Associate Executive Director

Urban Adamah is an educational farm and community center in Berkeley, California that integrates the practices of Jewish tradition, mindfulness, sustainable agriculture, and social action to build loving, just, and sustainable communities. We provide training programs, educational workshops, and community celebrations for more than 15,000 visitors annually.

Our signature programs include two immersive residential leadership programs for young adults, a farm-based summer camp and year-round educational program for youth ages 3–12, and farm festivals for many of the Jewish holidays. Additionally, we offer farm-based programs for a wide variety of groups and organizations, host community educational, cultural, and learning events and Jewish holiday celebrations, and run multi-day retreats and lifecycle celebrations. Our urban farm produces a diverse yield of fruits, vegetables, and eggs, all of which we donate to help address issues of food insecurity.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Associate Executive Director is responsible for managing all of our program departments and work, supervising multiple Directors, and overseeing a broad swath of our organizational planning, development, advancement, and evaluation. The role serves as an important contributor to organizational planning, direction, and leadership, both programmatic and operational. As Urban Adamah's second most senior position, the Associate Executive Director holds significant responsibility and opportunity to support and influence the organization's overall impact and success.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, SUPERVISION, SUPPORT & EVALUATION

The Associate Executive Director is responsible for leading and supporting a team of talented program professionals in developing and delivering the wide range of our current programs:

• Partner with Directors to articulate, hold, and lead strategic vision for all programs
• Manage and supervise Directors across four departments: Community & Ritual/Public Programs, Youth & Family Education, Young Adult Programs, and Farm
• Oversee all program evaluation and ensure integration of findings and learnings
• Support each department's annual budget preparation and year-round budget management

NEW PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, INNOVATION & OVERSIGHT

The Associate Executive Director leads the development of new program initiatives aligned with Urban Adamah's mission, values, and strategic plan:

• Support each department's program development, implementation, evaluation, and refinement
• Imagine, propose, and implement innovation across the four worlds of Urban Adamah's work: Jewish values, social justice, sustainability, and mindfulness
• Serve as a thought leader, educator, and resource on Jewish values and community development
• Encourage synergy and cross-pollination between departments in program ideation and development
• Nurture an organization-wide commitment to growth mindset and beginner's mind
• Develop, launch, supervise, and lead programming with educational, experiential, cultural, and spiritual content

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & IMPACT

• Explore, propose, and design new mission-aligned initiatives to meaningfully engage community members as participants, volunteers, and program facilitators
• Lead efforts to deepen and expand partnerships with mission-aligned organizations in the Jewish and general community to grow Urban Adamah's audience and community of belonging

ANNUAL WORK-PLANNING & STRATEGIC VISIONING

• Support and guide each department's annual work planning, including identifying key outcomes and paths to achieving them
• Create accountability structures to ensure planning leads to demonstrable actions and desired outcomes
• Structure and lead annual or semi-annual strategic visioning across all programmatic and operational areas

BOARD

• Oversee development of reports for the Board's review and discussion at quarterly meetings
• Support key Board committees (Finance & Personnel, Development, Governance, and Audit)
• Work with the Executive Director to steward meaningful engagement and investment of Board members year-round

FUNDRAISING

• Individual donor stewardship, cultivation, and solicitation
• Developing, deepening, and sustaining foundation relationships
• Contributing to grant management, writing, and reporting

BUDGET MANAGEMENT

The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of experience managing a budget of $500,000+. Responsibilities include contributing to an overall balanced budget, ensuring Directors have the knowledge and skills to manage their department budgets, and supporting identification of earned income opportunities.

ABOUT YOU

You have the background and experience required to thrive as a senior-level organizational manager and leader. You have demonstrated success managing individuals and teams and facilitating interpersonal relationships and collaborations. You possess a love of and creativity for enhancing existing programs and developing new ones. You have a strong grounding, appreciation, and affection for Jewish wisdom, values, and practices, and a personal connection to the natural world.

LEADERSHIP

• Empathetic leadership and a high level of self-awareness and emotional intelligence
• Exceptional ability to inspire, motivate, and gain the trust of others to achieve lofty and aspirational goals
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION

• Strong interpersonal skills; you communicate and collaborate well with a range of colleagues and stakeholders
• A thoughtful relationship builder, whether in person or virtually
• Collaborative spirit and enthusiasm for being part of the success of the whole organization
• Comfort with Google Suite, Microsoft Office, Asana, Slack, and Salesforce

STRATEGY & PROBLEM SOLVING

• Big-picture thinking; you enjoy developing, pressure-testing, and implementing new ideas
• Excellence in planning; you think ahead, hold complex and dynamic details, and can plan months or years in advance
• A critical thinker with strong analytical and problem-solving skills and a solutions-oriented approach

MOTIVATION & ORGANIZATION

• Self-starter who is highly organized, detail-oriented, and skilled at managing multiple projects simultaneously
• Adept at time management with a proven ability to meet deadlines

EXPERIENCES THAT COULD LEAD TO YOUR SUCCESS

• 7+ years of progressively increasing experience in program and operational leadership in a Jewish nonprofit or related field
• 7+ years of managerial and team leadership experience, including supervising director-level staff
• Senior leadership experience at a nonprofit organization
• Experience in Jewish outdoor, farm-based, Food Farming and Environmental Education, or sustainable agriculture settings
• Demonstrated success building cross-team initiatives, operationalizing a vision, and using evaluation tools to support accountability
• Experience developing and leading educational, experiential, cultural, and spiritual programming

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Typing, reading, hearing, speaking; standing and walking for several hours; sitting, squatting, crawling, climbing; lifting up to 30 pounds. Reasonable accommodations will be made.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Full-time, exempt position. Annual salary range: $135,000–$155,000

• Healthcare: 100% coverage for self / 50% for dependents (Silver Kaiser or equivalent); 80% dental for self
• PTO beginning at 15 days, increasing to 20 days in year two and incrementally to 25 days
• Unlimited sick days; up to 18 paid holidays (national and Jewish); Thanksgiving week off
• Tax-free retirement account (after 1 year); pre-tax FSA for medical, dependent care, and transit
• Paid and unpaid parental, medical, and bereavement leave (after 1 year); paid jury duty leave

SCHEDULE: Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM, with availability for ~1 Friday evening/month, some Jewish holidays, some weekday evenings, and occasional weekends.

SUPERVISION: This position is supervised by the Executive Director.

APPLICATION DETAILS

We deeply value the diversity of insight, perspective, and experience brought by people from diverse backgrounds. We welcome applications from people of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, spiritual, and cultural backgrounds, and affirmatively seek to advance the principles of equal employment opportunity.

Application submission includes a cover letter, resume with three references (at least two professional), and responses to the following questions (max 300 words each; bullet points welcome):

1. Please share how you personally relate to Urban Adamah's mission.
2. Share an example of how you have driven innovation in your current or a recent work role.
3. What approaches or methods do you use to promote mastery in the people you supervise?
4. What work have you done that prepares you to help lead Urban Adamah and contribute to its strategic advancement?

The application window is open through August 6, 2026, with applications reviewed on a rolling basis. Candidates are encouraged to apply as early as possible. Questions? Contact Nicki Acland-Whear, Operations & People Director, at ***email_hidden***.