Chairman, Board of Directors

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Chairman of the Board of Directors

Job Description

Are you passionate about reducing the stigma around mental health? Are you committed to removing the barriers that impede access to high-quality mental health services? Do you have personal or professional experience that compels you to be a mental health ambassador in the community and with friends and family? Do you have the time, skills, and desire to help others become effective and impactful mental health champions?

If this sounds like you, STC has an immediate opening for an enthusiastic, dynamic, thoughtful, diplomatic, and deeply caring leader who is ready to help launch STC as a vital mental health resource-especially for populations who continue to be underserved.

Overview

Straight Talk Clinic, Inc. (STC) has offered affordable, high-quality counseling and intervention services to residents of all ages in Los Angeles and Orange counties since our founding in 1971. We are a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to make a variety of mental health, substance abuse, and rehabilitative services affordable and available to individuals and families whose access would otherwise be limited or nonexistent. Our purpose is to facilitate positive change by providing the tools and coping strategies that empower people to build healthier relationships with themselves and others.

STC offers sliding-scale outpatient counseling through our clinics in Santa Ana and the La Mirada Resource Center. Additionally, we provide on-site mental wellness programs to school districts, community colleges, churches, and local nonprofits like Save Our Youth (SOY) in Costa Mesa and the Boys and Girls Club of Central Orange Coast. We partner with Illumination Foundation, using three of our residential properties to house the homeless, lead life skills groups at nine of their micro-communities, and plan to offer a nurturing parenting program in the fall. We also operate Gerry House, a Drug Medi-Cal certified residential treatment program for individuals 18 and over, and Kairos House, a transitional housing program for individuals living with AIDS/HIV and substance use disorders, both in Santa Ana. STC has received awards from the County of Orange, the Juvenile Correction Program, The Register Charities, National Education Corporation, United Way, Orange County Substance Abuse Prevention Network, and Disneyland. STC was also recently featured in the Los Cerritos Community News, and we have a Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level, which only 15% of nonprofits earn. Please visit our website at www.straighttalkcounseling.org for more information.

Opportunity

STC is seeking a Board Chair who will be a committed and fully engaged partner to the executive director (ED) and other STC board members. We are looking for someone who will lead in an organized and efficient manner, ensuring all members actively add value and feel excited and empowered to contribute.

Responsibilities

As Board Chair, you will be expected to:

• Plan, preside over, and facilitate board and committee meetings.
• Provide high-level support to advance the governance functions of the board.
• Partner with the ED to ensure that board resolutions are carried out.
• Conduct an annual performance evaluation of the ED.
• Help ED and board sustain and scale up new and existing services.
• Ensure STC is meeting all legal and fiduciary responsibilities.
• Review and approve STC’s annual budget, audit reports, and material business decisions.
• Act as a trusted advisor to the ED as she develops and implements STC’s strategic plan.
• Assist the ED and nominating committee in recruiting board members and preparing successors.
• Help the board identify their unique talents and gifts to enhance their board participation and performance.
• Ask insightful and constructive questions that lead to productive conversations about what is and isn’t working.
• Routinely review STC’s outcomes and metrics to evaluate impact.
• Ensure the STC board and staff reflect the communities it serves and is meeting its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• Treat STC as a top philanthropic priority, as reflected in their annual financial gift.
• Ensure that 100% of STC’s board members make an annual contribution commensurate with their capacity.
• Use their sphere of influence to generate substantial annual revenue that will help secure STC’s overall financial health.
• Build and nurture ongoing relationships with funders, community partners, and other key stakeholders.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate has:

• Achieved leadership stature in business, government, philanthropy, or the nonprofit sector, and their accomplishments will help attract other well-qualified, high-performing board members.
• Demonstrated prior success as a nonprofit board member or chair.
• A strategic mindset and ability to connect our mission to larger strategic goals and build compelling cases for support.
• A proven track record of fostering relationships in the community that has resulted in major gifts.
• An unwavering commitment to and appreciation of STC’s mission and beneficiaries, preferably based on personal or professional experience.
• Savvy diplomatic and interpersonal skills with a natural affinity for cultivating relationships and building consensus among diverse individuals.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and the ability to comfortably present and network in an ambassadorial role.
• Integrity, credibility, and a passion for improving the lives of STC’s beneficiaries.

Board Terms

STC’s Board Chair (and board members) will serve a three-year term and may be eligible for re-appointment for one additional term. Board meetings are bi-monthly, and committee meetings will be coordinated with full board meetings. Service on STC’s board of directors is without remuneration, except for administrative support in relation to board members’ duties.