Executive Assistant

The Pope Francis Center exists to provide meals, supportive services, and housing assistance to Detroit community members in need, especially those experiencing homelessness. On an average day, we welcome over 200 guests and provide them with nutritious meals, showers, laundry, and access to doctors, dentists, lawyers, and housing providers through our free clinics. For over 30 years, we have served Detroit’s most vulnerable citizens, guided by dignity, compassion, and justice.

We envision a Detroit without homelessness—where every person has the resources for sustained stability

The Executive Assistant is a highly trusted strategic partner to the President & CEO. This role goes beyond traditional administrative support to provide executive-level coordination, judgment, and systems leadership. The EA helps translate organizational strategy into action, protects and optimizes the CEO’s time and attention, and ensures follow-through across leadership, board, and external relationships.

Serving as an extension of the CEO, the EA exercises exceptional discretion, anticipates needs, synthesizes information, and supports decision-making in a complex, mission-driven environment. This role requires strong organizational instincts, emotional intelligence, and comfort operating at the intersection of strategy, people, and operations.

• Act as a thought partner and strategic filter for the President & CEO, helping prioritize decisions, meetings, and initiatives.
• Anticipate executive needs by proactively identifying risks, opportunities, and emerging priorities.
• Prepare daily and weekly executive briefings that synthesize—not just compile—key information, decisions, and follow-ups.
• Protect executive focus by managing information flow and ensuring the CEO is engaged at the right level and time.

• Strategically manage the CEO’s calendar, travel, meetings, and speaking engagements to align with organizational priorities.
• Serve as a gatekeeper, balancing access with thoughtful boundary-setting on the CEO’s behalf.
• Ensure high-quality preparation for all executive engagements, including agendas, background materials, donor profiles, and organizational context.
• Track commitments, action items, and deadlines to ensure consistent follow-through and accountability.

• Coordinate board and committee logistics, timelines, and materials with excellence and professionalism.
• Gather, proofread, and distribute board materials, ensuring clarity, accuracy, and alignment with strategic goals.
• Compile and summarize organizational data (financials, program outcomes, dashboards) into executive- and board-ready formats.
• Support governance best practices and serve as a liaison between the CEO, board leadership, and internal teams.

• Support organization-wide initiatives by coordinating stakeholders, timelines, and communications across departments.
• Design and improve executive and organizational systems for meetings, follow-up, documentation, and information sharing.
• Maintain institutional memory for executive initiatives, decisions, and commitments.
• Partner with senior staff to align workflows and reduce friction across teams.

• Serve as a liaison between the CEO and key external stakeholders, including donors, partners, civic leaders, and community organizations.
• Coordinate executive involvement in donor engagements, public events, volunteer recognition efforts, and community outreach.
• Collaborate with the Philanthropy team to support executive-level stewardship, campaign alignment, and impact storytelling.
• Track relationship touchpoints and commitments to support long-term trust and partnership.

• Handle sensitive and confidential matters with exceptional judgment, integrity, and discretion.
• Represent the CEO’s priorities, tone, and expectations in meetings and communications.
• Navigate organizational dynamics with emotional intelligence, diplomacy, and…