In 1976, five prominent writers — Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laurence, and David Young — founded Writers’ Trust to ensure that Canadian writing would continue to thrive for the benefit of all readers. Writers' Trust has built on this mission over the past 40 years, elevating our country’s writers to amplify the empathetic, imaginative Canadian voices that can change worlds far beyond our own border.
Writers’ Trust is one of a handful of organization of its kind in the world, committed to championing Canadian writers at every stage of their careers through a portfolio of programs including 12 literary awards, financial grants, career development initiatives for emerging writers, and a writers’ retreat. Writers’ Trust programming is designed to champion excellence in Canadian writing, to improve the status of writers, and to create connections between writers and readers.
It is within this context that Writers’ Trust is seeking to recruit its next Executive Director (ED).
Reporting to the Board of Directors, the ED provides strategic, operational, and administrative oversight to the work of the organization. The ED represents Writers’ Trust externally, strengthens its profile as one of Canada’s most formidable literary organizations, and steers the organization’s growth and revenue diversification strategies. The ED leads a small team of ten motivated and highly accomplished professionals, fosters a collaborative culture that encourages innovative thinking, and shares Writers’ Trust’s mission to advance, nurture, and celebrate Canadian writers and writing. The ED understands ‘the big picture’, finding creative, strategic, and practical solutions to complex problems and ensures that Writers’ Trust is properly situated to meet future challenges.
As the ideal candidate, you are an inspiring, respected, and trusted non-profit executive with the strategic foresight and entrepreneurial spirit to position an organization for ongoing success and impact. You offer Writers’ Trust a bold vision and the energy it needs to achieve its mission, and you will constantly seek to maximize opportunities as the organization expands and innovates. Your personal and professional credibility and domestic and global networks will serve you well as you fortify Writers’ Trust’s current partnerships and donor relationships and seek to develop new ones. You are a gifted communicator with exceptional interpersonal and networking skills, and you have a proven track record in fostering collaborations and strategic partnerships with donors in the private sector, foundations, government funding entities, and other NGOs. You are known as a clear and inclusive leader who motivates teams to achieve ambitious results. Your experience in a comparable arts & culture organization would be an asset, as would your language proficiency in both English and French.
To apply for this position, please submit your application and related materials to John Caminiti and Alain Pescador at apescador@boyden.com. Please include “Writers’ Trust Executive Director” in the subject line of your e-mail.
We thank all applicants for their interest, however only those under consideration for the role will be contacted.
Writers’ Trust of Canada is committed to building diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible working environments and welcomes those who would contribute to the further diversification of staff including, but not limited to, women, racialized persons, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity to apply.
