Thrive Asheville Seeks an Executive Director

Thrive Asheville is seeking a dynamic, innovative and experienced leader to guide our vital organization from rapid growth to maturity, ensuring that Thrive Asheville becomes a preferred partner for collaborative, cross-sector efforts that significantly improve our city and county. The Executive Director will lead a mission-driven organization while overseeing a small, accomplished staff of four and additional contracted experts, along with an engaged Board of Directors made up of 12 community leaders. The Executive Director will build on strong early results, and utilize a new strategic plan to establish Thrive’s agenda for action on issues that shape our community’s future, including housing, tourism and other challenges to be identified. Thrive’s Executive Director will be a key player in building a more equitable and resilient community, operationalizing the organizational values of equity, integrity, collaboration, innovation, and impact.  We prefer executive director applicants with local knowledge but we also welcome transplants with civic leadership expertise who have experience with the challenges and opportunities that need addressing in Asheville.   

After four years, Thrive Asheville’s founding staff leader Kate Pett has chosen to move to Deputy Director - pursuing her passion overseeing programmatic work - and we are launching a search for our next Executive Director.  

We are seeking a visionary, experienced leader who will help identify and implement collaborative and strategic approaches and advocacy that spurs actions to significantly improve our city.  We prefer executive director applicants with local knowledge but we also welcome transplants with civic leadership expertise who have experience with the challenges and opportunities that need addressing in Asheville.  See the full job posting HERE.

Thrive has been in existence for two years as a nonprofit, and prior to that as a pilot initiative operating under UNC-Asheville.  During this start-up period, Kate Pett led the design of Thrive’s organizational model, assembled our staff team, and developed impactful, large-scale collaborative work in affordable housing.