  Ultimately, the Executive Director is responsible for the success of the Centre, ensuring the organization’s accomplishments, outcomes and financial sustainability are aligned with its mission, values, and strategic directions.

In assuming this leadership position, the new Executive Director will want to focus on the following key priority areas to continue to strategically enhance the MNLCT’s excellent reputation and impact:

• Aligning programs and services to realize socially just newcomer integration by focusing on flexible support for the most marginalized immigrants and refugees in our communities; strengthening our commitment to embed mental health supports into programming; and fostering social justice leadership in both newcomers and our host community as an opportunity to work together for change.
• Leveraging our experience in mental health programming, adult education and training, and newcomer leadership, by showcasing our successes to foster an understanding of newcomers and their assets and open doors for diversified funding, for new partnerships, and for a place at policy development and advocacy tables.
• Investing in internal capacity development, by fostering an environment of caring, investing in staff, and continuing to understand and work within new technologies.

The Mennonite New Life Centre is a trusted, well-regarded organization with strong relationships with funders and partners, and a superior reputation for delivering quality programs and services with kindness, caring and compassion. This is a wonderful opportunity to lead an organization with a committed and dedicated staff and Board.  The Executive Director will play a principal role in supporting MNLCT to foster social justice leadership in all the communities where newcomers work, play and live.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following competencies, characteristics, and qualifications.

Competencies:  What our New ED can do

• A collaborator, connector, and catalyzer, with demonstrated ability to build partnerships and advocate effectively with the Board, government, funders, donors, corporate stakeholders, employers, settlement and other social service organizations and other diverse stakeholder groups and advocate effectively.
• A strong communicator, with superior listening and engagement skills, who is able to convey the purpose of MNLCT to different audiences, internally and externally, in compelling ways.
• Deep knowledge, understanding and commitment to social justice issues and principles of anti-racism, anti-Black racism, equity and inclusion; able to build bridges and weave these principles into all aspects of the organization, including its culture and policies/processes.
• Commitment to implementing Indigenous justice and decolonizing approaches that acknowledge Truth and Reconciliation.
• A creative and strategic leader who knows when to focus on pursuing growth and when to focus on ensuring capacity to meet such growth, both from the point of view of processes/systems and broader organizational change management.
• Ability to work with and support an experienced, independent, and well-functioning leadership team, to continue to build their individual and collective capacity, including supporting the taking of managed risks in order to innovate. 
• Experienced working with and building a trusted relationship with a governance board.
• Business and financial acumen; comfortable with financial processes and ability to develop compelling business cases and funding proposals to secure resources the Centre needs to fulfill its strategic goals.
• Experience developing and implementing exciting strategic plans, fostering staff engagement and collaboratively engaging diverse stakeholders.
• A solid understanding of different immigrant, refugee and newcomer settlement experiences, assets and needs, and a commitment to centre these voices and experiences in the organization.

Characteristics:  Who our New ED is

• An authentic leader with highly developed emotional intelligence, who is able to engage, motivate and elevate those around them and lead by example.
• Someone who earns trust and credibility through empathy, compassion, and integrity.
• A transparent and accountable leader who sets clear expectations and addresses issues as they arise.
• A transformational, entrepreneurial, and visionary leader who finds opportunities to push boundaries and innovate.
• A leader with courage to take calculated risks.
• An inspiring, passionate leader, who motivates those around them to strive for success.  

Qualifications:

• Relevant post-secondary degree.
• 5 – 10 years of progressive management experience in the non-profit or human services sector, ideally leading an organization in achieving its mission and vision.
• Specific sector experience in one or all of the following:  immigration and settlement, mental health, credentialing and training of internationally trained professionals, newcomer advocacy and/or social justice.
• Demonstrated understanding of non-profit governance, outcome measurement, evaluation, and best practices.
• Comfort in innovation in the technical space including AI and online programming.
• Fluency in English and other language skills.

The Mennonite New Life Centre is committed to the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples, Indigenous peoples of North America, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and those who identify as women and/or 2SLGBTQ+. Internal and external candidates may apply. The Centre will provide accommodations as needed to ensure fairness in our hiring process