Executive Director, Banyan Software Foundation & Head of Impact
Banyan Software · Toronto
Banyan Software is the best permanent home for software businesses that serve specialized industries, their employees, and their customers. With a buy-grow-and-hold-for-life approach and a permanent capital base, Banyan acquires and grows companies worldwide, honoring founder legacies and helping portfolio companies modernize through shared AI expertise and operational discipline. Founded in 2016, Banyan operates more than 120 portfolio companies across North and South America, Europe, and APAC, and has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list for six consecutive years. The Banyan Software Foundation, endowed with $100 million in Banyan stock, leverages technology to build a greener and more equitable world.
The Opportunity
The Banyan Software Foundation holds a $100 million USD stock commitment, making it one of our largest shareholders and a permanent expression of our purpose-driven culture. The Foundation's governance and initial operating systems are being established now; this role picks up from there. The Executive Director & Head of Impact will own the Foundation's long-term vision and strategic direction, and will be its primary voice: internally with our employees and portfolio company leaders, and externally with grantees, partners, and the broader community.
This is a role for someone who leads with vision and tells the story well. You will set the strategic direction for a $100 million mandate, make disciplined calls about where the Foundation invests its capital, time, and attention, and personally drive the pace of execution.
You will be based in Toronto, with access to Banyan's corporate functions. You will not build or manage a team of direct reports within the Foundation at first. You are its sole strategic owner, personally accountable for its frameworks, its grantee relationships, and its voice. You are not an island, though, and you are not expected to execute everything alone.
Our culture is entrepreneurial and decentralized, spanning more than 100 operating companies. Part of the mandate is to make the Foundation's mission real inside that culture: mobilizing employees and portfolio company leadership around it, not just administering grants from a distance. You should expect to be a visible presence, including on stages like our Global Leadership Conference, where telling the Foundation's story credibly is central to the job.
Why Banyan
- A $100 million mandate, not a pilot: the Foundation is endowed with $100 million in Banyan stock. This is permanent capital behind a permanent commitment.
- Real ownership: you are the strategic owner of the Foundation function, accountable for its direction, its programs, and its voice, without having to build or manage a Foundation team from scratch.
- Support where it counts: our corporate marketing, communications, and finance teams are behind you, so your time goes to vision, strategy, and storytelling rather than administrative infrastructure.
- A mission with a built-in audience: more than 100 operating companies and their employees are a ready-made community to mobilize around the Foundation's work.
- Genuine latitude on program design: we are not wedded to a traditional grantmaking model. If a different program format serves the mission better, that is the more interesting problem to solve.
What You Will Own
Vision & Strategic Direction
- Define the Foundation's long-term vision, funding thesis, and strategic direction.
- Set direction with real autonomy in early, ambiguous conditions, rather than executing a pre-set plan.
- Make disciplined calls about where the Foundation invests capital, time, and organizational attention, balancing impact, risk, and evidence.
Voice & Storytelling
- Serve as the Foundation's primary internal and external spokesperson.
- Build trust and credibility with Banyan employees, portfolio company leaders, grantees, and external partners.
- Represent the Foundation in high-visibility settings, including Banyan's Global Leadership Conference.
- Develop and deliver the narrative that captures the Foundation's mission and its measurable impact.
Program & Operating Model
- Design and evolve the Foundation's program model, including formats that depart from traditional grant applications, for example a competition or challenge format, managing the associated PR strategy and any judging panel.
- Oversee governance, compliance, and financial management in partnership with Banyan's finance function.
- Steward resources responsibly and transparently.
Mission & Culture Mobilization
- Embed the Foundation's mission within Banyan's entrepreneurial, purpose-driven culture.
- Mobilize employees and portfolio company leaders to contribute time, skills, and voice to the Foundation's work.
- Partner with Banyan's Employee Communications & Engagement team on internal campaigns and events.
Impact Measurement & Tech-Enabled Delivery
- Measure and communicate impact regularly to internal and external audiences.
- Apply technology and AI tools where they meaningfully advance program design, measurement, or the Foundation's internal reach.
What We're Looking For
Must-Haves
- A demonstrated track record of independently defining and owning a long-term strategic vision.
- Proven ability to represent an organization's mission with clarity and credibility to internal and external audiences, and comfort operating as its public-facing voice.
- Experience embedding a mission-driven or purpose-led initiative within a broader organization and mobilizing others around it, ideally within a decentralized or entrepreneurial structure.
- A track record of building or evolving governance, systems, or program models from ambiguity, and personally driving execution with pace and accountability.
- Sound judgment allocating limited time, capital, and organizational attention against impact, risk, and evidence, rather than defaulting to established playbooks.
- Comfort operating as the sole strategic owner of a function, supported by shared corporate services rather than a dedicated team.
Nice-to-Haves
- Background in philanthropy or grantmaking, including originating or advocating for grant strategy.
- Corporate social impact, ESG, or cause-marketing background, provided there is clear evidence of independent vision, builder orientation, and spokesperson strength.
- Experience designing non-traditional program formats such as competitions, awards, or challenge models, including managing PR strategy and recruiting judges or evaluation panels.
- Demonstrated use of AI or other technology tools to advance mission-driven programs or embed impact internally within a business.
- A transition from management or strategy consulting into nonprofit or social-impact leadership.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Equal Employment Opportunity at Banyan: Banyan affirms that inequality is detrimental to our Global Teams, associates, our Operating Companies, and the communities we serve. As a collective, our goal is to impact lasting change through our actions.
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