Description

The Bellevue Schools Foundation (BSF) seeks an experienced, relational leader to serve as its next Executive Director. As the primary philanthropic partner to one of the highest-performing and most innovative districts in the state, BSF mobilizes community investment to fund programs and services beyond the reach of public funding, serving over 19,000 students in a diverse and resource-rich community.

This is an exciting moment to join BSF. We enter this search with real momentum: strengthened operations, a committed and engaged board, and a visionary superintendent who is an active fundraising partner, all within a community whose philanthropic capacity has only begun to be tapped. The next Executive Director will serve as BSF's lead fundraiser, most visible community ambassador, and organizational leader. Unlike many foundation roles, BSF's Executive Director works in close, ongoing partnership with the schools and educators we fund, seeing the results of every investment come to life in real time. This is a uniquely impactful role for someone who is ready to dig in, build roots, and unlock BSF's full potential as a force for educational equity, innovation, and excellence in Bellevue. 

Organizational Overview
The mission of the Bellevue Schools Foundation (BSF) is to promote and fund the best possible learning opportunities for ALL students in Bellevue's public schools. Founded in 1979, BSF is the first foundation in Washington State dedicated to supporting public K-12 education. For over four decades, we have served as the bridge between community generosity and student opportunity, investing more than $25 million in Bellevue's public schools.

Our work is grounded in these core convictions:

• Education is a foundation for opportunity, growth, and success in life.
• Every child in the community has a right to the best education available anywhere.
• Structural and systemic inequities perpetuating discrimination must be dismantled.
• Continuously pursuing innovation and best practices are essential for Bellevue's schools to provide world-class education.
• Strong, healthy schools contribute to a strong, healthy community.
• Community support is essential to schools providing the high-quality education all children deserve.
   

The Bellevue School District is a large, diverse, and high-performing urban district serving over 19,000 students. More than 100 languages are spoken across the district, and 42.5% of students speak a first language other than English. To ensure all of these students are able to achieve their full potential, BSF makes targeted investments in programs and supports that public funding alone cannot provide, such as early learning access, student wellbeing and belonging, enrichment, computer science integration, and resources for teachers, district leadership and systems.

Snapshot of 2024–2025 Investments in Action:

• Mental Health Screening: School-based counselors screened 7,013 students for mental health needs
• 1:1 Therapy: 530 students received 1:1 therapy
• Expanded Computer Science Programs: 76% of 4th graders expressed interest in taking CS classes in middle or high school
• Full-day Preschool: 28 preschoolers from low-income families attended full-day preschool; every family reported greater self-sufficiency
• National Board Certified Teachers: Bellevue is one of only four districts in the nation where 40%+ of teachers hold this distinction
• Empowerment Workshops: 400 students participated in an empowerment workshop through the BOOM program

In the 2024–2025 fiscal year, BSF granted over $1 million to support the Bellevue School District,  with a goal to grow that investment annually in the years ahead. Our work is made possible by a generous community of individual donors, corporate partners, and public grants. Each Spring, we bring that community together at Spring for Schools, our annual fundraising gala.

We are a close-knit, collaborative organization with a growing staff team. Our 15 board members are deeply committed partners in this work, united in purpose and invested in the students and community they serve.  Our partnership with the Bellevue School District and its visionary superintendent is a genuine source of energy and inspiration.  

Opportunities and Essential Duties of the Executive Director
After 45 years of investing in Bellevue's students, BSF is ready for its most ambitious chapter yet. The next Executive Director will step into a role with deep legacy, a ready platform, and a community whose philanthropic potential has only begun to be tapped.  Key responsibilities include:

