President and Chief Executive Officer
Listed on 2026-02-02
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Non-Profit & Social Impact
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Management
General Management, Program / Project Manager
President and Chief Executive Officer
Scherman Foundation
The Opportunity
Position:
President and Chief Executive Officer
Reporting Relationship:
Board of Directors
Location:
New York, NY
Hybrid
Website:
https://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)./
About the Organization
Founded in 1941, the Scherman Foundation is a New York–based private philanthropy committed to advancing racial justice. The organization envisions a vibrant society that actively cultivates collective liberation ensuring historically oppressed communities have the resources, autonomy, and full capacities to thrive. The Foundation invests in the economic, political, and cultural transformation necessary for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to reclaim and build power.
With a small, dedicated professional staff and an engaged Board of Directors, the Foundation is known for its thoughtful, values‑driven approach and long-term partnerships with grantees. The approach reflects both continuity with its founding principles and an ongoing commitment to learning, adaptation, and aligning its resources with the leadership and vision of communities driving change.
As the Foundation marked its 80th anniversary, it undertook a multi-year reimagining process to deepen its commitment to racial justice, resulting in updated mission, vision, values, and program guidelines released in 2024. These changes reflect a strengthened dedication to organizing, power shifting, and movement building in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. It also means an increased commitment to impact investing and in 2025 and 2026 an increased grantmaking payout of 10% of approximately $145 million endowment.
Scherman’s work is guided by its Racial Justice Framework, which shapes not only grantmaking but also the Foundation’s internal culture, decision-making, and relationships with grantees and partners. In its grantmaking, the Foundation prioritizes supporting grassroots organizations that are accountable to or directed by BIPOC communities where communities have clear influence and decision-making power over strategy, direction, programmatic work, and finances. Scherman’s work and relationships are guided by a clear set of values that shape its internal culture, external partnerships, and approach to philanthropy:
- Authenticity: Aligning words and actions through honesty, humility, and accountability.
- Collaboration: Practicing structured collaboration with staff, board, grantees, and external stakeholders, with deliberate attention to transparency and power dynamics.
- Humility: Building strong relationships with grantees, recognizing the Foundation as part of broader movements, and approaching grantmaking with curiosity and partnership.
- Learning: Treating learning as a continuous commitment grounded in transparency, exploration, and self-reflection. Responsiveness:
Making timely, community-informed, action-oriented decisions that remove barriers and accelerate grantee work. - Transparency: Practicing transparency internally and externally to strengthen trust, accountability, and decision-making.
Role Overview & Responsibilities
The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Scherman Foundation will step into a rare and compelling leadership opportunity: to guide a respected, values-driven institution into its next chapter following a period of significant organizational transformation. With a strong foundation in place, the next CEO will advance Scherman’s Racial Justice Framework by bringing clarity, consistency, and integrity to how the Foundation operates internally and engages externally, while shaping the future of a modern philanthropic organization with outsized influence.
This is a hands-on, high-impact role for an executive who thrives at the intersection of vision and execution. With approximately $145 million in assets and a deeply committed five-person staff, the CEO will steward disciplined operations while sustaining a collaborative, inclusive culture grounded in trust, partnership, and shared purpose. The Foundation is not seeking disruption; rather, the CEO will build on existing momentum by strengthening systems, relationships, and practices that enable rigor,…
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