You can also use the contact information below to start the process or if you have any questions:

Email

info@bayareainterims.com

Serving

The San Francisco Bay Area & beyond

We look forward to offering you initial insights to inform the journey of guiding your nonprofit through an Executive Director/CEO transition.

Frequently Asked Questions.

A nonprofit Interim Executive Director/CEO serves exclusively in transitional roles in nonprofit organizations. They specialize in change management associated with leadership transitions and are not candidates for the position.

We are a network of experienced, professional interim executives and transition consultants serving nonprofit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. The group functions in the spirit of camaraderie as a collective of like-minded professionals, not as a consulting firm and/or for-profit entity. BAIED’s intent is to advance the field and visibility of transition leadership, learn and support each other and nonprofits in this work, and facilitate cross-referrals and resource sharing among its membership and the broader community of leadership transition professionals.

Our executives are primarily former nonprofit executive directors with a minimum of 10 years of executive director experience and at least three completed interim assignments. Our members have varied backgrounds and specific expertise in a diverse range of nonprofits including health, social services, arts and culture, children and youth, education, disabilities, environmental, immigration, and much more.

Our interims are required to have substantial experience as an executive director and/or interim executive. We also have a number of requirements related to our professional standards. After meeting these threshold requirements, the individual seeking to join must provide references and interview with the group to be approved for membership.

Placement lengths vary depending on the situation and needs of each specific nonprofit organization, and typically range from 4-12 months.

Consultants advise, whereas interim executives provide on-the-ground support, both advising and implementing in the day-to-day decision making and operations of your nonprofit, often serving and functioning as a part-time temporary employee for the length of the engagement.

Most Board members do not have executive nonprofit experience and may find they do not know enough about the role to fill it effectively. Adding the ED’s responsibilities to an existing staff position will ensure neither job is done well, expectations to transition to the ED role will be raised, and it creates additional confusion during a sensitive and stressful time. Both scenarios impede the potential learning and insight that is possible during a time of transition.

At times, based on an organizational assessment prepared by the interims in this network, we discover that there is work to do on key areas of the organization. The interim is engaged in day-to-day operations and may advise that the Board consider hiring another consultant to assist with issues that require more focused attention. Examples include: fundraising planning and execution, capital campaign development, board of directors training in basic governance, and financial modeling for a large building or investment project. Typically, the interim does not carry out strategic planning or the executive search, although that arrangement varies among our membership.

We work primarily for nonprofits within the nine-county region of the Bay Area; however, some are also willing to travel to other areas, and all have the capacity to work remotely.

BAIED members have served both large and small nonprofit organizations, with budgets ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million or more. We have provided interim leadership to organizations driven by diverse missions, but all needing experienced transitional leadership during periods of change.

BAIED is primarily a support, education, and referral network for practicing Interim Executive Directors/CEOs. We also provide information about leadership transitions to organizations. If an organization reaches out to the group for assistance in determining if an Interim Executive Director should be considered, a representative of BAIED will have an initial conversation with you to further clarify your needs, priorities, budget and timeline. We ask that a job description be developed that can be shared with the full membership. Available candidates will contact the organization directly to learn more about the position and determine if the fit and conditions support their background and interest in the role and subsequent availability for a formal interview.

We do not charge any fees to either the organizations we work with, or to our members. Initial conversations and/or introductions to our members are provided without cost.

There is no cost to place a member of our network. Available candidates are responsible for negotiating their own terms and conditions for the assignment, including payment, length of the contract, scope of work, and top priorities. Generally, interim executives are not full-time staff; they contribute between 24-30 hours a week and are compensated along the lines of the previous Executive Director’s salary, serving either as a temporary, part-time employee or as an independent consultant.

If you possess the requisite experience as an Interim Executive Director with a minimum of 10 years of permanent Executive Director experience, feel free to contact someone in our network to discuss membership. We also offer a DEI fellowship program for experienced Executive Directors who may not have completed three interim assignments. These are reserved for leaders from diverse backgrounds and communities in order to increase equity within our pool of qualified interims available to the nonprofits we serve.