Grantmaking Director

The Bush Foundation invests in great ideas and the people who power them. This has been the case since the Bush Foundation was founded in 1953. Archibald (Archie) and Edyth Bush set up the Bush Foundation with few restrictions, ensuring that board and staff members through the years would have the flexibility needed to meet the challenges of the day. This ultimately sets the stage for some of the Bush Foundation’s highest impact work.

Located in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Bush Foundation operates with a staff of 36, stewards an endowment that has grown to $1.4 billion and has a combined operating and philanthropic budget for 2025 of $79.6 million.

Approach

We fund the development and spread of great ideas.

We make grants for ideas as varied as reimagining agricultural finance, Indigenizing tourism and adapting telehealth for people experiencing homelessness. We removed funding caps on our biggest grantmaking program, Community Innovation, and made large commitments to ensure that great ideas get the support needed for success.

We invest directly in people.

We know that change only happens when people make it happen. We invest in individuals through our Bush Fellowship program, supporting amazing programs that help entrepreneurs thrive in rural areas and growing the next generation of Native leaders and leadership approaches.

We support organizations that support problem solvers.

We empower the region’s top problem solvers by providing flexible funding to the organizations they value most. We know we can directly fund only a small fraction of the great efforts happening in our region. And yet, we can be even more helpful by supporting the work of organizations that others turn to for help in their own problem-solving efforts. We do this through Ecosystem grants and the Bush Prizes that are operated by our community grant partners.

Purpose

The Bush Foundation works to inspire and support creative problem solving – within and across sectors – to make the region better for everyone. Everything they do is to advance this purpose. It is what ties all their work together. To do this, they invest in great ideas and the people who power them in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share this geography. This is both their tagline and their strategy to advance their purpose.

Operating Values

Spread Optimism. We encourage individuals and organizations to think bigger and think differently about what is possible. We are positive and supportive in our internal and external interactions.

Work Beyond Ourselves. We actively seek opportunities to work in true collaboration with others to have more impact. We are willing to both lead and follow. We candidly share what we learn with others.

Everybody Matters. We are a champion for both excellence and equity inside and out of the Foundation. We have fair, open and inclusive processes. We work to raise overall quality of life while also closing opportunity and achievement gaps.

Steward Well. We demonstrate appreciation for the Foundation’s history and thoughtfully build on its legacy. We hold ourselves to high standards of integrity and accountability and conduct ourselves in a way we hope would make our founders proud.

More Good. Every Year. We are a true learning organization and work to be smarter and more effective every year. We never lose sight of the reason we exist: to do the most possible good with the resources left to the community by Archibald G. Bush.

The Grantmaking Director Opportunity

Summary

The Grantmaking team works to maximize the impact of the Foundation’s investments by sourcing and selecting investments in great ideas and people that will make the region better for everyone. The team’s main priorities are to engage with community to source amazing applications that lead to high-impact investments and to support grantees through the life cycle of the grants. The team’s goals are to be radically accessible – connecting with people to decipher whether they are a fit for Bush Foundation funding and to connect them with other funders and potential partners who may be interested in their work. All of this is done with equity at the center and a spirit of optimism as they create strong relationships between the Bush Foundation and the communities they serve.

Compensations, Benefits and Location

The salary for this position is $200,676.

The Bush Foundation offers excellent benefits, including health, dental, life and disability insurance; generous retirement contributions; professional development and vacation, sick and holiday leave.

The primary office is located in St. Paul, MN. This position exists in a hybrid work environment, combining remote work and designated times for on-site and in-person collaboration. Twin Cities-based staff are required to work on-site each Wednesday and one additional designated in-person day each month. Staff are welcome to work on site more often if desired. Other adjustments to work schedules may be required to meet priority deadlines or participate in meetings and events. Up to 25% travel is required, usually around the Bush Foundation region.

Learn More

The Bush Foundation recorded an informational webinar to provide more background about the organization and this role. You can view the recording here.

For more information about the Bush Foundation, please visit their website.

