PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce www.ihccbusiness.net Location: Chicago, Illinois Reports to: Board of Directors
MISSION IHCC’s mission is to cultivate knowledge, connections and collaboration to effect transformational social change and achieve sustainable economic impact through entrepreneurship.
B A C KG R O U N D IHCC is incorporated as a 501(c) 6 not-forprofit organization. The organization was founded in 1990 as the Mexican American Chamber of Commerce of Illinois. In 2002 the organization transitioned to become the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC). The IHCC Foundation was established as the 501(c)3 educational nonprofit arm of IHCC in 2011 to enable IHCC to consolidate its educational, training and capacity building programs for small businesses. IHCC and the IHCC Foundation brand their joint activities, programs and initiatives as the Center for Hispanic Entrepreneurship in an effort to build an easily identifiable institution that reflects the comprehensive work being carried out on behalf of the Hispanic business and entrepreneurial communities. IHCC is a community of business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals committed to empowering individuals by helping them start and grow their businesses. As the largest community of Hispanic business owners across Illinois and the Midwest, IHCC represents more than 70,000 businesses that contribute more than $15 billion to the state’s economy and provides more than 100,000 jobs in Illinois. Through programming that includes community advocacy, specialized
one-on-one training, networking, and the Center for Hispanic Entrepreneurship, IHCC staff help businesses increase their revenue and become more profitable, which ultimately creates jobs and contributes to the financial strength of the economy. Last year, IHCC had a direct hand in starting twenty new businesses, creating hundreds of new jobs, and generating $6.2 million in revenue. Programs and services offered provide entrepreneurs and the community-at-large the skills and education they need to enhance their business practices. The Center for Hispanic Entrepreneurship provides business, economic development and entrepreneurial educational programs and promotes the next generation of Hispanic business owners through the youth entrepreneurship program, ENTERpreneur. Through federal and state grant-funded pro-
grams, also known as technical assistance programs, IHCC staff offer a suite of free business services available to members and nonmember businesses at every stage of growth and development. A sampling of programs includes, the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Illinois Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), USDT/OSDBU Great Lakes Region Small Business Transportation Resource Center (SBTRC), Founder’s Assembly and IHCC’s signature Coaching for Growth Program (C4G). There are approximately 300 members representing some of Illinois’ most prominent and successful Hispanic owned businesses committed to
promoting Hispanic business growth. Members come from a wide range of industries both large and small, including engineering, architecture, logistics, transportation, legal, financial, food and food service, marketing and advertising, technology among others. IHCC is governed by a 10-member Board of Directors. The current budget is approximately $1.5M. The majority of funding is derived through grants and corporate partnerships. Membership dues comprise approximately 13.5% of the budget. The remainder of the funds are derived primarily from corporate partnerships and events. IHCC employs 12 individuals including the CEO.
OPPORTUNITY IHCC is a chamber of commerce with a strong membership. The primary focus is on economic development and growing businesses for all, regardless of membership or ethnicity. IHCC prides itself on being an inclusive organization providing services to anyone who is interested. Several of the key programs, including transportation and the small business center, are supported through federal and state funds respectively. These grants require that the services are available to all. There is also programming developed exclusively for members including monthly meetings that address a wide range of topics. Many of the events address specific industries, i.e. transportation, construction, technology and some address more universal issues that would
be relevant to all industries. In recent years, there has been an increased focused on innovation and serving the technology sector through the LatinX Incubator. LatinX is a partnership between 1871 and IHCC that provides entrepreneurs with a range of resources including access to funding networks. With the IHCC office now based at 1871, a forward-thinking tech-hub, the energy at IHCC emanates a sense of entrepreneurism and fun. However, some more established industry sector representatives perceive that there needs to be a better balance of industry representation. IHCC will benefit from a thoughtful strategic planning process that engages key stakeholders, members, staff, and Board to clearly articulate the primary mission of IHCC and then use that
plan to guide program development going forward. While the programs are all successful in terms of participation, there is an opportunity to approach these activities more strategically, taking into consideration the core mission of IHCC and the audiences that the organization would like to reach and influence. Additionally, developing a business plan that identifies new funding streams whether through earned revenue, private support or growth in membership is needed. In the past, IHCC had a strong voice advocating for fair business practices. There is a desire to leverage the collective voice of IHCC members and other key stakeholders. The success of this effort would be reflected in Hispanic businesses seeing more opportunities to participate in open bids
for major contracts and in creating awareness of the economic impact that the businesses bring to the communities in which they reside. IHCC has the benefit of long-tenured staff who are deeply committed to the organization and to the constituents that they serve. The Board, which is comprised of IHCC members, has been going through a transformation, focused on building a more diverse board in terms of age and gender. With this evolution, the desire is to have a Board of Directors that is committed to governance and to representing and supporting the organization more regularly. The opportunity now exists for a politically savvy, dynamic leader and speaker to rally and leverage the many parties that embody the IHCC community.
