Koya Leadership is seeking applications and nominations for the position of Executive Director.
LAF is the largest civil legal services organization in the Midwest and among the largest in the country. For the last 50 years, LAF (formerly the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago) has provided high quality and free legal aid to the most vulnerable people living in Chicago and suburban Cook County. By helping clients address critical legal problems that consign people to poverty, LAF has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals get their lives and families 'back on track'.
Through advocacy, education, collaboration and litigation, LAF empowers individuals, protects fundamental rights, strengthens communities, creates opportunities and achieves justice. In some of its cases, LAF represents groups of people (although it cannot pursue class actions) to achieve results with broader impact, and it frequently partners with private law firm attorneys on special projects (e.g., veterans' assistance and community legal clinics). LAF also works with administrative agencies and task forces to advance simpler, clearer and fairer policies for many government programs. Finally, LAF provides education, outreach and training to many community groups and social service agencies around Cook County.
LAF focuses on five Practice Areas: Children & Families, Consumer, Housing, Public Benefits and Immigrants & Workers Rights. LAF's reach extends past the individual clients with its additional focus on advocacy and precedent setting in the courts.
For more information on LAF, please visit www.lafchicago.org.
The Opportunity:
Following on LAF's celebration of its 50th anniversary as the leading legal aid organization in Metropolitan Chicago, the organization is seeking a strategic, collaborative and engaging Executive Director to lead the organization to new heights in this next chapter.
Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director will have overall strategic, operational and managerial responsibility for LAF. S/he will work proactively with the Board and staff to diversify and expand funding streams and revenues, lead and manage teams, promote professional staff development, evaluate programs, understand, prepare and manage budgets, understand and drive strategic plans, raise LAF's brand and cultivate relationships with other organizations and leaders in the legal aid community in Chicago and at the regional and national level.
S/he will spend substantial time on fundraising initiatives and ambassadorship, including spreading the word about the work LAF does for clients, meeting with and cultivating donors, attending professional and social events where new supporters can be found and being the agency spokesperson at site visits and donor-sponsored forums. This work is not limited to interactions with other lawyers or legal aid funders – LAF's future depends critically on broadening its appeal to civic-minded laypeople who see the value of effective legal aid for the whole community.
Candidate Profile: The Executive Director will be an inspiring leader who is passionate about fulfilling LAF's mission and has a personal commitment to LAF's clients. S/he will have the character, confidence and personality to work successfully in a highly visible role and to interact effectively with a broad range of constituents. The Executive Director will be a strategic leader with a proven track record of leadership and management. S/he will excel as the external face of LAF and will have experience with branding and marketing.
The ideal candidate will have the following qualities and characteristics:
- Leadership
- Fundraising and Development
- A Passion for the Mission
Contact: Alison P. Ranney, Alexandra N. Corvin and Anny K. Chou of Koya Leadership Partners have been exclusively retained for this search. To express your interest in this role please email Alison, Alex and Anny directly at [email protected]. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential. LAF is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of disability. img.img { width: 0px !important;}
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