I hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy as we continue to weather this pandemic and its effects on our communities. For Astraea, in order to be effective at bolstering the resilience of our movements, we must truly build our own. 2021 will continue to be a year of transition, transformation and deep organizational change for us.

We had begun our search for Astraea’s next Executive Leadership in early 2020 but just as the unpredictability of the past year changed the trajectory of so many of our lives, it similarly impacted Astraea’s own transition and this search process. The Search Committee and the Board paused at the end of last year to take some time to restructure and reevaluate the process. Taking into account the challenges that continue to lie ahead, we are excited to be reopening our search for Astraea’s next Executive Director, and are officially relaunching that search today.

Meanwhile, Sandy Nathan, Interim Executive Director, continues to bring her years of executive experience, skills, and wisdom to leading Astraea through this time of transition. Sandy has made key hires, led the team in defining our values and strategic priorities, centered anti-oppression and anti-racism work to strengthen our organizational culture, encouraged staff sustainability through structured organizational pauses, and is investing in critical operational and infrastructure improvements. Astraea is financially strong and received a $4 million gift from MacKenzie Scott last year in recognition of our long-term, intersectional LBTQI grantmaking. Our board is confident in Sandy’s and the staff’s leadership in continuing to steward Astraea’s financial health and transformative grantmaking to the LBTQI, Black, Brown, migrant, indigenous, feminist movements at the grassroots.

The Search Committee is grateful to the candidates who shared their time and energy to engage in the search process last year. We are excited to welcome applications for a strategic and strong operational leader to build on four decades of innovative grantmaking and philanthropic advocacy to fuel the organizing of powerful LBTQI, feminist grassroots movements. We are looking for a leader committed to advancing gender, racial, disability, and economic justice, who has experience with nonprofit organizational development and proven success in building strong and effective teams. Our ideal candidate has an international perspective and lived experience in the Global South and/or East.  If this is you or someone you know, we encourage you to apply or share this announcement widely! We will be accepting applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Astraea’s committed Board of Directors will lead this process over the next several months. We will also keep you – our partners, friends, and allies – updated as regularly as possible. Sandy will continue to prioritize sustainability, organizational strengthening, and collective care, while bringing in the fresh perspectives and energy that we need to guide Astraea into the future. We remain clear about Astraea’s mandate during these challenging times and look forward to welcoming new leadership to meet this moment and beyond.  

In Solidarity,

Eboné Bishop and Bookda Gheisar
Board Co-Chairs