Executive Director
Start Date: July 1, 2025
Regional Independent School Association
5001 California Ave. SW, Suite 112, Seattle, Washington
Educators Collaborative is pleased to assist The Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS) in its search for a new Executive Director to begin July 1, 2025. This is a unique and compelling opportunity for an educational leader interested in shepherding one of the premier regional associations in the country. The association, whose mission is to promote the ongoing improvement of its member schools and advance independent school education, is one of the most dynamic associations in the country.
About the Association
With accreditation as its flagship service to schools, NWAIS serves 111 schools across eight states. It does so with Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Communities, Continuous Improvement, Transformative Power of Leadership and The Positive Impact of Independent School Education as its core values and organizational drivers.
In addition to a comprehensive, effective and collaborative accreditation process, the association offers a critical array of professional development offerings, community events and training for independent school boards. For a full list of the NWAIS’s robust programming, visit the website at nwais.org
Staffed by six highly committed professionals, the association is extremely well run and well-positioned to continue to be a pace setter amongst the cadre of associations nationwide. Its member schools are diverse: rural, urban and suburban, small, medium and large schools, boarding and day schools, single gender, all gender, and coeducational schools, secular and religiously affiliated schools, and schools that serve a wide range of neurodiverse students and gifted students.
About the Position
The next Executive Director will inherit an organization with a history of long serving directors. Residence in close proximity to Seattle is preferred. The association offices are located in West Seattle and the executive director’s presence and leadership in the office is an important hallmark of the community that characterizes NWAIS. Additionally, an industry expert with a proven track record of leading change, thought leadership, inspiring staff and peers, capable of creating a shared vision, highly engaging and highly communicative are desired skills and dispositions required for the position.
A comprehensive Opportunity and Position Statement will be available in early June.
Applications are due by July 22, 2024.
Application Materials Requested
We encourage a preliminary conversation with Sally Mixsell, Eric Temple or André Withers (see below) to learn more about this exceptional opportunity. Those interested are asked to submit these materials, in the order listed, in a Single Merged Document:
- EC Candidate Summary Sheet (contact consultants below for this document)
- Letter of Interest addressed to the Search Committee
- Current résumé
- Statement of Organizational Leadership as it pertains to leading a regional independent school association
- A list of five or more references with contact information (including phone numbers and email addresses)
- EC Disclosure Form (contact consultants below for this document)
If interested, please contact:
Sally Mixsell, Partner
smixsell@educatorscollaborative.com – (203) 824-3653
Eric Temple, Partner
etemple@educatorscollaborative.org – (415) 279-1837
André Withers, Partner
awithers@educatorscollaborative.com – (202) 528-1705
Listing Date: April 22, 2024
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