Executive Director, Four Winds * Westward Ho

$150,000 to $175,000 plus benefits and year-round housing

The incoming Executive Director will transition into the role following the summer 2027 season, allowing time for a thoughtful handoff.

Four Winds
* Westward Ho is an independent, nonprofit residential summer camp on Orcas Island in Washington State's San Juan Islands. Founded in 1927, Four Winds has a rich legacy with traditions that span generations. The camp’s values of community, simplicity, and creativity are threaded through every aspect of camp life, from vintage uniforms, music, arts, and hand-carved signs to singing and reciting poetry by the fireside.

Four Winds
* Westward Ho proudly became a nonprofit in the 1960s and established a tuition assistance program in the 1980s.

Four Winds is home to ~350 campers each summer ages 9-15 who attend one of the two four-week sessions offered. Campers develop skills in sailing, horseback riding, arts and crafts, music, singing, sports, and tending to the camp garden. Senior campers embark on a six-day trip throughout the San Juan Islands by vintage war canoe, kayak, or sail boat, with an additional backpacking trip to the Olympic National Park.

The Big Boat sailing has been a tradition from the founding of Four Winds. Aboard the 62-foot Carlyn, senior campers embark on a three-week sailing voyage into Canadian waters. The boat is used throughout the summer for shorter trips exploring the local waters of the Salish Sea.

Nestled in a private harbor, Four Winds sits on 150 acres of waterfront property on traditional homeland and waterways of the Coast Salish people on Orcas Island. Orcas is one of the four main islands in the San Juan archipelago served by Washington State Ferries. A scenic ferry ride of a little over an hour connects the island to Anacortes, which is 90 minutes north of Seattle.

The island is also accessible by commercial flights and seaplanes. Orcas Island is home to about 6,000 year-round residents, with many more maintaining second homes on the island. It has a strong public school system and two independent schools on the island. Eastsound is the largest town with a library, bustling shops, and a vibrant restaurant scene.

Four Winds was established on the western part of the island, in the hamlet of Deer Harbor on West Sound. From the rocky shores of Breakfast Beach to the moss-covered stones on Hill of the Moon to the afternoon light across the horse pastures, it is truly a majestic place. Anyone who has spent time at camp understands immediately why generations are drawn to Four Winds.

The property has a private director’s home suitable for year-round family use. Past directors have lived onsite and the Board’s strong preference is that the next leader will call Orcas Island home year-round. For an exceptional candidate, there may be flexibility to live off island during the off-season and at camp during the spring and summer months.

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director (ED) serves as the strategic and community leader of Four Winds, guiding its year-round and summer community with vision, passion, and care, while honoring camp's cherished traditions.

The Executive Director will be supported by a Camp Director who will lead the day-to-day summer program. With a valued summer leader in place, the ED's primary responsibilities will be to implement the camp's long-term strategic plan, build strong Board partnerships, ensure the financial health of the organization, and develop a high-performing team of camp professionals. The ED will also lead fundraising and donor development, as well as build out new revenue streams that extend Four Winds' impact beyond the…