The Role

The Grantmaking Director provides strategic leadership for the Ecosystem grants program and collaborative leadership for other grants and fellowship programs across the Foundation.

Reporting Relationships

The Grantmaking Director reports to the Vice President of Grantmaking and supervises five Grantmaking Officers.

Key Responsibilities

Grantmaking Management

• Oversee the selection and relationship management of Ecosystem grantees and coordinate with colleagues across the Foundation on tasks related to the Ecosystem program.
• Develop and implement evaluation and learning strategies for the Foundation’s education and Ecosystem grants.
• Review and select grantees across grant programs, working closely with Grantmaking Officers, other Grantmaking Directors and cross-foundation teams.

Relationship Management

• Ensure strategy coherence and oversee relationship management for the Ecosystem grant program.
• Own and lead relationship management responsibility for a portfolio of grants, working to develop grants/relationships over time and spread high-impact ideas.

Organizational Leadership

• Supervise and coach Grantmaking Officers ensuring each person is highly functioning and well supported.
• Demonstrated skill at making recommendations and decisions rooted in criteria while focused on the bigger picture program purpose and ultimate impact.
• Skilled at collaborative decision making, willing to offer opinions, make the case for own perspective, to sway and be swayed and to be supportive, and challenging partners and co-workers.
• Actively demonstrate cross-organizational leadership by working to identify and resolve cross-team and org-wide strategic and operational issues and participating as an active member of Management Team.
• Actively demonstrate core organizational values in performing all duties.

Strategic Planning

• Ensure strategic coherence and alignment with other grantmaking strategies at the Foundation.
• Contribute to and support cross-foundation work and learning that advances the Foundation’s overall strategic goals. This would include activities like foundation priorities, community engagement, learning sessions, equity projects, ad hoc work groups, events and committees.

External Relations

• Provide community/issue leadership in priority areas, representing the Foundation externally.
• Source and develop potential major investments for Community Innovation.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will bring significant experience leading, managing, or participating in initiatives related to social and systems change. This would typically require at least seven years of experience in public or nonprofit work or in private sector work focused on social impact investments or cross-sector projects. The ideal candidate will demonstrate the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences.

• Dedicated to Bush Foundation’s purpose and values and committed to maintaining and building relationships in the region served by Bush Foundation. Enthusiasm and a willingness to reflect, learn and act to do what it takes to live up to Bush Foundation’s values.
• Experienced team leader and manager. Demonstrated leadership and supervisory skills supporting and developing talented colleagues to succeed individually and as a team. Ability to supervise effectively and set priorities, ensure accountability, facilitate a high-performing team environment and lead a hybrid team.
• Demonstrated success in both strategic leadership and hands-on execution with complex and highly collaborative environment, including leading without direct reporting authority.
• An active listener who values input and can navigate challenges.
• Inclusive, culturally competent, and advances and leads with equity in all aspects of their work. Able to work effectively with people of different backgrounds and communities, able to question own biases in understanding issues and people. Skilled at building and sustaining relationships across all levels, including staff, leadership team, Board of Directors, external allies and potential partners, as appropriate.
• Authentic and empathetic in how they communicate with high emotional intelligence.
• Experienced leading through change, with a depth of experience navigating organizational transitions.
• A curious and active learner who encourages a culture of learning and development for themselves and their team.
• Demonstrated high attention to detail while managing multiple projects and is comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. Able to prioritize, work independently, manage time effectively, interpret and apply strategic guidelines with minimal direction and incomplete information.
• Connected to the community. Has an existing broad network in the region or knowledge of the region or the Bush Foundation’s programs and strategies.
• Exceptional written and verbal communications skills; able to adapt style and complex information to varying audiences (e.g., staff, leadership team, Board of Directors, external allies, potential partners) and across different formats (e.g., in-person, virtual and hybrid work settings).
• Experience working with community members to source or develop grants, successfully managing expectations, building trusting relationships and moving collaborative work forward.

To Apply

The Bush Foundation has exclusively retained CohenTaylor Executive Search Services to help conduct this search.

For more information, or to submit your resume, please email: [email protected].

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. All inquiries will remain confidential.