Executive Director

Founded to expand economic opportunity on Buffalo's West Side, WEDI is a mission-driven nonprofit that helps low-income individuals and families, including immigrants, refugees, and other underrepresented residents, build sustainable incomes and futures. WEDI pursues its mission through three connected areas of work:

• Economic Development:
  Business training, one-on-one counseling, and microlending that help entrepreneurs launch and grow small businesses.
• Community Development:
  The West Side Bazaar, a small-business incubator and marketplace that has helped dozens of entrepreneurs test, refine, and graduate their businesses into the broader market.
• Education:
  
  After-school and out-of-school-time programming that helps multilingual and English-language-learning children and youth build the skills and confidence to succeed in school and beyond.

WEDI completed an $11 million capital campaign in 2023 that funded the purchase and renovation of a larger, permanent home for the West Side Bazaar, which today hosts up to 21 small businesses under one roof. The organization is financially stable, with a dedicated, engaged staff and Board of Directors.

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With its signature capital campaign complete and the West Side Bazaar established in its permanent home, the organization is shifting its focus from building to sustaining and strengthening what it has built. The next Executive Director will lead WEDI in developing a sustainable, diversified funding model while refreshing a strategic plan and helping the organization act on the findings of an organizational assessment now underway.

This is an opportunity for an entrepreneurial, business-minded nonprofit leader to bring operational discipline and clear accountability to a lean, collaborative organization while supporting the relational, mission-driven culture that has made WEDI effective. The right leader will be a confident, decisive decision-maker who can also guide a dedicated staff, partner authentically and respectfully across Buffalo's diverse West Side communities, and build the kind of visible, trusted relationships that sustain funding, partnerships, and community goodwill over the long term.

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director is responsible for the overall leadership, management, and success of WEDI. The Executive Director partners with the Board on strategic direction and governance, leads and develops WEDI's staff, oversees the organization's financial health and fundraising, and serves as WEDI's primary external representative with funders, partners, and the community.

• Serve as WEDI's chief executive, providing overall vision, strategic direction, and leadership across all programs and operations.
• Build and sustain an organizational culture of accountability, transparency, and high performance.
• Ensure the organization's mission, strategy, and day-to-day operations remain aligned as WEDI grows.

• Engage the Board in the development and execution of a multi-year strategic plan with the inclusion of priorities identified through an organizational assessment currently underway.
• Support Board development, recruitment, and committee structure to build and sustain an engaged, effective Board.
• Provide the Board with clear, timely reporting and data to support informed governance and fiduciary decision-making.

• Reaffirm and evolve WEDI's values and culture as the organization grows.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the staff, including Program Directors and direct reports — overseeing hiring, onboarding, training, performance evaluation, and professional development, with attention to retention.
• Clarify roles, structure, and accountability across the organization while preserving a collaborative culture.

• Work with legal counsel to maintain WEDI's legal standing and the enforce ability of its lending operations.
• Systematically audit grant-dependent programming to ensure compliance with regulatory bodies, including funders.
• Review, update, and propose policies and procedures as WEDI's programs and risk profile evolve, and maintain appropriate, affordable insurance coverage for the organization, directors, and staff.

• Oversee day-to-day operations, ensuring consistent, high-quality service delivery across WEDI's economic development, incubator, and education…