Executive Director

Founded in 1981 as Stonewall Union, Stonewall Columbus is Central Ohio’s leading LGBTQ+ community organization. For more than four decades, Stonewall has strengthened visibility, inclusion, and connection through advocacy, education, wellness initiatives, cultural programming, and community building.

Stonewall Columbus seeks an experienced, strategic, and community-centered Executive Director (ED) to guide the organization through its next chapter. Building on more than four decades of advocacy, service, and community leadership, the ED will help clarify Stonewall’s year-round role, strengthen its organizational foundation, and deepen its impact across Central Ohio.

• Provide clear and steady organizational leadership, ensuring that Stonewall’s mission, programs, operations, and priorities remain responsive to the changing needs of Central Ohio’s LGBTQ+ community.
• Partner with the Board, staff, and community to clarify Stonewall’s year-round role and translate its strategic vision into focused priorities, implementation plans, measurable goals, and clear accountability.
• Assess organizational capacity and establish realistic priorities that balance innovation and growth with staff well-being, operational effectiveness, and long-term sustainability.
• Recruit, develop, support, and retain a talented and diverse staff; establish clear roles and performance expectations; and cultivate a trauma-informed workplace grounded in trust, transparency, inclusion, and accountability.
• Oversee Stonewall’s finances, administration, human resources, programs, facilities, technology, risk management, and organizational systems, ensuring effective operations and responsible stewardship.
• Develop the annual operating budget for Board approval; provide timely and understandable financial reporting; maintain appropriate internal controls; and ensure compliance with grants, contracts, policies, laws, and regulatory requirements.
• Evaluate programs and community impact using community input, participant information, and outcome data. Determine where Stonewall should provide services directly and where partnerships or referrals can produce greater impact.
• Strengthen and diversify revenue through individual and major-gift fundraising, institutional giving, corporate partnerships, sponsor ships, government support, earned revenue, and other mission-aligned strategies.
• Center inclusion, diversity, equity, and accountability (IDEA) throughout Stonewall’s culture, programs, partnerships, fundraising, communications, and allocation of resources.
• Serve as Stonewall’s principal spokesperson, ambassador, fundraiser, and advocate, representing the organization with community members, donors, businesses, the media, public officials, funders, and institutional partners.
• Partner with the Board of Trustees to promote effective governance, clarify the boundaries between governance and management, support informed decision-making, and engage trustees in their fiduciary, strategic, fundraising, and ambassadorial responsibilities.

While no candidate will bring every qualification, the successful candidate will demonstrate many of the following experiences, competencies, and leadership qualities:

Strategic Leadership

The Executive Director will bring the ability to clarify organizational direction and translate vision into focused, achievable plans. They will anticipate changing community needs, establish measurable goals, align resources with priorities, and balance ambition with organizational capacity and long-term sustainability.

An experienced and empowering manager, the Executive Director will build trust, communicate transparently, and establish clear…