Partners for Rural Transformation President

Position Profile: Partners for Rural Transformation President

Location: Remote with ability to travel

Partners for Rural Transformation, an innovative collaboration among six of the nation’s top rural focused nonprofits, is looking for a dynamic, visionary, creative, and collaborative leader with a passion for improving conditions in rural and native communities who can leverage the collective impact of the participating organizations. 

About Partners for Rural Transformation

Partners for Rural Transformation (PRT) is an unprecedented mission- and impact-focused partnership led by six high-performing organizations focused on improving conditions in rural and native communities. This partnership is based on the belief that there is more that unifies than divides people living in persistent poverty in native and rural communities in Indian Country, in the Delta, in Appalachia, on the Texas Border, and in the rural West and Southeast. PRT works collaboratively across geographies and cultures to collectively influence policy and simultaneously lead, advocate, innovate, and finance individual and community solutions to poverty so that local people can build sustainable and promising futures.

About PRT

Hope Credit Union CEO Bill Bynum and Fahe CEO Jim King started collaborating in 2014 on issues impacting communities in the Delta and in Appalachia. As this collaboration grew and flourished, they decided to invite the CEOs of four additional organizations. In 2016, the CEOs of Fahe, Hope Credit Union,  CDC Brownsville, Communities Unlimited, Oweesta, and RCAC began meeting to identify ways that working together could deepen the impact of the organizations, raise capital to be deployed in rural and native communities with persistent poverty, and advocate for changes to the structural inequities that have led to the conditions in these communities. The organizations, which bring more than 200 years of collective experience to the table, share a passion for and focus on improving rural and native communities in a variety of significant ways, including by providing access to capital. All six are Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs).

Accomplishments to Date

Major Successes

• $2.5 billion deployed from 2016-2023 to persistent poverty communities with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, USDA, Wells Fargo, Chase and Heron foundations.
• Anticipated 2nd quarter 2024 major support from a national funder that will lead to significant impact.
• Heightened awareness and an approach to change the narrative around persistent poverty communities and their challenges.
• Identification of changes to federal policy and changes to the language used in federal discussion of Persistent Poverty, in particular Executive order on disadvantaged communities, and inclusion of the 10-20-30 language at USDA, HUD and Treasury, meaning 10% of program dollars are directed toward areas experiencing persistent poverty.

PRT’s operational strategy is based on a desire to be as streamlined and efficient as possible in supporting areas of persistent poverty in the communities served by each organization. For this reason, PRT is not separately incorporated. The PRT Director is a staff member and member of the senior leadership team of Fahe and reports to Jim King, Fahe’s CEO. Informally, the PRT Director also reports to, staffs, informs, and facilitates the PRT CEO steering committee.

Goals

• Increased investment by philanthropy and national community development intermediaries in persistent poverty areas by creating a persistent opportunity fund
• Additional incentives for direct bank investments in persistent poverty areas through changes to the Community Reinvestment Act, and indirectly by incentivizing additional investments in CDFIs
• Floors for federal investments in persistent poverty areas and a re-examination of the way that income criteria are calculated to better serve rural communities
• Development of a persistent poverty research agenda

About the Communities We Serve

Areas of persistent poverty are mostly rural (80%) and mostly inhabited by people of color (60%).  PRT recognizes that communities with persistent poverty often suffer from high unemployment, no or limited access to banking services, too little affordable housing, and unsafe drinking water. All of these factors contribute to higher rates of premature death and health challenges. Additional information about areas of persistent poverty can be found here.

Major Responsibilities

Leadership/Management

• Manage, lead, and empower PRT’s staff, which include an operations director, project manager, program manager, and executive assistant. 
• Recruit talented, diverse, and mission-oriented staff to support implementation of  new funding initiative
• Work with steering committee members and steering committee organization’s staff that support PRT committees to identify PRT priorities
• Evaluate PRT committee structures and streamline as needed to ensure the workload is reasonable for PRT staff and steering committee organization’s staff
• Manage projects that support the goals and objectives identified in the strategic plan 

Advocacy

• Persuasively and strategically raise the profile and change the narrative surrounding persistent poverty communities
• Identify and advocate for change around impactful policy and regulatory changes where PRT has standing and credibility to effect change

Fundraising

• Responsible for raising operating support for PRT’s approximately $1million budget
• Identification of  funding opportunities and development of relationships with potential sources of capital that can be deployed in persistent poverty communities
• Responsible for developing and submitting grants based on identified opportunities for support
• Work with steering committee members to nurture existing and develop new relationships with funders

Partner Relationships

• Excellent interpersonal skills to navigate complex relationships and partnerships, including nine additional organizations committed to serving rural communities in persistent poverty across the nation

Qualifications and Experience

• A minimum of five years of significant leadership experience in a related field
• A passion for improving the lives of people living in rural and native communities experiencing persistent poverty. Lived and/or professional experience in rural and/or native communities strongly preferred.
• Experience managing and developing a team of mission-oriented professionals
• Proven track record of effective, mission-related advocacy
• Proven track record of identifying resource opportunities and securing support from philanthropic and government sources.
• Ability to participate in and facilitate conversations among strong leaders to set and implement organizational priorities
• Understanding of how access to and the deployment of capital improves communities.  Experience with CDFIs/lending preferred.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in diverse settings
• A commitment to equity and inclusion and a comfort in and ability to work with and bring together people from different cultures and backgrounds
• Ability to travel to DC and to areas served by steering committee organizations

Salary and Benefits

Partners for Rural Transformation expects to pay an annual salary range of $160K to $200K for the President position. Compensation also includes a comprehensive benefits package including but not limited to employee health, dental, vision and disability coverage and an employee lending program.  

For the past seven years, Fahe has been rated one of the top 100 Best Places to Work in Kentucky. Fahe is an Equal Opportunity Employer seeking applicants who can bring diverse viewpoints, experience, talents, and culture to promote our organization’s mission of building the American Dream.