Executive Director Save

POSITION SUMMARY

Media Democracy Fund (MDF) is a catalyst for racial justice and equity in digital society. MDF brings together diverse voices to design inclusive and responsible solutions and empowers public interest advocates to create an environment where digital technologies and the internet have a long-term, positive impact on society.

MDF has made more than $50 million in investments in the field since its founding in 2006. In 2024 alone, MDF has moved more than $4.5 million in grants and contracts. In addition to grantmaking, MDF works hand-in-hand with grantees, funders and allies to connect partners from all corners of the field, to ensure advocates have the smart thinking and resources they need to act quickly on some of the most pressing issues of our time, from broadband access and digital equity, to tech accountability, to combating racialized disinformation. MDF’s role as a catalyst includes: incubating field-defining research and strategy development; making smart, catalytic investments; connecting emerging leaders and experts with funders for continuous education; convening funders and grantees to spark ideas and create new connections; building and supporting grassroots coalitions to leverage their power; and managing campaigns to build momentum for change.

As MDF reflects on its accomplishments and commitments to create a thriving, racially just and equitable digital society, the organization seeks an innovative and engaging Executive Director who can build and organize a diverse community of funders aligned on intersectional issues and across sectors. The Executive Director will work in close partnership with MDF staff to develop and lead strategies that advance MDF’s mission of being a catalyst for racial justice and equity in digital society. They will also work closely with funding partners to develop strategic opportunities for transformational impact. They are the liaison with MDF’s Board of Advisors and the primary point of contact with leading funding partners.

The ideal candidate will be an inspiring communicator and proven fundraiser with deep philanthropic and sector networks and a strong record of successful leadership. They will demonstrate the managerial skills required to guide a highly regarded organization towards new opportunities in a rapidly changing landscape, as well as the experience to lead a high-performing team to promote a healthy culture of collaboration and accountability.

Candidates should be prepared to offer examples of strategic initiatives they have led that facilitated cross-sector alignment and built lasting and trust-filled relationships. The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong commitment to justice and equity, be forward-thinking, and bring the highest level of integrity to this important work.

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

Media Democracy Fund was founded in 2006 at a time when the promise of a thriving online information ecosystem was anything but inevitable. It was ten years after the US Congress passed the 1996 Telecommunications Act, a law that drastically changed the media ownership landscape by gutting 65 years of public interest regulation. In its first six years, MDF’s strategy focused on media ownership policy and the fight to protect net neutrality. Strategies included: field and network building; research; messaging/amplification; supporting new tracks of work at existing organizations; seeding new strategies or organizations when necessary; outreach within philanthropy; and engagement and organizing within communities with the most at stake in policy debates – rural, indigenous, and communities of color. MDF worked to build a field capable of contending with the immense lobbying power of the telecommunications industry to win federal policies that would protect freedom of expression and access to information in the fast-changing digital world – including a potential rewrite of the Telecommunications Act itself.

From 2013 to 2016, MDF’s strategy grew alongside the field to include work on the harms associated with the unfettered growth of dominant tech companies, social media platforms that operated without accountability, a lack of data privacy guardrails, weak antitrust laws, and the growing threats of surveillance. New strategies on civil rights, racial justice, and privacy emerged. MDF served as the connective tissue between funders and civil society organizations working together to strengthen technical capacity in the face of emerging challenges. From 2018 to 2024, in addition to its own programmatic work, MDF served as the managing partner of the NetGain Partnership, a philanthropic collaboration that seeks to advance the public interest in the digital age, working with leading foundations to identify and align strategies to address the digital threats to democracy.

The weaponization of information and the consolidation of power in the Big Tech space from 2014 to 2019 would set the stage for the proliferation of misinformation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol in 2021 underscored the extraordinary challenges our society continues to face around disinformation and the big tech platforms whose business models encourage its spread. Building and strengthening work on racialized disinformation became critically important as MDF worked to define, then catalyze, new coalition-building and platform accountability policy efforts, embodied most specifically in the Disinfo Defense League’s robust effort to inoculate communities against racialized disinformation. In 2022, MDF centered racial justice and equity in the organization’s mission and committed itself to lead with an intersectional approach to racial justice to lay the groundwork for a racially just and equitable digital society.

The public interest sector that MDF was created to serve has changed significantly since the organization’s inception 18 years ago. Technology fueled by powerful corporations has become the backbone of society, further accelerating existing inequalities. Major funders that once relied on MDF to identify emerging areas for investment now have in-house expertise to inform their decision-making. Anti-democratic actors have embraced emerging technologies and are using them to undermine and, in many cases, reverse the societal gains that the digital age has made possible. The digital divide remains, and content has become weaponized against marginalized groups through targeted disinformation. Emergent technologies like artificial intelligence are outpacing policy. MDF has recognized this as a significant moment to reimagine its role as an intermediary funder for the sector, engage communities that have previously been left out of this all-important work, and chart a vision for the future that will amplify impact.

