Position Overview

Milwaukee Water Commons is seeking a full-time Co-Executive Director. We are building a multicultural, multi-racial movement that invites leadership and innovation from throughout the city and includes everyone in decisions about the care of our water.

In keeping with the Common’s values of shared governance and community wide stewardship, Milwaukee Water Commons (MWC) uses a co-leadership team model with decision making, and power shared by two Co-Executive Directors in an inclusive manner with staff, the Board of Directors and community. The Co-Executive Director team model enriches our ability to address complex environmental challenges across our entire city through complementary perspectives and experiences. By having two leaders with different lived experiences, professional backgrounds, and expertise, we create a more comprehensive and adaptable approach to water protection, environmental stewardship, leadership development and advocacy work.

This approach allows us to authentically guide the movement of engaging with the entire city, working across neighborhoods and cross-city networks to be leaders in the sector. The combined strengths of Co-Executive Directors help create more accessible engagement pathways and enables the ability to build broader coalitions for environmental action, resulting in a more effective and sustainable impact for all city residents.

The ideal candidate will embody Milwaukee Water Commons’ core values (see below), demonstrate strong executive level leadership, comfort with ambiguity, a deeply collaborative spirit, management skills, and a commitment to the ongoing work of being an antiracist. This position requires someone who can navigate conflict, complex policy landscapes and demonstrate strong emotional acuity while maintaining strong community and funder connections.

Position Responsibilities

The Co-Executive Directors will share overall strategic and operational responsibility for the Milwaukee Water Commons. This will include execution of the mission, staff and program management, fundraising, relationship development, and future expansion planning. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

1. Promote programmatic excellence, evaluation, finance and administration, positive organizational culture, fundraising, thoughtful communications, and systems; timelines and resources needed to achieve the goals of Milwaukee Water Commons.
2. Shared responsibility with the Co-Executive Director to implement all of Milwaukee Water Commons programs and events.
3. Aspire to and build a deep understanding of the Milwaukee community and maintain authentic solidarity with local residents.
4. Guide intersectional environmental justice work, strategic coalitions, and partnerships to advance the Milwaukee Water Commons mission.
5. Generate revenue and fundraising activities to support and build existing program operations.
6. Maintain strong relationships and diversify support with individual donors, foundations, and the broader funding community.
7. Strategic thinking and adaptation to changing political and funding circumstances.

Essential Qualifications

The Co-Executive Director will demonstrate executive level leadership skills with a deep commitment to Milwaukee Water Commons’ mission and values, bring proven experience in organizational leadership, team development, working with people different from yourself, fundraising, and relationship building. This role requires fiscal management skills and the ability to build a collaborative movement through navigating complex community partnerships while advancing environmental justice work.

Education & Experience

Bachelor's degree preferred, or equivalent combination of relevant experience and community recognition. We value lived experience, community leadership, and demonstrated impact alongside formal credentials.

Concrete demonstrable experience and other qualifications include:

Community Leadership & Movement Experience

1. Expertise leading community-based groups, organizations and/or movement building work in solidarity with communities most impacted by environmental injustice.
2. History balancing organizational needs with community accountability and broader systems change.

Executive Leadership & Management

1. Management experience in nonprofit, government, or community organizing.
2. Experience leading and building trust with multi-cultural and multi-racial stakeholders
3. Strategic planning and implementation experience with ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
4. Proven success working with a Board of Directors along with an ability to cultivate existing member relationships and expand and diversify the board.
5. Experience in team leadership, staff development, and stakeholder management, with proven ability to coach, mentor, and supervise diverse teams effectively.

Environmental Justice & Advocacy

1. Demonstrable antiracism efforts with a political understanding of environmental justice principles and intersectional approaches to represent community voice in regional/national forums.
2. Experience interrupting systems of oppression through policy, organizing, and/or direct action with government officials, funders, and corporate partners.

Preferred Qualifications

Communication & Relationship Building

1. Compelling storytelling ability that connects local work to broader social movements, especially around complex environmental issues
2. Proven success and experience navigating funding landscapes, developing and maintaining key community partnerships and donor relationships.
3. Experience in shared leadership or co-leadership models.

Operations & Financial Management

1. Nonprofit resource management, budgeting, and financial oversight experience.

About Milwaukee Water Commons

Since 2014, Milwaukee Water Commons continues to build multicultural, multi-racial movements for water justice that center community leadership and innovation. We engage Milwaukee's communities to address critical water issues and work at the intersections of race, privilege, and policy that perpetuate environmental injustice.

Our work combines grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, and community-led solutions to ensure everyone has a voice in decisions affecting water stewardship. Through connection, collaboration, and broad-based leadership development, we advance both immediate community needs and long-term systemic change.

The Co-Executive Director will join a dynamic organization committed to a shared leadership team, community accountability, and environmental justice. This role offers the opportunity to lead transformative work at the intersection of water policy, racial equity, and community organizing while building power with communities most impacted by water injustice.

Mission

Milwaukee Water Commons is a cross-city network that fosters connection, collaboration and broad community leadership on behalf of our common waters. We promote stewardship of equitable access to and shared decision-making for our common waters.

Core Values

1. Water is an essential element for all life on Earth.
2. Water belongs to no one and cannot be owned.
3. We recognize the gift of the Great Lakes; they have nurtured our ancestors and shaped us as a people and as a community. They continue to sustain us.
4. We all have a profound responsibility to protect and pass on clean and abundant fresh water to future generations.
5. Decisions about the care and use of our waters must involve all of us.
6. We see water not as a resource, but as a friend and treat it as such.

Anti-Discrimination Policy

Milwaukee Water Commons is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. MWC is committed to the princi...