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Location: Nashville/Remote—Travel across Tennessee is required

Salary Range: $60,000-$80,000 (commensurate with experience)

Status: Full-time


Company Description: Green Interchange is a Tennessee-based nonprofit focused on reducing carbon emissions by planting trees across the state. The organization offsets CO2 by funding and organizing tree planting in highway interchanges and other public spaces, making Tennessee more sustainable and visually appealing. Each tree planted can absorb up to 48 pounds of CO2 per year at maturity, contributing to meaningful climate impact. Green Interchange engages individuals, companies, and community partners through donations, corporate support, and volunteer tree planting events. The team values environmental stewardship, community involvement, and practical climate solutions implemented locally.


Role Description: Are you an entrepreneurial leader who loves big-picture strategy but gets genuinely excited about rolling up your sleeves to launch the programs, conduct field work, and measure the impact?


As the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Green Interchange, you will lead a lean, highly impactful organization into its next chapter. With an operating budget of $284,000, this is a dual executive and operational role. You will serve as the chief strategist and fundraiser while simultaneously acting as our primary project manager. You will own the full lifecycle of our initiatives—from high-level planning and community alignment to daily execution and data-driven evaluation.


This role requires a unique blend of visionary leadership, fiscal discipline, and grassroots grit. If you thrive in an environment where no two days are the same—where you might pitch a major donor in the morning and build a project timeline in the afternoon—this role is built for you.


Team & Structure: You will report to the Board of Directors and lead a team including a full-time Project Manager and Coordinator who will work alongside you day to day, handling the operational threads that keep events, timelines, and volunteer coordination running smoothly. Contractors support marketing and events as needed. It's a small, functioning organization, and you would be the person who gives it direction.


Key Responsibilities: To succeed in this role, you will balance traditional executive duties with hands-on project delivery. Your responsibilities are divided into two core areas:


Strategic Leadership & Fundraising (Executive Lens)

  • Vision & Strategy: Partner with the Board of Directors to refine and execute our strategic plan, ensuring all initiatives align with our core mission.
  • Financial Stewardship: Oversee the $284,000 budget with strict fiscal responsibility, managing cash flow, compliance, and monthly financial reporting for the Board.
  • Fundraising & Revenue Generation: Act as the primary face of the organization. Diversify and grow our funding streams by writing grants, cultivating individual donors, and exploring corporate sponsorships.
  • Board & Community Engagement: Maintain transparent, active communication with the Board of Directors. Build strategic partnerships with community stakeholders, local government, and peer organizations.


End-to-End Project Implementation (Operational Lens)

Because we operate with a lean team, you will serve as the lead project director for our core initiatives, owning four distinct phases:

  • Planning: Translate strategic goals into concrete, actionable project plans. Define scope, map out realistic timelines, allocate limited resources efficiently, and establish clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
  • Project Direction: Maintain weekly oversight of project workstreams. Oversee and utilize project management tools to track progress, manage volunteers or part-time contractors, and keep deliverables on schedule.
  • Execution: Actively participate in delivering services. Whether facilitating a workshop, coordinating an event, or creating digital assets, you will directly drive the groundwork required to cross the finish line.
  • Evaluation & Reporting: Assess, when necessary, and design and implement feedback loops, surveys, and data collection methods to measure project efficacy. Analyze results to continually improve programs and write compelling impact reports for donors and the Board.


Qualifications:

  • Proven fundraising success
  • Leadership experience in a small organization or similar environment
  • Willingness to perform physical outdoor work
  • Strong communication and relationship-building skills
  • Passion for conservation and community impact


Key Performance Indicators: Strong candidates will have already met goals like these somewhere else, or be able to tell us exactly how they'd help us meet them here.

  • Revenue: Meet or exceed $250K-$300K annual fundraising goal
  • Donor Growth: +20% increase in individual donors annually
  • Grant Success Rate: ≥30% of submitted grants funded
  • Program Impact: annual tree planting target to be set and met with new CEO (e.g. 5,000-10,000), waste cleanup, etc.
  • Tree Survival Rate: ≥80% after first year
  • Partnerships: 3-5 new strategic partnerships per year
  • Staff/Volunteer Retention: ≥75% retention


First 90-Day Plan:

Days 1-30: Listen & Assess

  • Meet Board, staff, key donors, and partners
  • Review finances, current grants, and donor pipeline
  • Attend/lead at least 2 planting events (depending on current programs)
  • Evaluate current programs and operational gaps


Days 31-60: Plan & Activate

  • Finalize the 12-month fundraising plan
  • Identify the top 20 donor prospects and begin outreach, as well as start grant research/applications and event revenue strategy
  • Align team on clear program and planting targets
  • Strengthen messaging and community presence


Days 61-90: Execute & Deliver

  • Secure first new funding commitments
  • Launch or expand at least one planting (or other) initiative
  • Formalize 2+ strategic partnerships
  • Develop and present clear metrics dashboard to Board


Benefits:

While compensation reflects our current operating budget as a lean nonprofit, you'll have:

  • Flexible hours
  • PTO that doesn't get counted in guilt
  • A title that truly means something long before it means something on a pay stub
  • A work environment that values who you are, not just what you can do


We are not looking for someone who wants to run an organization. We are looking for someone who wants to grow one—the kind of person who can pitch a donor at nine and get their boots muddy by noon, and mean both equally. If that's you, we'd love to hear how!