About Redwoods Collective
Redwoods is offering philanthropy a new source for climate education, vetted leads, and trusted intelligence that will unlock new resources to supercharge climate action.
Launched as a pilot in 2024, Redwoods Collective (Redwoods) is uniting the combined knowledge of leading scientists, experts from the field, high volume climate philanthropies and other leaders working on critical climate solutions to better equip centimillionaire donors with carefully vetted opportunities that align with their values, priorities, and ambitions for climate impact.
In response to research and focus groups, Redwoods was built to serve a rapidly evolving philanthropy sector whose donors are seeking easier access to high-quality, vetted solutions to support. When philanthropic professionals—advisors and staff—have access to credible expert insight, rigorously vetted opportunities, and trusted curation support, they can reduce uncertainty, accelerate decision-making, and increase both the volume and quality of funding flowing to climate solutions. Redwoods was designed as a first mover in packaging intelligence for philanthropic professionals, specifically targeting the people who work with donors instead of the donors themselves.
This organization is built to move with urgency—deploying capital, building strategic partnerships, and driving measurable impact at scale. Redwoods will serve as a model for other efforts to move philanthropic capital swiftly to urgent issues, especially as the philanthropy landscape continues to evolve.
The Opportunity
This is a rare opportunity for an exceptional and proven leader to reshape how philanthropic capital flows to the climate solutions we all depend on. At a moment when the scale and speed of climate action must dramatically increase, this role offers a chance to reimagine how resources are mobilized and move through the financial ecosystem to the natural world.
Currently incubated by ClimateWorks Foundation, supported with diligence and materials by Climate Lead and nine dedicated funding partners, Redwoods enters its next phase with strength: multiyear funding commitments, rigorous development and diligence, and a clear strategic thesis. The organization is a members-only platform providing multiple ways to learn with a direct line of support and is in a pivotal stage of growth. It is poised to galvanize donors at the centimillionaire level of wealth—an influential yet underutilized segment of climate philanthropy—by testing the hypothesis of working through trusted professional donor advisors and building new pathways for climate giving.
The Executive Director will serve as the strategic and operational leader of a mission-driven philanthropic initiative at a pivotal stage of growth, working at the forefront of philanthropy to improve donor infrastructure and enable greater climate giving. This is an entrepreneurial leadership role for an experienced philanthropy executive who combines strategic vision, operational rigor, sophisticated donor engagement, and decisive leadership.
The Executive Director will crystallize and execute a bold vision: they will build and lead a high-performing team, steward relationships with partners and board members, drive fundraising, and position the organization as a trusted and influential partner within the philanthropic ecosystem.
This role requires urgency, sound judgment, humility, and a high degree of accountability, along with the ability to operate comfortably in ambiguity while building durable systems for long-term impact.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership and Vision
- Articulate and operationalize a compelling long-term vision.
- Establish evergreen goals, three-year objectives, and annual OKRs
- Clear understanding of and ability to represent market opportunity for professional philanthropy staff
- Position the organization within an evolving climate philanthropy landscape to help bring in new donors.
- Identify emerging opportunities for maximum climate impact within the target audience (centimillionaire donors).
Organizational Leadership and Culture
- Lead and develop a lean, high-performing team (currently 5 FT and 5 PT staff).
- Oversee senior leadership, including Operations, Climate Intelligence, Platform and Advisor Services.
- Recruit, retain, and, when necessary, restructure team roles.
- Establish systems, processes, and performance management practices to enable scale.
- Build a culture rooted in excellence, humility, accountability, and collaboration.
- Serve as final decision-maker and organizational voice.
- Navigate governance and align decision-making structures to achieve mission.
Ecosystem Role and Donor Advisor Influence
- Demonstrate fluency in where philanthropy is today — and where it is headed, including understanding of the philanthropic advisory ecosystem.
- Establish strong relationships with other infrastructure efforts in the philanthropy ecosystem including representing Redwoods at events.
- Strengthen reputation, partnerships, and ecosystem alignment.
Governance and Fundraising
- Manage advisory board relationships with confidence and clarity.
- Lead quarterly advisory board meetings and establish new governance practices and cadence.
- Align diverse stakeholders across philanthropic and sector partners.
- Manage Climate Lead relationship, our core partnership.
- Lead fundraising efforts when required.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a seasoned philanthropic leader who blends strategic vision with operational excellence. They are entrepreneurial, systems-oriented, and purpose-driven. They possess the credibility to advise major donors and the decisiveness to lead a growing organization.
Qualifications
Required Experience
- 10+ years in philanthropy, donor advising, or social impact leadership.
- 5+ years in executive or senior leadership roles.
- Deep experience working with high-net-worth individuals, family philanthropy and / or lean institutional foundations.
- Demonstrated success leading the build or scaling of initiatives in entrepreneurial settings, managing growing teams through change.
- Undergraduate degree required, advanced degree preferred.
Preferred Experience
- Climate, environmental, or related domains.
- Experience working across political spectrums.
- A bias to action with a proven track record of influencing decision makers.
- Exposure to culturally grounded or community-led philanthropy models.
- Experience designing and managing high-impact grant portfolios.
- Interest in navigation technology (including AI) and / or infrastructure efforts.
- Governance and board management experience.
Leadership Competencies
- Strategic Thinker: Sees patterns, anticipates trends, and designs scalable solutions.
- Decisive Leader: Comfortable making hard calls and serving as tie-breaker.
- Excellent Manager and Coach: Including demonstrated skill leading leaders.
- Entrepreneurial Operator: Thrives in startup and high-growth, sometimes ambiguous environments.
- Trusted Advisor: A powerful communicator who earns credibility with sophisticated donors and advisory board members.
- Systems Builder: Implements infrastructure that supports long-term growth.
- Collaborative Influencer: Aligns diverse stakeholders toward common outcomes.
- Low Ego, High Accountability: Purpose-driven and team-centered.
- Data-Oriented: Uses evidence and metrics to inform strategy and evaluation.
What Success Looks Like in the First 24 Months
- Clear strategic roadmap adopted and operationalized.
- High-performing team in place.
- New donor and dollar goals met or exceeded.
- Strong alignment and trust established with key partners and advisory board.
- Recognized credibility within the climate philanthropy ecosystem.
- Operational systems refined to support scale and partnerships.
Location and Compensation
The salary range for this position is $400,000 – $450,000. The preferred location for the Executive Director position is the San Francisco Bay Area.
To Be Considered
Please submit your resume and cover letter expressing your interest in the position and fit for the role via the “Become a Candidate” button below.
Applicants applying by May 8 will be given priority consideration, with the position open until filled.
GoodCitizen has been exclusively retained by Redwoods Collective to lead this search. For questions, please contact redwoodscollective-ed@goodcitizen.com
