Community Music Center of Boston Chief Executive Officer

Community Music Center of Boston Chief Executive Officer Job Opportunity

Community Music Center of Boston (CMCB) is an arts education nonprofit founded in 1910 with a mission to transform lives by providing equitable access to excellent music education and arts experiences. Originally established to serve a wave of new American immigrants, CMCB has spent 116 years connecting music education to social impact, including providing music classes in newly integrated schools during Boston's 1970s school desegregation crisis and pioneering early work in using music for social-emotional development that later contributed to the development of the board-certified profession of music therapy.

Today CMCB operates a large community music school and is one of the largest external providers of arts education to Boston Public Schools, supporting more than 2,500 students of all ages each week across virtually every Boston neighborhood — approximately 80% of whom are youth of color and 70% of whom are economically disadvantaged. Its programs include the Community Music School, Community Engagement Programs, Music Therapy, and the nationally recognized Youth Employment Program.

CMCB is governed by a 20-member board of directors led by President Dr. George Blount, supported by an 83-member CMCB Corporation, and is expanding to a new 13,000-square-foot headquarters in Boston's Nubian Square, opening in 2027.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) will be a visionary leader responsible for CMCB's strategic direction, public visibility, and managerial operations. Joining CMCB following a successful building acquisition and capital campaign, the CEO will lead the organization at a time of expansion and broadened impact, serving as CMCB's primary spokesperson while co-developing and executing a new strategic plan. The role calls for nurturing a mix of multi-generational relationships with the board, faculty, staff, parents, students, strategic partners, and donors who comprise CMCB's community and culture.

The CEO is expected to guide the organization's transition from one to two campuses, oversee board members in their roles as fundraisers, policymakers, and community ambassadors, and lead staff and operations while growing earned and contributed revenue.

• Position Type: Full-time, executive leadership role
• Reports To: Board of Directors (President Dr. George Blount)
• Department / Programme: Executive leadership; five direct reports — Chief Financial & Operating Officer, Chief Programming Officer, Chief Advancement Officer, Executive Assistant, and Human Resources Manager
• Institutional Context: CMCB is transitioning to a multi-campus footprint, with a new headquarters opening in 2027 in Boston's Nubian Square, alongside its current location and more than 30 partner sites across Greater Boston

• Program Development, Diversity, and Inclusion
  • Champion equitable access to arts education and foster an inclusive culture for students, families, faculty, staff, and community partners
  • Identify and promote innovative programming enabling the transition from one to two campuses
  • Foster and leverage CMCB's reputation as a community music school to sustain and grow programming
  • Create and sustain relationships with leadership at Boston Public Schools and similar institutions
  • Develop new partnership agreements with schools and community organizations
  • Ensure programs, services, and facilities are accessible, welcoming, and responsive to community needs
  • Collaborate with staff and faculty to grow earned revenue
  • Continue developing programming areas including student-centered music education, Youth Employment, Music Therapy, ensemble programming, contemporary genres, and the impacts of AI on music education
  • Expand and build CMCB's national presence and reputation as an innovator
• Provide organizational leadership across fundraising and development, establishing relationships with key funders and donors
• Maintain relationships with community partners to diversify the individual, foundation, corporate, and government donor base
• Broaden CMCB's public…