ABOUT AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
Americans for the Arts builds recognition and support for the extraordinary and dynamic value of the arts and serves, advances, and leads the network of organizations and individuals who cultivate, promote, sustain, and support the arts in America. The vision of Americans for the Arts is that the arts are recognized as integral to the lives of all people and essential to healthy, vibrant and equitable communities across the nation. Founded in 1960, Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts and arts education. Americans for the Arts has headquarters in Washington, DC and a second office located in New York, NY.

DEPARTMENT SUMMARY
The Americans for the Arts Private Sector Initiatives Department is responsible for promoting the mutual benefits that arise when the arts and business sector and other private sector leaders work together. Department staff work to stimulate business and private sector support and giving to the arts. They work to create private local and national partnerships by promoting the arts as a key strategy toward helping businesses, foundations, and individual philanthropists achieve their goals such as developing a creative workforce, enriching community life, and engaging diverse workers. Through research, messaging and visibility, training, strategic alliances, and advocacy, the Private Sector Initiatives Department helps these two sectors, the arts and the private sector, come together to build vibrant and equitable communities and workplaces.

POSITION SUMMARY
The Vice President of Private Sector Initiatives is responsible for overseeing national programs and strategic relationships that lead to the visibility and policies that increase business and private sector support for the arts. The Vice President ensures an informed and viable field of arts leaders working to advance business and private sector support for the arts at the local level and oversees strategies that promote, cultivate and sustain the creative economy in local communities. The Vice President builds partnerships that influence creative industry leaders to work together to expand support for the arts nationally and explores how for-profit and nonprofit arts organizations work together. This position supervises three staff positions to accomplish this work.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Key duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Strategic Partnerships
• Initiate and maintain key private sector partnerships with national organizations that represent the broader private sector and ensure the arts are on their agenda. Partnerships include Independent Sector, the Council on Foundations, Grantmakers in the Arts, the Philanthropy Roundtable, Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Conference Board, CECP, the Business Roundtable, Chamber of Commerce, and SHRM. As part of these partnerships the Vice president will work to:
o Consider shared awards
o Share key research in their communication vehicles with constituents.
o Present sessions at their conferences, webinars and workshops.
o Design and execute new joint research initiatives
• Establish new or build upon existing relationships with members of the creative industries such as NAMM, Television Academy, Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Broadway League, and American Theatre Wing
• Establish new relationships with media partners to promote the message about the work of arts and business partnerships

Visibility
• Communicate the value of arts and business and private sector partnerships with the arts by overseeing the creation and dissemination of content through the Americans for the Arts communications vehicles such as its website, e-newsletters, business publications and blogs
• Strategically utilize the pARTnership Movement platform to promote the value of partnering with the arts to the business community. This includes:
o Overseeing the website and ensuring that it is updated with stories, facts, images
o Develop media partnerships to promote case stories
o Provide articles to business-related media outlets
o Use Americans for the Arts social media to promote stories
o Produce the annual Arts and Business Partnership Awards Gala in New York to recognize business leaders who have implemented innovative partnerships with the arts
• Represent Americans for the Arts at external events

Professional Development
• Oversee the design of year-round professional development programs to train local arts organizations on how to develop effective partnerships with the business community and the broader private sector. This work includes:
o Developing and presenting the curriculum for in-depth workshops for both Americans for the Arts programs and for local and national organizations
• Oversee the management of the Private Sector Council, a group of field leaders elected to share advice and guidance on programming. The Council meets twice each year and holds regular planning conference calls

Convenings
• Oversee the growth and management of the Business Committee for the Arts (BCA), a national group of 100 business leaders from all industries who understand the power of the arts and are willing to use their influence to generate support
o Oversee the recruitment and engagement strategies as we grow the BCA to 100 members from all 50 states
o Connect BCA members to opportunities to serve as ambassadors for the mission of Americans for the Arts through communication, advocacy and partnership opportunities
o Oversee the design of an annual roundtable for BCA members to discuss key arts and business issues and trends
• Re-envision and oversee the delivery of the David Rockefeller Lecture, an annual lecture designed to increase the visibility for the innovative ways’ businesses are working with the arts to achieve their goals
• Create other forums, convenings, to advance connectivity of the arts to the private sector and creative industries and connect with other AFTA Departments creating related work and content

Research
• Oversee development, dissemination and reporting of the BCA Survey of Business Support for the Arts, an annual research report on trends in business support for the arts conducted in partnership with The Conference Board. Utilize the report as a messaging and training tool for businesses and arts organizations and promote widely to business and arts leaders
• Oversee other surveys related to the broader private sector such as the annual survey of Community Foundations and the arts
• Through the Profile of Local Arts Agencies, work with our research team to track trends on how local arts agencies are partnering with business and private sector leaders in their communities and promote their stories widely to the field
• Work with our research team and other research entities like The Giving Institute and CECP to track business sector giving to the arts trends and promote the results widely. Track their financial contributions, workplace giving, and impact of arts integration in the workplace
• Promote the role of the creative economy in creating vibrant arts communities to businesses. Track trends in giving to and from creative economy businesses through impact investing and other mechanisms
o Work with strategic partners to communicate the economic impact and value of supporting and sustaining the creative economy while attracting creative industries
o Identify partners and opportunities for new research that underscores the role of the creative economy and helps make the business case for arts support
• Work with our research team to track united arts fund trends in private sector support for the arts

