Executive Director at New Native Theatre

New Native Theatre seeks a collaborative leader to contribute to the organization’s growth and expansion as Executive Director.

About New Native Theatre

New Native Theatre (NNT), which creates authentic and transformative plays and events through the lens of the Native American experience, is seeking an experienced Executive Director to manage the administrative and business practices of the company.

Founded in 2009 by award-winning playwright, and NNT Artistic Director, Rhiana Yazzie, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, NNT's focus is to nurture and develop Native American artists. NNT’s mission is to engage artists and audiences by 1) Producing commissioned and existing plays by Native playwrights. 2) Producing community-created plays about cultural and social justice topics. 3) Presenting the best Native American productions from around North America. 4) Providing an array of theatre training to Native American community members. 5) Engaging in collaborations with Native artists and Native organizations of varying artistic disciplines.

New Native Theatre is a small, but growing organization, with four sta members, two independent contractors and a 2024-23 operating budget of $600,000. For more information about New Native Theatre, please visit our website.

The New Native Theatre Leadership Team

Rhiana Yazzie, (she/her/hers) is a 2021 Lanford Wilson and 2020 Steinberg Award winning playwright, a director, a filmmaker, and the Artistic Director of New Native Theatre, which she started in 2009 as a response to the lack of connection and professional opportunities between Twin Cities theaters and the Native community. She is a 2018 Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow and was recognized with a 2017 Sally Ordway Award for Vision and has been a Playwrights’ Center fellow multiple times (McKnight 2016/17 & Jerome 2006 & 2010). A Navajo Nation citizen (Ta’neeszahnii bashishchiin dóó Táchii’nii dashinalí), she’s seen her plays on stages from Alaska to Mexico including in Carnegie Hall’s collaboration with American Indian Community House & Eagle Project. She has a new co-commissioned play in the works with Long Wharf Theatre and Rattlestick Theater and is currently developing her newest play Nancy, a Native bio-perspective on Nancy Reagan, a sequel to Queen Cleopatre and Princess Pocahontas, which was commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the Public Theater for the American Revolutions cycle. Her first feature film, A Winter Love, (writer/dir/prod/actor) will premiere at festivals in 2021/22. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Masters of Professional Writing where she produced events featuring Stephen Hawking, Madeleine Albright, Paula Vogel, Herbie Hancock, and Spalding Gray.

Charli Fool Bear (Koppinger), (she/her/they/them), is a Yanktonai Dakota playwright, actor, and now Artistic Producer from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Following high school, Charli attended Dartmouth College, where she studied theatre and received special academic recognition from playwright Joe Sutton. Her play, The Crickets Ate the Moon, was the first runner-up of Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program’s inaugural playwriting contest, where it received a workshop and reading at Yale University. The Crickets Ate the Moon also received a staged reading at Dartmouth College, where Charli received the Susan DeBevoise Wright Award for her work on the play. More recently, Charli was an active participant in the vibrant theatre community of Bismarck, ND, where she worked closely with all of the city’s theatres in various capacities, including writing, stage managing, assistant directing, and fundraising. She also performed in several productions, including The SpongeBob Musical, RENT, and Cotton Patch Gospel. She was commissioned by YIPAP to write a new play, WAKE, for their 5th Annual YIPAP Festival, where it received a virtual reading. She continues to write stories that explore grief, trauma, poverty, and womanhood in Native communities. Outside of theatre, Charli has been independently studying, writing, and recording music for over 15 years. She is passionate about bringing theatre to Indigenous communities and creating theatre for Native audiences, and therefore very proud and excited to be a part of the New Native Theatre team.

Who are we looking for?

We are seeking someone who is excited about envisioning and co-leading our planned growth and expansion, who is passionate about working in deep collaboration with our staff, board, artists, and community, and who is deeply committed to the support and cultivation of Native American artistry. This person should work in an entrepreneurial way, suited to the daily operations of a small organization. New Native Theatre is excited to welcome candidates with a diverse array of backgrounds and skills, and we are excited to invest in your growth and professional development.

While not all required, we encourage candidates to apply who have the following:

●  Experience with the Native American community, culture, history and stories

●  A trauma-informed leadership approach

●  Knowledge of capital campaigns and new performance spaces

●  Proficiency with logistics and organizing tasks for a small group

●  Experience with strategic planning in entrepreneurial environments

●  Interpersonal communication skills

●  Experience with developing plans for increasing earned revenue and contributed income in nonprofit organizations

●  A familiarity with the logistics of theater production and operations

●  Fundraising expertise with one or more aspects of nonprofit cultivation such as corporate sponsorships, foundation grants and individual donors.

What will you do?

The Executive Director administers the accounting, grant management, and budgeting. As part of a team, the Executive Director implements the business practices necessary to ensure an exemplary culture of professional artists and the priorities of the company. The Executive Director will act in collaboration with the artistic team.

As NNT is poised for growth and development, the The Executive Director will help build infrastructure and systems, to manage and budget for growth, and to populate our work with quality passionate individuals. The Executive Director reports to the Artistic Director and Board of Directors.

Areas of Responsibility

Fundraising:

●  Serve as chief fundraising officer managing a part time grant writer

●  Build and manage development infrastructure and fundraising capacity

●  In partnership with the Artistic Director and Board of Directors, cultivate and steward relationships with funders and key individual donors

●  Expand contributed revenue streams, especially grants and individual donors

●  Lead upcoming capital campaign for a new performance space

Organizational Infrastructure & Business Administrative Management:

●  Serve as chief financial officer and chief operations officer, working in collaboration with the Artistic Director

●  Build, lead and continually develop a committed team with the expertise and networks to opportunistically realize artistic and operating goals and efficiencies

Community Relations:

●  Co-lead agency's internal and external strategic communications and day-to-day operations of NNT’s communications and media relations

●  Develop and implement a communication strategy, including media outreach and content creation, in partnership with a part time communications advisor

●  Co-build, lead and continually develop a committed team with the expertise and networks to opportunistically realize artistic and operating goals and efficiencies within the Minnesota Native community

●  Co-create and carry-out a strategic plan to reach tribal communities out state and in the Twin Cities area; ensure communication with Native and broader audiences to attend NNT events.

Compensation Package

Annual Salary: $75,000

Benefits:

●  QSEHRA reimbursed health, dental and vision benefits

●  Two weeks vacation

●  Hybrid/remote work options occasionally available

●  Winter break between Christmas and and New Year’s Day

Start Date:

ASAP

How do I apply?:

Visit aljpconsulting.com/apply-for-jobs to submit your application. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. 

Applicants from populations underrepresented in the arts and aligning with NNT’s mission and priorities focusing on playwrights, community access, and a passion for Native arts are strongly encouraged to apply.

NNT is committed to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility and welcomes candidates who have demonstrable experience advocating for underrepresented communities.