Executive Director

Executive Director Position Description

AGENCY OVERVIEW

Sage SoCal, Inc., (https://www.sagesocal.org/)  is a nonprofit agency partnering with local schools in Los Angeles County to provide mental health services. We support students’ social and emotional well-being through crisis intervention, ongoing counseling, and proactive mental health education. All services are free to students and their parents. By being school-based, we eliminate cost, transportation, and insurance barriers, ensuring students get the help they need. Sage has proven that placing highly qualified postgraduate therapists on school campuses leads to significant student engagement, with 20–25% of the student body seeking help.

Our mission began in 2009 with Liz Schoeben founding CASSY (https://cassybayarea.org/), a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit. In 2017, Liz replicated the CASSY model in Southern California by creating Sage, which now has a $1.1 million annual budget and 14 employees serving four Los Angeles County school districts. Sage’s mission is to de-stigmatize mental health services and make student well-being a norm in local schools. We envision a world where all children receive the support they need to succeed academically and in life.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ROLE

Sage is at a strategic inflection point. The California school-based mental health funding ecosystem is consolidating around the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) and the new Statewide Multi-Payer Fee Schedule; institutional agencies are positioning themselves through revenue capture and operational sophistication; and Sage’s competitive position depends on building the business development capability, sector positioning, and operational infrastructure required to thrive in this new environment.

Sage is recruiting an Executive Director to lead the next phase of the agency’s growth. The new ED will be the strategic and external face of Sage — driving business development, capital deployment, sector positioning, and the operational build that converts strategic ambition into signed contracts and durable revenue. The ED will be supported by a Program Director responsible for the clinical program and therapeutic team, allowing the ED to focus on building the institutional capability Sage’s next chapter requires.

The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors and is accountable for delivering the agency’s three-year strategic plan, mid-2026 through mid-2029.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

We recognize that strong candidates come from a range of professional and lived experience, and that no single person will bring every qualification listed below. We encourage candidates who meet many, though not all, of these criteria to express interest.

Strategic Leadership and External Positioning

• Lead the development, execution, and evaluation of Sage’s multi-year strategic plan in active partnership with the Board.
• Position Sage in the California school-based mental health sector as an institutional partner to school districts and a recognized voice in policy and practice conversations.
• Build and maintain relationships with SELPAs, the California Department of Education, county behavioral health offices, and peer school-native agencies.
• Maintain fluency in the evolving funding landscape (CYBHI, Statewide Multi-Payer Fee Schedule, special education funding, LCAP, ERMHS) and translate that fluency into competitive advantage in proposals and partnerships.

Business Development and Revenue Growth

• Own the pipeline of new and expanded district partnerships. Set targets, manage the pipeline with discipline, and drive proposals from prospect through to signed contract.
• Lead the negotiation of major contracts and renewals.
• Build out Sage’s business development infrastructure: target-district intelligence, proposal development capability, pricing sophistication, district-level relationship mapping, and pipeline management discipline.
• Structure and operationalize district CYBHI partnerships under Sage’s school-billed hybrid model: the district handles billing and audit liability; Sage provides the credentialed workforce and compliance infrastructure that enables district billing.

Capital Deployment and Financial Strategy

• Deploy Sage’s capital reserves with discipline to fund the operational infrastructure required for sustained growth — business development capacity, program management, market research, and the credentialing and compliance infrastructure the new state ecosystem demands.
• Build a multi-source revenue base that reduces concentration in any single district.
• Oversee financial planning, budgeting, and decision-grade reporting at a level appropriate to a mid-sized agency operating in a multi-payer funding environment.

Operational Infrastructure

• Build and oversee the credentialing, documentation, supervision, EHR, and audit-ready operational infrastructure that enables Sage to operate at scale in the CYBHI-era state ecosystem.
• Lead evaluation of structural options for Sage’s future in active partnership with the Board.
• Ensure operational systems (HR, finance, IT, data) can support the strategic scale ambitions of the plan.

Board Engagement and Governance

• Partner with the Board on strategy, capital deployment, and major structural decisions.
• Provide the Board with sophisticated, decision-grade reporting on pipeline, revenue, financial position, and strategic execution.
• Support Board recruitment, development, and effective governance.

Program Leadership (in partnership with the Program Director)

• Set the strategic direction for Sage’s clinical program in partnership with the Program Director, who has day-to-day responsibility for clinical operations, supervision, and therapeutic team leadership.
• Ensure clinical program design aligns with revenue model, district requirements, and the special education and CYBHI funding ecosystems.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Senior leadership experience in a mission-driven organization with revenue growth and external development responsibility — nonprofit, social enterprise, healthcare, or education sector.
• Demonstrated track record of business development and revenue generation: building pipelines, winning competitive proposals, growing institutional partnerships.
• Strong financial and strategic acumen, including capital deployment and multi-source revenue management.
• Experience operating in or working with the school-based mental health, special education, or community behavioral health sectors — or a credible plan to develop sector fluency quickly.
• Working knowledge of California-specific funding mechanisms (CYBHI, Medi-Cal Managed Care, LCAP, special education funding) or demonstrated ability to develop that fluency rapidly.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including comfort engaging with senior district leadership and Board-level audiences.
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred

Preferred

• Clinical or therapeutic background is a strong preference, but not required; clinical leadership of the agency is held by the Program Director.
• Direct experience in California school-based mental health or special education.
• Background in scaling mission-driven organizations through inflection points.
• Established relationships with school districts, SELPAs, county behavioral health offices, or peer agencies in Southern California.

A PASSION FOR THE MISSION

The ideal candidate brings a deep and authentic commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of young people and to the communities Sage serves. They understand the urgency of this moment in school-based mental health and are motivated by the chance to lead an organization with Sage's model, reputation, and potential. They bring genuine humility and cultural awareness to serving students and families from diverse cultural, economic, and educational backgrounds, and they keep the needs of students at the center of every decision.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this role is $150,000 - 175,000, commensurate with experience, plus benefits. The Board is committed to reviewing compensation as the agency grows, with the expectation that this role scales with Sage’s success.

Sage offers a comprehensive benefit package including vacation, holiday, and sick leave as well as medical, dental, and vision coverage and a 401K.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Sage is a field-based organization, with therapists embedded directly in partner school campuses across Los Angeles County and surrounding areas. The Executive Director will work remotely with regular travel throughout the region to meet with district leaders, school administrators, community partners, and the Board. Candidates based in or willing to regularly travel within the greater Los Angeles area are strongly preferred.

How to Apply

To be considered for this opportunity, please submit a resume, a brief letter of interest, and three professional references to

careers@sagesocal.org. Please note that references will not be contacted until the end of the process, and candidates will be notified before any outreach is made.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Applicants with the most relevant qualifications will be invited to preliminary conversations. Finalists will be invited to meet with the Sage Board of Directors. A selection is anticipated shortly thereafter, following completion of background and reference checks. Sage anticipates appointing a candidate by Fall 2026. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply promptly.

Sage SoCal is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a team that reflects the diverse communities it serves.

To be considered for this opportunity, please submit a resume, a brief letter of interest, and three professional references to

careers@sagesocal.org. Please note that references will not be contacted until the end of the process, and candidates will be notified before any outreach is made.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Applicants with the most relevant qualifications will be invited to preliminary conversations. Finalists will be invited to meet with the Sage Board of Directors. A selection is anticipated shortly thereafter, following completion of background and reference checks. Sage anticipates appointing a candidate by Fall 2026. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply promptly.

Sage SoCal is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a team that reflects the diverse communities it serves.