Fundraising and Budgeting
• Oversee department fundraising efforts and identify and secure resources in partnership with development staff
o Build and steward relationships with prospective funders from the business communities and the broad private sector
• Develop and adhere to the departmental program budget
• Provide regular progress reports about budgets, timelines, and program status to the Chief Operating Officer

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES
As a Supervisor you are responsible for the performance of your direct-report(s). You should guide, train, support, and motivate your team member(s) to help them accomplish their job-specific goals. As a supervisor it is your responsibility to be knowledgeable of your direct-report(s) responsibilities and know how to get the tasks accomplished in their absence. You should continually work to earn the respect and credibility of your direct-report(s) by building an inclusive and supportive learning environment. As such, building trust with your team members is vital to a healthy work relationship. Specifically, you will:

Performance Management
• Meet with direct-report(s) on a weekly basis to discuss progress on projects, priorities, and goals
• Assist direct-report(s) with workflow/bandwidth management, and ensure that direct-report(s) understand their duties and delegated tasks
• Provide timely and ongoing constructive feedback, including soliciting feedback from colleagues from other departments with whom direct-report(s) collaborate
• Document progress of individual direct-report(s) goals by administering annual performance review and mid-year review of performance goals in compliance with AFTA’s strategic plan
• Support and assist in planning direct-report(s) professional development activities; assist with finding professional growth opportunities

Administration
• Maintain a safe and healthy work environment by establishing and enforcing organization standards and adhering to legal regulations
• Develop and update employee job descriptions, as necessary
• Approve timekeeping records prior to each pay period’s deadline

Leadership
• Assist direct-reports with ongoing coaching and counseling
• Provide quick and appropriate resolution of all challenges, discrepancies, and miscommunications
• Share, support, and carry out decisions made by the organization’s management
• Ensure adherence to Americans for the Arts’ personnel policies and practices
• Focus on creating a culture where accountability and fairness are present in every situation
• Support an innovative workplace that fosters creativity, encourages new ideas, and supports examining different approaches to existing initiatives
• Recognize the contributions of your direct reports in ways that are meaningful to them

QUALIFICATIONS
• At least 10 years of experience in the private sector and business community
• Bachelor’s degree
• A positive attitude and an earnest interest in providing quality customer service to our members, stakeholders, and partners
• Ability to establish evaluation strategies and implement formative and summative activities
• Ability to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships
• Ability to work with minimal supervision
• Advanced skill sets in strategic planning, system development, and project management
• Effective leadership skills capable of communicating at the highest levels of management
• Excellent customer service skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Proven record of big picture visioning and ability to design and connect many program components and cross-departmental initiatives to develop cohesion and effective strategy that achieves department and organizational goals
• Proven track record of relationships with members of the business sector including with an emphasis in the creative industries
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to handle multiple projects
• Strong Personal Computer (PC) skills including Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Internet research experience, a basic knowledge of any Content Management System (CMS) and basic PC troubleshooting
• Travel required
• Understanding of nonprofit service organizations

WORKING CONDITIONS
• This position works 37.5 hours per week Monday through Friday around core business hours (10:00 am – 4:00 pm ET)
• Travel required

CULTURAL EQUITY COMPETENCIES
Americans for the Arts acknowledges the existence of systemic and structural biases and believes it is necessary to be strategic and intentional in pursuing cultural equity in all aspects of governance, operations, and programming. As an employee, you are expected to:
• Pursue substantive learning to achieve greater cultural consciousness by attending at least one Americans for the Arts Learning Lab per quarter and/or other professional development opportunities
• Support adoption of best practices to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive work experience for colleagues and external partners
• Strive to consider the people, places, and cultures that might be missing from your work and look for opportunities to increase inclusivity in all the work you do.
• Support the mission and vision of Americans for the Arts in all interactions with colleagues, members and stakeholders
• Encourage colleagues and external stakeholders to advance cultural equity by adhering to the standards outlined in the Staff Values & Behavior Agreement in all interactions

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Americans for the Arts believes that one of its greatest strengths is the rich diversity of its staff.
We provide equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, creed, gender and gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, including pregnancy and childbirth, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, ancestry, genetic information, political belief or activity, veteran or military discharge status, or any other basis protected by local, state or federal law and regulations under Title VII.

The policy applies to all employment practices, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, transfer, termination, layoff, compensation, benefits, social and recreational programs, and all other conditions and privileges of employment in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.

All employees have the right to work in a workplace that is free of discrimination. Any person who believes they have been subjected to discrimination of any kind should contact their immediate supervisor or Human Resources. All complaints will be thoroughly investigated and any person violating this policy may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. The law prohibits retaliation against any employee for reporting discrimination or perceived discrimination, or for participating in an investigation of incidents of discrimination or perceived discrimination.