Chief Impact Officer; CIO

Reports to: President and CEO

Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Established in 1941, IECF stands as the oldest community foundation in the Inland Empire, dedicated to serving Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. With a mission rooted in fostering racial, gender, and economic equity, the foundation has become a transformative force in our communities. Stewarding more than $156 million in assets, IECF collaborates with donors of all sizes to channel more than $47 million in gifts and distribute over $29 million in grants and scholarships in 2024 alone.

The foundation places a strong emphasis on using data to unveil disparities, driving its grantmaking, programs, and partnerships. By empowering and investing in communities most affected and cultivating a culture of philanthropy, IECF envisions a future marked by positive, transformative, and community‑led change.

The Chief Impact Officer (CIO) serves as an essential partner to IECF’s CEO and Senior Leadership Team and is the Foundation’s lead architect of its impact in the Inland Empire. Under the direction of the President & CEO, the CIO is responsible for delivering the Foundation’s long‑term community impact strategy, leading grantmaking, scholarship and grant administration, and public/private funding initiatives. The CIO advances the foundation’s data‑driven approach, helping ensure its activities are tied to the reality of Inland Empire communities.

The CIO also ensures that community voice—and especially those most affected by racial, gender and economic inequities—are partners in developing and deploying those strategies.

The CIO leads a high‑performing team which manages multiple programs, grantmaking, scholarships, and research and evaluation work. The CIO will enhance cross‑team collaboration, transparency, and shared learning through deep partnership with all IECF departments. The CIO leads a participatory approach to grantmaking and community impact as IECF’s basic approach to change making and place‑based development. This role demands both high‑level strategic leadership and hands‑on operational excellence in the areas of grantmaking, customer service to grantees and donors, and community engagement.

The CIO ensures IECF is building the region’s networks and coalitions to improve the Inland Empire’s ability to garner resources and act collectively for change.

The successful CIO is a systems thinker, skilled facilitator and convener, exceptional relationship builder, strong communicator, and inclusive leader who brings deep knowledge of the Inland Empire’s needs and nonprofit landscape, demonstrates a genuine passion for advancing equity through philanthropy. This person has the ability to build trust quickly, and is able to contextualize IECF’s efforts in the broader context of partnerships and community needs.

Internally and externally, the CIO will model and promote IECF’s values of social justice, equity, community voice, and inclusive decision‑making culture.

• Develop and lead IECF’s overarching community impact strategy, ensuring alignment with the Foundation’s vision, mission, and strategic plan.
• Translate CEO, Board, and partner priorities into clear, measurable community impact goals and action plans.
• Identify emerging issues and opportunities within the Inland Empire to drive regional action and innovation.
• Participate in regional, state, and national funder groups to understand philanthropic trends and opportunities for impact in the IE.
• Build evaluation systems that guide continuous learning and strategic improvement.

• Develop and deploy strategies and impact plans to build the IE Vital Conditions Network, helping strengthen the conditions for thriving. Facilitate and lead IECF’s work in specific Vital Conditions such as Humane Housing, Meaningful Work and Wealth, Lifelong Learning, and Thriving Natural World.
• Convene grantees, donors, and partners to co‑design and co‑create strategies, ensuring those most impacted are centered in solution building.
• Represent IECF in…