Description
Reports to: President and CEO
Status: Full-Time, Exempt
ABOUT THE INLAND EMPIRE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
Established in 1941, IECF stands as the oldest community foundation in the Inland Empire, dedicated to serving Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. With a mission rooted in fostering racial, gender, and economic equity, the foundation has become a transformative force in our communities. Stewarding more than $156 million in assets, IECF collaborates with donors of all sizes to channel more than $47 million in gifts and distribute over $29 million in grants and scholarships in 2024 alone. The foundation places a strong emphasis on using data to unveil disparities, driving its grantmaking, programs, and partnerships. By empowering and investing in communities most affected and cultivating a culture of philanthropy, IECF envisions a future marked by positive, transformative, and community-led change.
Position Summary
The Chief Impact Officer (CIO) serves as an essential partner to IECF’s CEO and Senior Leadership Team and is the Foundation’s lead architect of its impact in the Inland Empire. Under the direction of the President & CEO, the CIO is responsible for delivering the Foundation’s long-term community impact strategy, leading grantmaking, scholarship and grant administration, and public/private funding initiatives. The CIO advances the foundation’s data-driven approach, helping ensure its activities are tied to the reality of Inland Empire communities. The CIO also ensures that community voice—and especially those most affected by racial, gender and economic inequities—are partners in developing and deploying those strategies.
The CIO leads a high-performing team which manages multiple programs, grantmaking, scholarships, and research and evaluation work. The CIO will enhance cross-team collaboration, transparency, and shared learning through deep partnership with all IECF departments. The CIO leads a participatory approach to grantmaking and community impact as IECF’s basic approach to change making and place-based development. This role demands both high-level strategic leadership and hands-on operational excellence in the areas of grantmaking, customer service to grantees and donors, and community engagement. The CIO ensures IECF is building the region’s networks and coalitions to improve the Inland Empire’s ability to garner resources and act collectively for change.
The successful CIO is a systems thinker, skilled facilitator and convener, exceptional relationship builder, strong communicator, and inclusive leader who brings deep knowledge of the Inland Empire’s needs and nonprofit landscape, demonstrates a genuine passion for advancing equity through philanthropy. This person has the ability to build trust quickly, and is able to contextualize IECF’s efforts in the broader context of partnerships and community needs. Internally and externally, the CIO will model and promote IECF’s values of social justice, equity, community voice, and inclusive decision-making culture.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Vision
- Develop and lead IECF’s overarching community impact strategy, ensuring alignment with the Foundation’s vision, mission, and strategic plan.
- Translate CEO, Board, and partner priorities into clear, measurable community impact goals and action plans.
- Identify emerging issues and opportunities within the Inland Empire to drive regional action and innovation.
- Participate in regional, state, and national funder groups to understand philanthropic trends and opportunities for impact in the IE.
- Build evaluation systems that guide continuous learning and strategic improvement.
Community Leadership, Convening & Stakeholder Engagement
- Develop and deploy strategies and impact plans to build the IE Vital Conditions Network, helping strengthen the conditions for thriving. Facilitate and lead IECF’s work in specific Vital Conditions such as Humane Housing, Meaningful Work and Wealth, Lifelong Learning, and Thriving Natural World.
- Convene grantees, donors, and partners to co-design and co-create strategies, ensuring those most impacted are centered in solution building.
- Represent IECF in regional and national settings, positioning the Foundation as an influential voice for equity and community well-being in Southern California.
- Support and strengthen nonprofit partners through capacity-building, training, and technical assistance.
- Proactively pinpoint emerging issues where the Foundation can lead or catalyze change.
Program & Grantmaking Oversight
- Oversee the design, implementation, and evaluation of all competitive grantmaking programs, including scholarships and external grants that fund partners and program initiatives.
- Maintain a strong customer service standard across all processes—ensuring timely communication, transparency, accessibility, and responsiveness to nonprofits, donors, and partners.
- Implement technology to ensure grantmaking operational excellence, including applications, reporting, and communication.
- Annually review all current and endowed funds, maintaining alignment with donor intent, IECF policies, and community impact goals.
- Collaborate with IECF’s Finance and Charitable Giving teams to ensure accuracy, compliance, and efficient fund management.
