A Town Hall season reflects a calendar full of author interviews and artist tributes, chamber concerts and cooking demos, panel discussions and poetry slams, national and internationally recognized figures alongside community orchestras, children’s choirs, and the regional spelling bee. Town Hall Seattle (THS) is a beloved building and the collection of ideas and creativity within it. Since its founding, THS has become a shared piece of Seattle’s civic and cultural infrastructure and a world class performance environment dedicated to broad community use—an open and inviting place that strives for an authentic experience of community through ideas and culture.

Town Hall continually affirms its commitment to hosting a wide spectrum of programming and perspectives on its stages to foster deeper understanding, increased empathy, and mutual respect in our civic discourse. Town Hall was founded to be an accessible shared resource for the community and a place where everyone is welcomed. It remains committed to continual progress in making anti-racism, intersectional equity, and inclusion part of the fabric of the organization.

Town Hall has seen impressive growth over the past two decades and is reemerging post COVID poised to fully engage the promise of its beautifully renovated building, just steps from downtown on First Hill on a fully renovated block. Hosting 400+ events annually, half produced by Town Hall and half by its rental partners, THS brings a diversity of programming to its 4,000 members, 100,000 annual visitors, and the Seattle community. Town Hall Seattle now looks to welcome its next Executive Director, who will join a dynamic and dedicated staff and board ready to dream and plan the next arc of impact as a catalytic cultural force in Seattle.

The new Executive Director will collaborate with staff, board, and community members to articulate an organizational direction and curate a vision that contributes to the rich tapestry of Seattle’s cultural and civic life and strengthens community connections. They will bring creative and sophisticated thinking to expanding audiences and impact as well as fostering partnerships and donor relationships across the nonprofit community, civic leaders, membership, and other supporters. The ED will balance sound organizational management with programmatic vision, capacity building, and people development so that Town Hall can most effectively fulfill its mission.

Compelling candidates will be curious and expansive thinkers who are passionate about arts, ideas, science, civic engagement, and culture. They will be natural relationship builders who can invite diverse voices into a shared vision for collaborative programming and leverage a mastery of fundraising across the full spectrum of donors. They will be seasoned organizational leaders with a demonstrated commitment to investing in the team and providing pathways for their growth and talents to shine. They will have the savvy to connect vision, place, people, organizational design, and creativity for mission and impact. This is an exciting opportunity for a talented and imaginative individual with the organizational leadership expertise to support Town Hall in pursuit of our region’s highest aspirations: creativity, empathy, and expansive thinking.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Executive Director will join Town Hall Seattle at a moment of great opportunity and will work closely with the board, staff, presenting partners, donors, members, and the community at large to develop a shared vision for the next evolution of programming and community impact. Specifically, they will bring leadership to the following core areas:

Vision & Strategic Direction:  The Executive Director will realize a shared vision that reflects the vibrancy, diverse communities, and ethos of the city—one that both stretches our collective imagination and roots us in our connection to one another. This will be accomplished most effectively by nurturing strong connections and developing a keen understanding of how Town Hall’s community-driven programming is uniquely positioned to be responsive to the pulse and rhythm of the region. The ED will provide strategic direction to program development that leverages the full capabilities of the building while continuing to explore how THS leverages hybrid and virtual models to expand its reach. They will develop a thoughtful approach to audience development and engagement in partnership with staff and board that builds on its strong member and audience base while intentionally building pathways for newer audiences.

Fundraising & Sustainable Business Planning:  The Executive Director will steward continued strong relationships among key individual and foundation supporters and rental and programming partners to nurture their continued partnership and investment in Town Hall’s mission. They will bring a strategic and integrated approach to expanding membership, increasing rental revenue, and cultivating new donors to ensure a continued sustainable funding and business model.

Organizational Management:  The Executive Director will inspire, unite, and mobilize a talented and dedicated team of department leaders, administrative staff, and production specialists. They will continue to invest in people management, DEI, and professional development initiatives that support and retain a diverse and dedicated staff. They will foster a culture of shared leadership across all levels of the organization, grounding processes and decision-making in shared values, clarifying roles, responsibilities, and accountability, and prioritizing inclusion and equity to ensure a thriving internal culture. This includes strengthening internal leadership structures that integrate artistic/programmatic and business leadership to ensure strong organizational capacity. The Executive Director will be responsible for management of 23 administrative staff, 25 part-time event staff, and an annual operating budget of $3M.

