Executive Director

Position: Executive Director
Organization: Fair Finance Fund
Location: virtual / remote, anywhere in Ontario

Fair Finance Fund Executive Director Posting

The Fair Finance Fund seeks an experienced and collaborative leader to serve as Executive Director. The Fair Finance Fund mobilizes equitable and accessible capital for Ontario's local food and farm enterprises that create social, environmental and economic benefits. The Executive Director of the Fair Finance Fund will provide visionary leadership and strategic and financial oversight of the Fund, ensuring that the fund continues as a successful evergreen fund supporting local food and farm entrepreneurs and provides support for the new funds under the subsidiary Inclusive Prosperity.

About the Fair Finance Fund:

The Fair Finance Fund is a successful non-profit social finance fund dedicated to providing loans and mentorship services to local food and farm enterprises in Ontario that value strong local food systems, local economies, and a healthy planet. The Fair Finance Fund operates an ongoing investment opportunity for community-minded investors, that is, individuals and institutions who want to invest their capital into local food systems, economies, and ecosystems in Ontario for significant social and environmental impacts.

The Fund was established in 2018 and has since built Assets Under Management of around $4 million, with over sixty entrepreneurs supported across Ontario. The Fund is host to the subsidiary Inclusive Prosperity, for which the Fund provided catalytic funding and expertise. The subsidiary includes two new funds: the African Canadian Farmers Fund, focused on farmland, and the Nourish Fund, focused on urban food entrepreneurs.

The Fair Finance Fund is in an expansion stage, building from stable core operations and with effective systems in place. Board and staff now are looking to the future needs of a changing local food and farm sector in Canada. As trends and transformations develop in the sector, the Fair Finance Fund is in place to support climate resilience in food and farming, community-based innovation and sustainable farms and food businesses.

The Fund is an incorporated non-profit corporation governed by a Board of Directors and managed by a small team of staff. The Fund also has a Loan Review Committee and a pool of advisors who support loan recipients to achieve success in their social enterprise.

Fair Finance Fund Diversity and Inclusion Statement

The Fair Finance Fund is committed to diversity, inclusivity, and equitability in the workplace and in lending activities. The Fund aims to achieve representation on Board, staff, and review committees, as well as in loan recipients, from diverse groups, regions, food and farm sectors, business types, stages of development and sizes, and not to discriminate on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, national or regional origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability.

We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and advancement in all of our departments, programs, and worksites. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard.

Position summary: Executive Director

The Executive Director provides leadership and oversight to implement and expand the Fair Finance Fund, as well as continuing support for two new funds under Inclusive Prosperity.

This position is responsible for setting team goals in the operational plans, supervising the staff, overseeing operational human resource management, supporting the Board governance and planning processes, and overseeing financial management. Financial responsibilities include monitoring and making recommendations on all aspects of the finances, ensuring budgeting and investment documents are accurate and timely, and managing investments and investors. Fundraising through grants and donations may also be undertaken for new projects.

The team includes a Social Finance Coordinator who manages the lending program, a Communications and Marketing Coordinator, and a Bookkeeper/ Accountant. The Fair Finance Fund Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors and supervises and works closely with the Inclusive Prosperity Project Manager and the Nourish Fund Coordinator, as well as the Communications and Marketing Coordinator, Social Finance Coordinator (Loans Officer), and Bookkeeper.

Eligibility and guidelines

This position is open to individuals with at least 5 years of management-level experience, with expertise in nonprofit management, business development, social finance, community investment, Canada’s local food and farming sector, and with a network of contacts and partners in the Canadian social finance sector. Successful applicants must have access to a home office, preferably in Ontario.

Timeline

The permanent full-time position begins in December 2024 or January 2025. Hiring will continue until the position is filled.

Responsibilities:

Organizational Leadership and Operational Oversight

• Manage 3-5 staff working in:
  • Marketing
  • Lending
  • Book-keeping/ accounting
• Lead new project development and planning
• Lead operational oversight and work plan processes with team including annual operational plan development and monitoring, monthly financial reporting, regular performance feedback and reviews, system improvement and development as needed, feedback during loans review and participation in loan decisions as well as support for business development for potential applicants
• Work with board, support governance processes and prepare for board meetings

Financial Management and Modelling

• Lead investment planning and management for the Fair Finance Fund and support investment campaigns for the Inclusive Prosperity funds
• Lead financial management, including overseeing investor tracking, financial systems, budgeting for the funds, and supporting bookkeepers and audit process
• Lead development and implementation of financial systems for Inclusive Prosperity funds (ongoing financial model evaluation, budgeting)
• Participate in the Loan Review committee for review of loan applications
• Lead administration of investor database and other documents for all funds
• Develop financial policies and procedures as needed

Sectoral Leadership

• Participate in the development of the social finance sector in Ontario, including participating in social finance conferences, tracking trends to support manager reports and conducting regular outreach to potential partners and new networks

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have:

Leadership experience in non-profits and/or social enterprise, including experience:

• Leading operational planning and project development
• Generating innovative solutions and ethical processes to achieve goals
• Managing a team of staff with equity, wellbeing, accountability, and collaboration as key priorities
• Following human resources best practices
• Working with a non-profit Board
• Making presentations, holding partner meetings, leading network development and outreach

Social Finance Expertise

• Experience in and knowledge of financial management practices, investor relations, business development and lending practices
• Experience in community lending and social finance
• High level of expertise with financial spreadsheets, financial modeling, cloud-based document sharing and related software
• Knowledge of property and real estate issues (asset)

Food and Farm Sector and Impact Expertise

• Knowledge of the local food and farm sector
• Knowledge of impact measurement, specifically for food and farm businesses
• Awareness of equity issues in food and farming
• Knowledge of issues relating to agricultural land in Canada
• Experience assessing business plans and analyzing social and environmental impact of a social enterprise

Other:

• Ability to work well with others with patience, tolerance and a willingness to consider others’ opinions
• Knowledge of equity and diversity issues
• Knowledge of a second language, preferably French (asset)
• Willingness to occasionally travel

Compensation and Location / Hours

This position is 80-100% full-time (32 - 40 hours/ week). The Fund provides flex hours and remote work from a home office, as well as 20 vacation and 10 personal days.

The current salary range for this position is $120,000-135,000 and will be commensurate with the successful applicant’s experience. Salary growth in future years is possible but dependent on the financial success and expansion of the fund.

How to Apply:

Please submit a detailed cover letter and your resume in an email with the subject line “Executive Director Application” to info@fairfinancefund.org by October 15. Please indicate you saw this posting at GoodWork.ca.

No phone calls please. If you require accommodation for the job application process, do not hesitate to contact info@fairfinancefund.org

If you don’t tick every qualification we’ve outlined but this role really excites and interests you, we would still love to hear from you.

Potential candidates will be notified if an interview is requested by October 30. Hiring will continue until the position is filled. We thank all candidates for their applications. Please note that only successful candidates will be contacted.