• Fundraising and Donor Development: Leading BSF's fundraising program, from building and managing a moves management system to developing a diversified, long-term fundraising strategy with clear growth goals that meaningfully grows revenue over time.
• Community Presence and Relationship Building: Serving as BSF's trusted representative across the Bellevue community, showing up consistently with civic leaders, corporate partners, and peer organizations, and engaging authentically across the diverse communities that make up Bellevue's philanthropic landscape.
• District Partnership and Institutional Navigation: Cultivating a close, productive partnership with the Bellevue School District and its superintendent, positioning BSF as an indispensable ally to the district, and navigating a large public institution with confidence, credibility, and diplomacy.
• People Management and Organizational Culture: Leading and developing the team, with an active role in shaping culture, coaching staff, and guiding performance. The incoming ED will have a meaningful hand in setting the course for how the team carries this work forward.
• Financial Planning and Oversight: Ensuring BSF's long-term financial health through sound budget development, monitoring, and reporting, while setting and tracking fundraising growth goals as part of a broader organizational strategy.
• Strategic Vision and Planning: Leading an inclusive strategic planning process in partnership with the board and Bellevue School District, setting ambitious and achievable goals, and creating the shared direction and accountability structures that will guide BSF's next chapter.

The Ideal Candidate
BSF is seeking a relational, community-oriented leader who has the fundraising expertise, presence, and organizational savvy to lead BSF into its next chapter. The ideal candidate moves fluidly across contexts, from major donor conversations to community events to senior civic partnerships. They build relationships from scratch as readily as they deepen long-standing ones, and bring credibility and warmth to every room they enter. Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• A proven track record in major gift fundraising, including personally cultivating, stewarding, and closing gifts from individual donors and corporate partners, and the ability to build a donor pipeline and stewardship system from the ground up.
• A compelling public presence and exceptional relationship-building skills, with experience serving as a trusted organizational ambassador, showing up consistently in the community, and representing the organization alongside senior institutional leaders including superintendents, elected officials, and corporate executives.
• Experience leading and developing a staff team, including hiring, coaching, and performance management, a commitment to fostering a healthy workplace culture, and the ability to build a relationship of mutual trust and clarity with a board of directors.
• Senior nonprofit leadership experience, with working knowledge of financial management, fundraising growth strategy, inclusive strategic planning, and working with a Board of Directors.
• The ability to navigate complex institutional partnerships with confidence and diplomacy, including experience building a productive, peer-level relationship with a large public or nonprofit institution.
• Cultural fluency and a demonstrated commitment to cross-cultural relationship building, including experience engaging communities historically underrepresented in philanthropic giving, and a commitment to building an organizational presence that reflects the demographic diversity of the Bellevue community.
• Familiarity with public education and/or the Bellevue community, including interest in public education as a mission area and willingness to invest in learning the local philanthropic and school district landscape.

Compensation and Benefits
This is a full-time, salaried exempt position with an anticipated salary range of $150,000-$170,000.

The BSF office is located in Bellevue, in the Bellevue School District’s Welcome Center. Staff work a hybrid schedule with at least three days per week in office. The Executive Director's work will be largely external, attending community events, meeting with board members, donors, the superintendent, and district staff, and building relationships across the Bellevue community. This role regularly includes evening and weekend commitments, balanced by flexibility during the work week.

BSF offers a comprehensive benefits package to full-time employees, including medical and dental coverage and 403(b) retirement savings plan. Full-time employees also receive paid vacation, paid sick leave, and paid holidays, and all major federal holidays.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Bellevue Schools Foundation is committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the community we serve. We believe diverse perspectives strengthen our work and help us better support students, families, and educators. We encourage candidates from historically underrepresented communities and individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. BSF is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.

How to Apply

Apply here: https://cloversearchworks.hire.trakstar.com/jobs/fk0zvqh

Online applications only, please no email or paper submissions.  You will be asked to upload a cover letter and resume. In your cover letter, please describe how your experience relates to the goals of the position as described in this announcement, and your interest in working in this community. 

Applications received by June 12 will be given full consideration; early applications are strongly encouraged!  All applications will be acknowledged via an email receipt. Consideration will be given to applications as soon as they are received; phone and in-person interviewing is anticipated to begin in June, with a goal of making an offer by mid-August.  

Questions regarding this opportunity are welcomed and can be directed to:

Sumi Bhat-Kincaid

sumi(at)cloversearchworks.com 

Schedule a 15 minute informational call with Sumi via Calendly

Clover Search Works facilitates leadership searches for nonprofit organizations whose missions strengthen communities. Clover is honored to be partnering with Bellevue Schools Foundation in this search.