THE AFF NETWORK

What is RSS? | All Feeds






President

Foundation for Economic Education | Posted on March 24, 2008

The Foundation for Economic Education is seeking to fill the position of President. The position offers the successful candidate the extraordinary opportunity of guiding this prominent educational foundation during a period of unprecedented growth.

At its founding in 1946, FEE was a rare haven for ideas on liberty in a collectivist world. It provided a forum for distinguished advocates of classical liberalism, including the great Austrian economists Mises and Hayek, to teach the freedom philosophy—the intellectual principles and the moral and practical virtues of individual liberty, private property, free markets, limited government and the rule of law.

Leonard Read, FEE's founder, believed that a small number of individuals can have a disproportionate impact on the world if they have the resolve to acquire an in-depth understanding of these ideas and articulate them with conviction, without any compromise
with the prevailing creeds that celebrate various forms of coercion.

For 62 years, FEE has maintained this vision, as several generations of distinguished writers and lecturers have made the freedom philosophy come alive for several generations of students, young and old. The results would appear to vindicate Leonard Read's belief, as the thousands of FEE alumni include many of the leaders of the movement for liberty, who have proven very influential in bringing these ideas to the fore.

Organizations devoted to the freedom philosophy have grown dramatically in recent years and FEE is no exception. In the past five years, under the leadership of Dr. Richard Ebeling, FEE's revenues have doubled and its programs and staff have expanded commensurately. FEE's financial position and its programs have never been healthier.

The President of FEE will have the opportunity and challenge of building upon this strong base to generate further growth in donor support, to expand existing program offerings and introduce new ones, to take advantage of continuing technological innovation, to continually monitor and improve the effectiveness of our program offerings, and to manage the transformation of the internal culture that necessarily accompanies such growth.

To meet this challenge, the successful candidate will need to be:

• An uncompromising champion of the freedom philosophy, familiar with its intellectual underpinnings, who believes passionately in the importance of education in the principles of liberty; who understands the power of such education to change the lives of individuals and
through them, the broader intellectual climate;

• A strategist, who understands FEE's historic role in the movement and its growth potential; who (with the advice and consent of the Trustees) develops a strategy and sets goals for the organization consistent with its mission;

• A relationship builder, who articulates the vision of FEE to individual donors and foundations in a compelling fashion; who works with development and program staff to continually earn donor loyalty; who manages all aspects of marketing and external affairs, including cooperative efforts with organizations that share our values; who is an effective spokesman for FEE in a wide variety of circumstances; and

• An organizational leader, who attracts intellectual and administrative talent to carry out the strategy; who fosters a high-achievement and personally rewarding professional environment; who guides the evolution of the internal culture to adapt to growth in FEE's operations.

The successful candidate will have at minimum the following qualifications:

• Proven commitment to the freedom philosophy
• Successful organizational leadership experience
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills
• Ability to engage comfortably and effectively with all the constituencies essential to FEE's success

Compensation will be competitive, including an excellent benefits program. Housing may be a part of the compensation package, if desired.

FEE's offices are in a 19th Century mansion in Irvington-on-Hudson, NY, an affluent suburb in Westchester County about 25 miles north of midtown Manhattan and 45 minutes by train from Grand Central Station.

It is the Foundation's goal to fill this position and have the new president on board by June 15th.

FEE has retained the services of mc3staffing to coordinate our search efforts. All preliminary and follow-up candidate calls or questions should be directed to L. J. "Larry" McLennan, Jr. of mc3staffing at (480) 650-5010 or larry.mclennan@cox.net.

Qualified candidates are asked to submit, as Word documents, a cover letter of not more than one page describing their suitability for the position, a resume and a current writing sample of not more than two pages on a topic related to the freedom philosophy. Candidates are asked to submit these items as soon as possible but not later than May 10th to the Foundation at presidentsearch@fee.org.