Executive Director – Rancho Los Alamitos Foundation

Position Profile

Executive Director

Rancho Los Alamitos Historic Ranch and Gardens (RLA), a nonprofit organization, seeks an experienced Executive Director to lead the organization’s successful achievement of its mission.

RLA’s mission is to educate and engage visitors by sharing our rich history, our compelling stories and our authentic connections to California’s past and thus inspiring a sense of community. Its vision is to be widely recognized as a valued cultural and historical asset exploring California’s past, shedding light on the present and imagining the future.

Rancho Los Alamitos spans 7.5 stunning acres comprising the ranch house, barns, and gardens. Land and buildings are held in public trust for the residents of Long Beach and the Southern California region.

The Executive Director works directly with the Foundation Board and Executive Committee in developing long‑term operational strategies that help meet the organization’s objectives as outlined in the recently restated Strategic Plan.

The plan lays out short‑term and long‑term goals. The first goal is to ensure high‑quality interpretation, education and public programs for continued relevance of the Rancho in the 21st century. This includes executive oversight of designing and implementing visitor experiences and public programs that are educational, engaging, interactive and align our activities and resources with the needs and expectations of our guests.

The mid‑range goal is to build operational strength and increase capacity. A long period of major construction, seismic upgrading and restoration, and dealing with challenges of the COVID pandemic, somewhat limited our ability to offer a broad range of programming. However, at this stage the organization is healthy and energized, and is ready to take significant steps in upgrading facilities and programming.

The Board of Directors is in the process of its own expansion and diversification of expertise and perspectives. The new ED will also work with a robust volunteer base, and provide leadership to strengthen and support this corps of over 100 people, placing a high priority on recruitment, training, communication, engagement, recognition, and retention.

A longer‑term goal is to improve visibility, and sustainably increase on‑site attendance while broadening engagement. For over 30 years, we have welcomed more than half a million visitors, and yet, the site is still little known, even to our closest neighbors. To address this, the ED will lead the revitalization of marketing plans to identify key target audiences. An aggressive online and social media program will be designed to build on and enhance the current program to accomplish benchmark goals.

We will increase the number of new and returning visitors and develop an ongoing relationship with visitors that will build and sustain annual attendance. We will leverage digital opportunities for increased visibility and engagement with the Rancho, its stories and collections (on‑site, off‑site in the community, and online).

Another long‑term goal is to ensure future financial sustainability. The organization enjoys the stability of a strong portfolio, but leadership realizes that much more can be done with increased resources to build current capacity and support future enhanced operations. The ED will maintain relationships with current donors and supporters and initiate an aggressive plan to cultivate and acquire new donors and community partners.

The ED will support and provide guidance to staff and board resources to expand bequests and planned giving opportunities. A focus on earned income will include sustainably monetizing appropriate aspects of the Rancho experience.

Required Expertise

Areas of responsibility for the new ED require thorough knowledge of management best practices and fiscal responsibility. You must be a leader who can bring people together, assess situations, and solve problems. Because the Rancho is a city asset governed by the Foundation Board, the ED will interact with public, board members, stakeholders, teachers and students, visitors, and neighbors. Consequently, the board will be looking for…