Camp Widjiwagan Executive Director Opportunity
Qualities and Skills Essential to Effective Leadership and Camp Widjiwagan
A People Person
The Executive Director (ED) has many people-facing roles, and this position would best be served by someone who enjoys and gets their energy from interacting with others, sharing their enthusiasm for Camp.
Risk Tolerance
This is a wilderness camp. Wilderness camping has inherent risks, some of which can be unpredictable and difficult to control or mitigate. The ED must be able to balance tolerable risks and promote the wilderness program with a risk: benefit perspective in mind.
Hiring
One of the most important roles of the ED is to hire the right people. The applicant should demonstrate a history of working in a role in which they were responsible for such hiring, and should be able to discuss their approach to hiring quality leaders and staff
Communication
The ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences is essential to the Executive Director position. Among these audiences and their specific needs are:
Campers: to provide a sense of welcome, support, community and values. The ED has an opportunity to introduce the campers to the concept of deep interconnection of our human community and the natural world through the ED’s welcome talk and land acknowledgement, as well as when those campers are returning home.
Staff: to validate and nurture staff confidence and growth while providing the guidance and support that they need. Both year-round and seasonal staff are largely young people who are developing themselves. The ED helps to build a talent pipeline and will serve and be served through enjoyment in working with this demographic.
Donor community: to embody the message of the camp’s values, the value of Camp and to generate enthusiastic financial support for its needs. The ED must be able to work with development staff, the board and the donor community to continue the strong base of annual support, as well as the occasional special project support needed for Camp to meet its goals.
Advisory board: to collaborate with the board in support of Camp and its programs. The board exists to support Camp through an advisory role, offering the perspectives and expertise of a wide range of board members. An openness to this support and advice, and an ability work with the board and its committees provides Camp staff with a sounding board for their ideas, questions, and problems serving to strengthen the leadership and programming at Camp.
YMCA of the North: to advocate for the unique needs of Camp while working within the larger YMCA organization. The greater YMCA is a large and complex organization, and camping, especially wilderness camping, is a small part of it. The ED must be able to advocate for the particular programmatic, financial, and structural needs of Camp while recognizing Camp’s position as part of a larger organization that sometimes does not recognize or validate those particular needs.
Vision and Change Leadership
Working together with the advisory board, and with a strong recognition of Camp’s history and traditions, the ED will provide forward-looking leadership for the further development and advancement of program and services. One of the many areas where visionary leadership is essential is in broadening the reach of Camp to less-served populations. It would be helpful if the ED has experience in expanding the diversity of campers and staff. The ability to recognize and lead into the natural tensions that come with valuing both stability and change will be invaluable.
Advocacy and Connection
The ED is the primary voice of Camp Widjiwagan in the YMCA, in the broader camping community, and in the Ely and arrowhead region. The ED is responsible for establishing and nurturing relationships and connections with these communities, while advocating for the mission of Camp and supporting its needs.
Leadership and Teaching
As the leader of the staff of Widjiwagan and recognizing that junior staff are looking for guidance as they develop their own skills, the ED will serve as a leader/mentor/guide while respecting the agency, intelligence and ideas of the junior staff.
Flexibility
There is no “typical” day at Camp, since there is always something different coming up. Whether these are “crises”, twists and turns in the road, or just an unexpected change in the weather, the ED (and all staff) must be very flexible and able to roll with those changes. When the ED approaches the work with optimism, humor, energy, respect, caring, and love of the programs of Camp Widjiwagan, such flexibility becomes second nature.