- Coordinate the preparation and submission of final grant financial summaries and participate in post-award evaluations to assess outcomes and effectiveness of funded work.
- With the Communications and Marketing team, identify strategic communications opportunities to elevate IECF’s visibility and tell compelling impact stories.
Impact Measurement, Evaluation & Learning
- Develop and manage the Foundation’s impact measurement framework to assess outcomes across grants, programs, and community initiatives.
- Develop a research initiative within IECF that captures, coordinates, and grows IECF’s expanding data and research work. .
- Produce high-quality impact reports and dashboards for the Board, donors, stakeholders, and the public.
- Use data analysis, commissioned reports, and field research to inform strategic decisions and improve program design.
- Foster a culture of continuous learning across the organization, integrating insights into strategy, grantmaking, and donor engagement.
- Ensure evaluation practices support transparency, fairness, and data-informed learning across the team and community partners.
- Utilize data systems, CRM tools, and grant and scholarship management technology to analyze performance and enhance impact.
Team Leadership & Organizational Development
- Using a coaching–style of leadership, lead, mentor, and inspire a cross-functional team, fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture grounded in equity, accountability, and innovation.
- Recruit, develop, and retain talented team members, ensuring alignment with IECF values.
- Manage the Impact team’s budget, including distinct grant budgets; allocate resources effectively, and ensure operational efficiency across the impact portfolio.
- Integrate community impact efforts across the organization by partnering closely and planning with Charitable Giving, Communications, Finance, and Executive teams.
- Strengthen team culture by promoting trust-based leadership, transparency, direct communication, and support for staff professional development.
- Support succession planning and provide leadership that prepares staff for growth and expanded responsibility.
- Ensure a strong cross-training model, shared knowledge, and consistency in service across programs, grants, and scholarships.
- Assess, guide and motivate staff, foster a culture of collaboration, creativity, and high accountability.
Donor Engagement & Philanthropic Collaboration
- Partner with the Chief Development Officer and Philanthropic Services team to connect donors with meaningful funding opportunities that align with community and donor priorities.
- Engage with regional, statewide, and national foundations and funder tables to resource regional systems change strategies.
- Support the growth of permanent funds, donor-advised funds, unrestricted giving, and strategic initiatives such as the Community Impact Fund, IECF’s unrestricted grantmaking.
- Provide donors with insights and strategic guidance to increase the effectiveness of their giving.
- Participate in, and/or lead, donor meetings, presentations, learning sessions, and philanthropic collaborations.
- Identify opportunities to help donors understand the lived experience of grantees and the broader community context informing funding strategies.
- Collaborate with relevant teams to identify opportunities for optimization and adjust as needed, ensuring that funds continue to meet donor expectations and organizational priorities.
- Collaborate with other members of the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that impact strategies are integrated across the Foundation’s operations.
Requirements
- 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in philanthropy, community development, nonprofit management, systems change, and/or related fields.
- Proven experience designing and managing large-scale community impact or grantmaking initiatives across a range of subjects.
- Strong track record of working with diverse communities, especially historically underserved groups and explicitly supporting racial, gender, and economic equity.
- Demonstrated success leading cross-sector partnerships, both grassroots and institutional, and convening and facilitating stakeholders to collective outcomes.
- Possesses an ability to manage dynamic environments and lead in high-pressure, fast-paced environments, balancing long-term vision with day-to-day tactical needs.
- Proven experience using data and research to evaluate, analyze, and measure impact.
- Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred.
- Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, required. Noted ability to communicate consistently and effectively with external and internal partners at all levels of leadership.
- Proven experience providing a strong customer service experience.
- Ability to operate in a fast-paced environment with multiple priorities and deadlines.
- Experience in scholarship programs is highly valued.
- Ability to manage relational dynamics effectively and approach this role with emotional intelligence, compassion, humility, and humor.
Core Competencies
- Strategic thinking and systems leadership
- Equity and community-centered problem-solving
- Relationship building and partnership development
- Data-driven decision-making
- Team leadership and coaching
- Excellent communication and storytelling
- Operational and project management excellence
- High emotional intelligence and adaptability
- Commitment to community voice, co-creation, and co-design
- Ability to build trust, support staff growth, and strengthen team cohesion.
