Program Officer,The Monuments Project,Presidential Initiatives Job New York New York USA,Non-Profit & Social Impact

Location: New York

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Program Officer

Management New York, NY, US

30+ days ago Requisition

Salary Range: $ To $ Annually

Program Officer, The Monuments Project, Presidential Initiatives

The Mellon Foundation (“Foundation”) is a not-for-profit, grant-making organization that believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas Higher Learning, Arts and Culture, Public Knowledge, and Humanities in Place and through its signature Presidential Initiatives.

The Foundation seeks a Program Officer for the Presidential Initiatives Monuments Project team.

Program Overview:

Launched in 2020, the Monuments Project is a bold, multi-year effort to bring communities together and breathe new life into our nation’s commemorative landscape. By funding commemorative projects that add to the stories we tell about our history and expand the ways we choose to remember, we hope to help create a richer, more complete picture of America and its history.

Through the Monuments Project, Mellon funds work that:

Sparks interest in lesser-known chapters of our history and the work that goes into preserving it.

invites more people into the process of actively shaping and caring for the commemorative landscape.

Expands our understanding of what monuments can look, feel and sound like.

Reporting to the Program Directors for Presidential Initiatives and Humanities in Place, and working closely with the Monuments Project team, the Program Officer will play a leadership role in advancing the Foundation's Monuments Project. The Program Officer will help translate the Foundation's vision for the initiative into effective grantmaking, strategic partnerships, and field-building activities, ensuring the successful implementation and evolution of one of the Foundation's signature programs.

The ideal candidate will bring substantial experience in commemorative landscapes, memorialization, public history, public art, cultural heritage, design, planning, or related fields.

They will possess a sophisticated understanding of the complex ecosystem required to advance commemorative projects, including experience working across local, state, and federal government agencies, community organizations, cultural institutions, developers, planning and zoning bodies, historians, artists, and other stakeholders. The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience in leading grantmaking, program design, and the implementation of large-scale initiatives. They will be skilled at assessing organizational and fiscal health, providing strategic guidance and technical assistance to grantees, and identifying opportunities to strengthen both individual projects and the broader field.

The Program Officer will bring strong judgment, strategic thinking, and a collaborative approach to advancing ambitious, multi-stakeholder projects from concept to realization.

Position

Description:

Responsibilities may include, but will not be limited to, the following:

Serve as a key leader in advancing the Monuments Project, helping to implement the Foundation’s strategy and steward and refine the initiative's grantmaking priorities.

Lead the development and management of a portfolio of grants and special initiatives that strengthen the nation's commemorative landscape and advance the goals of the Monuments Project.

Identify, assess, and cultivate prospective grantees and strategic partners whose work aligns with Foundation priorities.

Evaluate grant proposals and organizational readiness, including organizational capacity, governance, financial health, project feasibility, and potential for impact.

Prepare funding recommendations, strategy memoranda, Board materials, presentations, and other analyses to support decision-making by Foundation…