Relationship Stewardship:  With community at the heart of Town Hall, the ED will serve as the guiding force for relationship building among a broad diversity of individuals and organizations across the arts and culture ecosystem with an eye to fostering authentic collaborations, particularly with organizations that have not partnered with THS before. They will embrace a commitment to supporting a vibrant city and First Hill neighborhood and contribute to a culture of collaboration and partnership among local businesses and Seattle’s many nonprofit and civic organizations.

Board Partnership & Development:  The Executive Director will work closely with the board to identify current and future leadership needs and cultivate relationships to support next-level board membership and development. Collaboratively, they will expand board capacity by fostering a culture of continued learning, engagement, transparency, and accountability to drive sustained leadership and organizational effectiveness of THS. Together, they will engage in organizational planning and deepen their equity journey to ensure a vibrant and healthy Town Hall for years to come.

TOWN HALL’S NEXT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

Connection to the Mission

• Deep curiosity about the world and for the diversity of ways individuals and communities express, experience, and engage in arts, culture, and ideas. A passion for how that deepens our connection to one another and strengthens our community.
• A core belief that everyone should have access to arts and culture and the tools and resources to make that come alive.
• A vision for how to leverage both Town Hall’s building and its programming to strengthen the fabric of our community and a strategic approach to developing new audiences.

Effective Fundraiser & Relationship Builder

• Capacity to inspire and cultivate new and existing donors and foster authentic dialogue around complex issues including funder expectations, strategic direction, and community priorities.
• Dexterity to pivot a development strategy from capital campaign to ongoing organizational sustainability in partnership with the development team.
• Proven ability to connect with a broad diversity of community leaders representing the full breadth of cultural and community organizations with intentionality across race and ethnicity as well as size, scope, and reach.

Organizational & Operational Management

• Thoughtful manager and team builder with a shared leadership orientation that leverages the skills, expertise, and relationships of the full team paired with the ability to nurture and empower leaders at all levels of the board, staff, and community to make their greatest contribution to the work.
• Authentic commitment to DEI and ability to clearly articulate their own equity journey. Demonstrated experience bringing equity values into organizational practices and systems to better serve the community.

Additional skills and attributes that will be important to the Executive Director’s success include:

• Demonstrated leadership skills and progressive responsibility working in arts, culture, civic engagement programs, or related fields. Experience working in a venue similar to Town Hall is highly desirable.
• Proven management skills including the ability to partner with a highly dedicated staff and the demonstrated commitment to deepening staff capacity through effective coaching, mentoring, and professional development.
• Commitment to advancing DEI in arts and culture spaces and to reimagining inequitable systems and practices in alignment with Town Hall’s values.
• Experience collaborating with diverse individuals and groups who are creative, visionary, and transformational, and the ability to see commonality, find consensus, and move that vision to reality.
• A demonstrated passion and vision for the role that arts, culture, and civic participation can play in uniting and inspiring communities and a belief that an engaged and empowered citizenship contributes to the community’s health and social and economic wellbeing.

TO APPLY

More information about Town Hall Seattle may be found at: townhallseattle.org

This search is being led by Carolyn Ho and Danielle Higa of NPAG. Candidates should submit their cover letter, outlining their interest and qualifications, along with their resume via NPAG’s website.

The salary range for this position has been set at $145,000 - $165,000 and includes a comprehensive benefits package.

Data shows that women and BIPOC candidates more frequently do not apply to a job because they don’t feel that they meet all of the qualifications listed. Our job descriptions are general overviews, not a mandatory comprehensive list. If you feel passionate about our efforts and believe that you have the skills to contribute to the growth of our organization, we want to hear from you!

Town Hall was founded to be an accessible, shared resource for the community: a place where everyone is welcomed, represented, and valued regardless of their race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, religion, disability, size, or class. Please see our full racial equity statement here.