POSITION DESCRIPTION Reporting to the Board of Directors, the President & Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) is charged with carrying out the vision and mission of IHCC. In partnership with the Board of Directors, the CEO will develop a vision and strategic plan for IHCC’s next chapter, positioning IHCC as a national leader working to cultivate knowledge, connections and collaboration to effect transformational social change and achieve sustainable economic impact through entrepreneurship. The CEO drives the overall strategic direction and operational responsibility for IHCC’s staff, programs, and execution of the mission. S/he will stay ahead of the needs of the Hispanic and broad-
er business community, and design solutions to address emerging needs. The CEO ensures ongoing programmatic excellence, program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications. S/ he will recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals. To that end, s/ he will engage Board and partner resources strategically and will build relationships of trust with funders, policymakers, private sector partners, business leaders, other allies, and staff.
The CEO will be responsible for raising funds to advance the mission and programs, and for managing resources to achieve program outcomes and sustainability. This includes creating and sustaining relationships with corporate partners, major donors and other funders. With strong communications and re l a t i o n s h i p - b u i l d i n g skills, the CEO will be the face of the organization with community members, corporate partners, funders, the media and governmental entities. The CEO will be instrumental in helping IHCC
build on its position as a leader in the local business community as well as a national leader in the Hispanic business community. The CEO will work to deepen relationships with its members, broader constituents and funders. For this role, knowledge of and connectivity within the broader business community is ideal. The CEO is responsible for managing the budget of $1.5M. Direct reports include the Vice President of Corporate Relations and the currently vacant Chief Operating Officer.
C A N D I D AT E PROFILE We are seeking a well-networked, seasoned leader with an unwavering commitment to the mission of IHCC and a track record of success in transformational organizational management. Qualified individuals will be active in the Latino business community and will be politically savvy. The CEO is a strategic visionary and inclusive leader with a solid understanding of the strategies needed to advance the work of a mission-driven association, from funding to mission delivery. S/he will envision, clearly define and then project IHCC’s value proposition. The CEO will naturally inspire the staff, Board and the IHCC community to see where the business sector could, and should, be going and push IHCC’s community forward in a collaborative manner. A transformational leader, s/he will offer creative ideas to adapt and diversify IHCC’s offerings and programs to address the changing needs of its members and will ensure that overall day-to-day operations are aligned with strategic goals. S/ he is a results-oriented leader who is experienced at articulating and implementing a plan for increased impact in an organization’s next chapter. The CEO will be high-energy, charismatic and will serve as an ‘Ambassador’ for IHCC. Demonstrated success establishing and
cultivating strong relationships with external partners, particularly individual donors, business and government at the highest level is required. The successful candidate will be able to identify new corporate partners and funders. The person we seek will be an innovative marketer who will continue to grow visibility for IHCC. The candidate must possess excellent sales, negotiation and advocacy skills with the presence to represent IHCC externally. S/he will be a strong verbal and written communicator capable of leveraging multiple media platforms to advance the organization’s mission and articulate its value proposition to a wide range of constituents. The candidate must be a highly motivated, self-starter who brings
energy, tenacity and a track record of business acumen, innovation and sound financial control at a senior level. An understanding of business principles applied to a nonprofit enterprise, including a background of good budget management, is necessary. S/ he will bring experience building and leading high performing teams of the highest degree of professionalism and guiding team members’ growth and development. The ability to give clear, effective, empathetic, sensitive and consistent leadership with good attention to detail is a must. A balance between analytical and intuitive skills and a willingness to “roll up the sleeves” to get the job done is also sought. A good sense of humor and high emotional intelligence is also neces-
sary. Integrity, resilience, passion, empathy, optimism, and a well-developed sense of realism is required. The ideal candidate will be decisive, poised and confident, both when working with Board and staff, as well as with external constituencies. The CEO is entrepreneurial when thinking about how to best engage the next generation of business leadership through technology. An action-oriented, adaptable, and innovative approach is essential. An undergraduate degree from a four-year college or university, or equivalent, with at least five years of senior management experience is required, as is the willingness to keep knowledge up to date and develop in areas relating to this role. MBA and fluency in Spanish strongly preferred.
H O W T O A P P LY Applications and nominations are being received by Rhyan Zweifler, President of Noetic Search. Please click here to submit a current resume and cover letter. For more information, please see our website at noeticexsearch.com or the IHCC website at ihccbusiness.net.
Noetic Search 150 N. Michigan Ave. Suite 2800, Chicago, IL 60601 (312) 863-8577