YOUR OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPACT

In a time of transition for both MDF and the broader field, MDF is poised to engage a new leader who will be asked to provide thought leadership to the field, internal direction to the organization, and a vision for the future of the MDF’s work. Reporting to the President of New Venture Fund, the new leader will have the following opportunities for impact:

• Vision and Leadership: Bring a deep knowledge of tech accountability, narrative power building, democracy resiliency, and justice and equity issues to the field of philanthropy. Identify opportunities for MDF to serve as a catalyst, convener, field leader, and infrastructure support for equity and racial justice in a changing digital society.
• Sector Leadership and Collaboration: Represent MDF externally and serve as an ambassador and convener within the broader community. Serve as a go-to resource and partner for a broad range of organizations in the sector, including organizations whose critical work has historically been unrecognized or under resourced.
• Attract a diverse slate of funders: Serve as a savvy fundraiser and philanthropic operator who can identify and prioritize potential funding partners that align with MDF’s mission. Working collaboratively with the staff, advisory board, and external partners, develop an annual fundraising plan that will:
  • Strengthen and diversify funding streams;
  • Expand MDF’s base of funding partners; and,
  • Enhance existing donor support.
• Organizational Management: Lead MDF’s staff and facilitate short and long-term planning in ways that support and guide the organization toward healthy organizational structures, operational systems, and talent strategies. Promote transparency, collaborative decision-making, continuous learning, and strategic alignment to support an inclusive and values-driven culture.
• Board Fiscal Sponsor Management: Serve as chief liaison to the advisory board and mobilize the board to build capacity. Partner with New Venture Fund to build organizational capacity and accountabilities through strong governance.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

While no one candidate will embody all the qualifications enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

Vision & Strategic Leadership

• Deep commitment to MDF’s values and mission of building a racially just and equitable digital society.
• Demonstrated thought leadership and field leadership in the public interest and/or digital rights sector, including within philanthropy, advocacy, academia, and/or think tanks, with a focus on racial justice and digital equity.
• Strong convening and facilitation skills with a proven ability to build constituencies and excitement around a shared vision.
• Demonstrated connections and established networking across the philanthropic sector and/or grassroots practitioners and emerging leaders.
• Exceptional communicator with demonstrated experience translating complex issues.
• Strong equity fluency and demonstrated experience operationalizing equity and racial justice in program, operations, and organizational culture within the context of digital society.
• Experience in field mapping, grantmaking, and funder education a plus.

Organizational & Team Leadership

• An experienced organizational leader and manager with the ability to move people toward a shared vision; a proven ability to create management structures that support team processes and decision-making.
• Ability to assess and identify organizational obstacles, devise strategies to guide growth, and foster a culture that provides staff opportunities to learn continuously and grow professionally.
• Demonstrated ability to align vision, strategy, and execution with a clear, compelling, and transparent communication style.
• Collaborative style that embraces shared leadership and a commitment to a people-centered approach to the work, both within the organization and with clients and partners.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating with a board and find opportunities to leverage the board’s skills and connections to advance the mission of the organization.

COMPENSATION, BENEFITS & LOCATION

The start of the compensation range for the Executive Director of Media Democracy Fund, an NVF project, is $190,000 plus a comprehensive benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees (and their families). Employees are able to enroll in 401k retirement plan and are eligible for a 3% automatic contribution and up to a 3% employer match on 401k contributions. Employees are also eligible for pre-tax transportation benefits. Employees will receive 80 hours of vacation time, 80 hours of health leave, up to 2 days of casual leave, and 20 hours of volunteer leave annually. Employees will also receive 13 paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Employees are eligible for 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave after 90 days of employment. The role is exempt, full time, and remote with a preferred base in the East Coast of the United States. This position includes some moderate travel.

TO APPLY

More information about Media Democracy Fund may be found at: mediademocracyfund.org.

This search is being led by Katherine Jacobs and Sharon Gerstman of NPAG. Candidates may submit their cover letter, outlining their interest and qualifications, along with their resume via NPAG’s website.

MORE ABOUT MEDIA DEMOCRACY FUND

Now in its sixteenth year, Media Democracy Fund is a catalyst for racial justice and equity in digital society. MDF has made more than $50 million in grants to over 200 organizations since its founding in 2006. But we do more than grantmaking. MDF works hand-in-hand with grantees, funders and allies to connect partners from all corners of the field, to ensure advocates have the smart thinking and resources they need to act quickly on some of the most pressing issues of our time. Strategic priorities include broader calls for digital equity and affordable broadband; active efforts to combat disinformation targeting communities of color; efforts to advance privacy, security, and internet freedom; tech accountability campaigns; and a renewed urgency to fight for racial justice and equity in the context of digital society.

NEW VENTURE FUND CAREERS

Media Democracy Fund is a project of New Venture Fund (NVF), a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. NVF is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. NVF’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.

E-VERIFY

NVF participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with employees’ Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the United States. Job candidates and employees authorized to work may not be discriminated against on the basis of national origin or citizenship status.