Executive Director

Imagine a place in the heart of Port Townsend where people of all ages, regardless of faith, background, or experience, can walk in and simply sit quietly together. Cedar and light. Gardens and paths designed to slow you down before you even reach the door. This is the vision of longtime Buddhist scholar and translator Bill Porter, carried home after twenty years in monasteries in Taiwan and China: a non-denominational meditation hall where people can breathe and still the mind, and where the peace found in stillness doesn't just stay in the room but radiates outward, into families, workplaces, and civic life. That vision now has land, a design, and a name - Camas Meditation Hall - and it needs its first-ever leader. With the design phase complete and a $14 million capital campaign ahead, this is a true start-up opportunity for an inaugural Executive Director to build not just a building, but an organization from the ground up.

We're looking for a warm, experienced, entrepreneurial leader and a fearless fundraiser who thrives without a fixed playbook. You move fluidly between major donor conversations, foundation relationships, and grassroots community engagement, and bring the same curiosity and care to a founder-driven board as to a first-time visitor. You will, in tandem with the Board, personally cultivate and close gifts across individual, corporate, and foundation sources. You'll also build and refine the organizational systems Camas Hall doesn't yet have, and build lasting roots in Port Townsend alongside the neighbors who call it home. This is a multi-year journey for a builder at heart, someone excited to bring people together in stillness, in a town that already knows how to gather.

Organizational Overview

Camas Meditation Hall is a non-denominational meditation hall taking shape in Port Townsend, Washington. Founded by Bill Porter, one of America's foremost translators of ancient Chinese poetry and Buddhist texts, the vision for Camas Hall grew out of his twenty years living in monasteries in Taiwan and China, where he saw firsthand how powerful it is to sit in stillness together. He returned home determined to build that same gathering place here: not a church, not a yoga studio, but something at once both new and ancient.

A group of people inspired by Bill's vision came together to form the Camas Hall Board, and four years ago, the board and a small group of visionary donors acquired land in the geographic center of Port Townsend - a historic camas prairie, named for the flowering plant that sustained Indigenous peoples of this region for thousands of years. The building itself is being designed in partnership with architect Jim Olson, known for buildings that grow naturally out of their surroundings, and artist James Turrell, whose life's work explores light, perception, and stillness. Together, they're bringing the Pacific Northwest's own quiet light into a space built for reflection, gathering, and quiet.

Camas Hall is grounded in a few simple convictions:

• Anyone, regardless of faith, background, or experience, deserves a place to sit quietly, together.
• Meditation practiced in community brings a kind of peace that solitary practice alone cannot.
• Inner stillness radiates outward - into families, workplaces, and civic life - making for a healthier, more compassionate community.
• A meditation hall belongs to everyone who walks through its doors: the curious, the grieving and the grateful, seasoned meditators and first-timers alike.

Where We Are Today

The land has been acquired, the building's design phase is complete, and Camas Hall is ready to build. The organization is now entering its most pivotal chapter: a $14 million capital campaign to fund construction of the hall and gardens, and provide the resources to sustain ongoing programming and operations for years to come. Camas Hall is governed by a committed, hands-on Board of Directors and has been driven primarily by its founder and a small circle of dedicated volunteers and donors. Its first Executive Director will have a rare opportunity to help define the organization's systems, culture, and community presence from the ground up.

Position Opportunities & Essential Duties of Position

As Camas Hall's first Executive Director, you will take a vision four years in the making and turn it into a thriving, sustainable organization. Key responsibilities include:

• Capital Campaign Leadership: Own the $14 million capital campaign from quiet phase through public launch, in partnership with the Board and campaign advisors. Personally identify, cultivate, solicit, and close gifts from individuals, corporations, and foundations, and build a structured, well-mapped donor pipeline and stewardship system.
• Community Relationships and Public Engagement: Serve as Camas Hall's primary ambassador and most visible presence in Port Townsend. Get out into the community, build trust with local residents and civic groups, and clearly communicate what Camas Hall is and why it matters.
• Organizational Infrastructure: Build and refine the systems Camas Hall doesn't yet have: financial management, donor tracking, professional communications, and the operational backbone the organization will need to function and scale as it grows.
• Team Building and Leadership: Define what staff or support Camas Hall needs and when, in partnership with the board, and build, hire, and lead that team as the organization grows from a founder-driven effort into a functioning nonprofit.
• Business Model and Programming: Begin shaping how Camas Hall will run once its doors open - its operating and revenue model, staffing needs, and initial programming - including partnerships with meditation teachers, interfaith networks, and community organizations.
• Board and Governance Partnership: Work closely with a passionate Board of Directors, listening closely to champion the board's vision, while still driving toward decisions.

The Ideal Candidate

Camas Hall is seeking an entrepreneurial, relational leader who can build an organization from the ground up while earning trust in a small, close-knit community. The ideal candidate moves fluidly between major donor conversations, foundation relationships, and grassroots community engagement, and brings the same curiosity and care to a founder-driven board as to a first-time visitor.

Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• A proven track record in fundraising, including personally cultivating, soliciting, and closing gifts from major donors, corporations, and foundations, and the ability to build a structured, well-mapped donor pipeline, prospect research, and stewardship system.
• Startup-minded, entrepreneurial experience, setting up organizational infrastructure (financial systems, communications, donor tracking, and basic operations) and staying comfortable making decisions without an established playbook to follow.
• Comfort developing a strategic operating plan for Camas Hall's future programming, from meditation sessions and trainings to retreats, including how each will be staffed, funded, and scheduled once the doors open.
• Ability to build warm, trusted relationships across different audiences, from local Port Townsend residents and civic leaders, to major donors, and a growing network of meditation teachers and groups from beyond the region interested in presenting at Camas Hall
• A decisive but collaborative leadership style, listening closely to a passionate board, driving projects and decisions forward independently, and respectfully pushing back or offering a different point of view when it serves the organization.
• Genuine curiosity about and respect for contemplative practice and its role in community well-being, engaging thoughtfully with teachers and practitioners across traditions (prior meditation experience is welcomed but not required).

Compensation and Benefits

This is a full-time salaried position requiring a willingness to work some evenings and weekends, with occasional travel in the Puget Sound region. The expected salary range is between $100,000 - $120,000, depending on qualifications and experience. As the first ED, part of your role will be to put together a benefits package that will make sense. We will craft an offer for you that meets your specific needs to start while we work together on exploring what that should look like for Camas Hall. Camas Meditation Hall is located in Port Townsend, WA.

How to Apply

Online applications only, please no email or paper submissions. You will be asked to upload a cover letter and resume. In your cover letter, please describe as specifically as you can how your experience, skills, and values are a fit with Camas Meditation Hall's goals, mission, and vision for the future as described in this announcement.

Applications received by October 21 will be given priority consideration; early applications are strongly encouraged! All applications will be acknowledged via an email receipt. Consideration will be given to applications as soon as they are received; phone and in-person interviewing is anticipated to begin in late October.

Questions regarding this opportunity are welcomed and can be directed to:

Sumi Bhat-Kincaid

sumi(at)cloversearchworks.com

Clover Search Works facilitates leadership searches for nonprofit organizations whose missions strengthen communities. Clover is honored to be partnering with Camas Meditation Hall in this search.