Director of Development

El Museo del Barrio
Director of Development
New York, New York 

The mission of El Museo del Barrio is to present and preserve the art and culture of Puerto Ricans and all Latin Americans in the United States. Through its extensive collections, varied exhibitions and publications, bilingual public programs, educational activities, festivals, and special events, El Museo educates its diverse public in the richness of Caribbean and Latin American arts and cultural history. By introducing young people to this cultural heritage, El Museo is creating the next generation of museum-goers, while satisfying the growing interest in Caribbean and Latin American art of a broad national and international audience. 

El Museo del Barrio was founded more than 50 years ago by artist and educator Raphael Montañez Ortíz and a coalition of Puerto Rican parents, educators, artists, and activists who noted that mainstream museums largely ignored Latino artists. Since its inception, El Museo has been committed to celebrating and promoting Latino culture, thus becoming a cornerstone of El Barrio, and a valuable resource for New York City. El Museo’s varied permanent collection of over 8,000 objects, spans more than 800 years of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino art, includes pre-Columbian Taíno artifacts, traditional arts, twentieth and twenty-first-century drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations, as well as prints, photography, documentary films, and video.

El Museo del Barrio’s purpose:

• To collect, preserve, exhibit, and interpret the art and artifacts of Caribbean and Latin American cultures for posterity.
• To enhance the sense of identity, self-esteem and self-knowledge of the Caribbean and Latin American peoples by educating them in their artistic heritage and bringing art and artists into their communities.
• To provide an educational forum that promotes an appreciation and understanding of Caribbean and Latin American art and culture and its rich contribution to North America.
• To offer Caribbean and Latin American artists greater access to institutional support in the national and international art world.
• To convert young people of Caribbean and Latin American descent into the next generation of museum-goers, stakeholders in the institution created for them.
• To fulfill its special responsibility as a center of learning and training ground for the growing numbers of artists, educators, art historians, and museum professionals interested in Caribbean and Latin American art.
• Under the leadership of visionary Executive Director Patrick Charpenel, El Museo del Barrio continues to build on its legacy as the first museum in the country committed to celebrating Puerto Rican, Latinx, and Latin American art and culture. The museum has enriched its community connections, including cultivating a Community Advisory Council and expanding its Board of Trustees, while also elevating its operational and administrative processes to match its distinguished collection and strong artistic heritage. The museum has recently secured major investments from leading funders such as The Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, cumulatively totaling nearly $13 million. Scott’s $8 million gift in support of long-term stability marks the largest in El Museo’s history. This infusion of new energy, vision, and resources sets the stage as El Museo del Barrio prepares for a potential new expansion within the next several years and a historic capital campaign in support thereof, and seeks candidates for the critical role of Director of Development.

The Director of Development is responsible for conceptualizing, organizing, and implementing a comprehensive and strategic fundraising program in support of El Museo del Barrio’s mission and strategic priorities. Dually reporting to the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director, the Director of Development will work in close partnership with the Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director, Board of Trustees, colleagues in the Development department, and across the organization to build a sustainable culture of philanthropy throughout the organization and expand El Museo’s base of support. The Director of Development will be a thought partner to the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director in addressing institutional challenges, opportunities, and priorities. The Director of Development serves as a member of El Museo’s senior management team. 

The Director of Development supervises a four-person team and will be empowered to examine and evolve all dimensions of the Development program in consultation with the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director, including the organizational design, functional alignment, and fundraising infrastructure of the department.

While El Museo del Barrio will consider a broad range of backgrounds, the ideal candidate will have the following qualifications/experience:

• Commitment to El Museo del Barrio’s mission and an appreciation of Puerto Rican, Latinx, and Latin American arts and cultural history. Ability to authentically engage and inspire others as a senior representative of the institution.
• Eight or more years of progressively responsible development leadership, preferably in a complex cultural, academic, or other nonprofit organization, and including experience in the following: individual giving, institutional giving, major gifts, annual fund/membership, planned giving, stewardship, development operations, and leadership in a major fundraising campaign.
• Knowledge of and fundamental adherence to the principles, ethics, and best practices of modern fundraising.
• Demonstrated commitment to and understanding of how to build diversity, equity, and inclusion in the development function; culturally competent with respect to issues such as racial, cultural, religious, sexual, and gender identity. Skilled at delivering solutions in evolving, multi-cultural environments.
• Ability to provide inspirational leadership, recruit, evaluate, and mentor/develop a diverse, multi-functional team of development professionals and contribute to the ongoing fostering of a high-performing, results-oriented workforce. Experience managing budgets.
• Demonstrated success in developing the case for support, as well as a successful communications plan, and in initiating, analyzing, monitoring, evaluating, and adjusting strategic fundraising plans, and executing those plans to grow fundraising and meet goals.
• Demonstrated experience cultivating, training, and working in collaboration with executives, senior staff, and volunteer leaders on development-related activities.
• Successful track record of personally identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major gifts from individual and institutional donors at the level of six to seven-figures and greater.
• A forward thinker with a track record of utilizing varied methods of constituent engagement and connectivity, who will be driven by innovation in developing development best practices in the current and post-COVID-19 world.
• The ability to extract and analyze data to make effective, efficient decisions about donor strategy and process. Working knowledge of modern data management practices and technological innovations that can streamline development processes and contribute to the integration of related functions. Must possess high-level competencies in Raiser’s Edge and the Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook
• Flexibility to travel is required, consistent with public health guidelines.
• Bachelor’s degree.
• English/Spanish bilingual preferred.
• El Museo del Barrio is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status or any other legally protected status.

El Museo del Barrio has retained the Diversified Search Group to assist in this confidential search process. Inquiries, nominations, and applications (current resumes and cover letters) should be directed electronically to: 

Gerard F. Cattie, Jr.
Managing Director
Fundraising & Advancement Practice Leader
Diversified Search Group
The Chrysler Building, 405 Lexington Avenue, 49th Floor, New York, New York 10174
gerard.cattie@divsearch.com | 212.542.2587