About Mindful Schools

Mindful Schools empowers educators to spark systemic change from the inside out by cultivating awareness, resilience, and compassionate action in community. By guiding educators to cultivate, practice, apply, and embody mindfulness, our nonprofit supports schools to nurture social and emotional well-being, build inclusive cultures, and engage in equity pedagogy so that all students develop to their fullest potential.

Mindful Schools has evolved to be able to generate and sustain the greatest impact possible in diverse, resilient school communities most impacted by trauma, toxic stress, and systems of oppression. In 2007, we piloted a direct service model teaching mindfulness in Oakland elementary schools. We shifted to training teachers to meet the growing demand, with the insight that a teacher’s regulated nervous system is essential for nurturing healthy relationships and attuning to student needs. By 2019, we reached 50,000 teachers through online courses, and trained over 1000 individual educators through an intensive year-long certification program.

In 2020, with catalytic funding from the Cigna Foundation we transitioned our approach to focus on building the capacity of schools at a time of unprecedented need for mental health and racial healing. Our programs are now “by educators, for educators, with educators” with an equity-centered and trauma-sensitive approach that builds on the unique strengths of each school context. We engage adults with accessible, experiential learning to cultivate a personal mindfulness practice and support them to apply mindfulness in daily interactions. We consult with teams to integrate mindfulness and leverage it as a foundation for whole school culture and systems change, which may include teaching a K-12 mindfulness curriculum. After a pilot with 17 Title I Cigna partner schools, we now work directly with over 400 additional schools and have plans to serve 1000 schools by 2025. In parallel, we have shifted from a 95% to a 70% earned revenue model, with a unique mix of B2C, B2B, and a growing development engine with large and small funders and individual donors.

Position Overview:

Mindful Schools is looking for a Head of Finance to join our passionate, playful, mission-driven team in Emeryville, CA. As Head of Finance (HoF), you’ll be responsible for the organization's accounting function and will guide our financial decisions by establishing financial policies, procedures, controls, and reporting systems. You’ll ensure legal and regulatory compliance for all accounting and financial reporting functions and also oversee cost and general accounting, accounts receivable/collection, and payroll. In short, you’ll be the bottom line for ensuring a strong financial foundation, making it possible to deliver life-changing programming to educators and students across the country.

This is a hands-on role, and we’re looking for a team member who can hold the big picture while rolling up your sleeves to get things done. You’ll be responsible for annual audits; leading the annual budgeting process; and working closely with the Executive Director on updates for the Board Treasurer and Finance Committee. This role reports to our Executive Director, Seewan Eng, and supervises the bookkeeping and payroll work of the Office Manager, who ultimately reports to the Senior Director, People & Operations.

The ideal candidate will enjoy and have experience with the challenging work that comes with change management and scaling for growth. We are in year 3 of a 5-year strategic plan to shift our business model from training individual educators in mindfulness to providing whole-school mindfulness training and consulting to schools and districts. This has shifted our revenue model from a high volume of individuals paying up front for individual courses to a lower volume of large school and district contracts that pay in arrears. You’ll be full of ideas for how we can improve our processes and make this transition even smoother.

To succeed in this role, you’ll need at least 10 years of leadership experience in non-profit accounting with budgets of $3 million or more. You should be tech-savvy, confident in the nonprofit accounting space, comfortable with net asset accounting, and understand how contributed funds with and without donor restrictions are released.

We’re looking for someone who is socially and emotionally grounded with excellent interpersonal skills and a deep commitment to equity and anti-racism. Do you value easy and honest communication and collaboration? Are you willing and wanting to participate in the internal learning our organization provides as part of our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and being an anti-racist organization? If so, we can’t wait to meet you.

We are a small, eclectic, mission-driven team with a culture that values connection, collaboration, and kindness. We offer excellent benefits including flexible schedules and generous PTO to promote work-life balance. We are headquartered in Emeryville, CA in a sunny, casual office environment.

This is a full-time, exempt position (1.0 FTE) based in our Emeryville, CA office.

Expected start date is late June - early July, 2023

Working on site 2 - 3 days per week is required. Being fully remote is not possible for this position.

COVID-19 vaccination is required for all on-site workers.

All candidates must be eligible to work in the United States and must reside within a commutable distance to our office.

There is no opportunity for relocation assistance.

Essential Functions

Financial Oversight

• Guides financial decisions by establishing, monitoring, and enforcing policies and procedures
• Protects assets by establishing, monitoring, and enforcing internal controls
• Provides status of financial condition of the company by collecting, interpreting, and reporting financial data
• Ensures compliance with general accepted nonprofit accounting principles (GAAP) and with federal, state, and local legal requirements by researching existing and new legislation, consulting with outside advisors, and filing financial reports
• Advises Executive Director and Finance Committee of actions and potential risks

Accounting

• Provides reporting for all development funding, including comprehensive unrestricted/restricted funds accounting, historical and up-to-date record-keeping for individual donors and foundations
• Manages the tracking and disbursement of all restricted and temporarily restricted net assets (TRNA)
• Leads and organizes the annual budget process, providing tools for departments to develop their budgets in alignment with strategies and goals
• Reviews weekly payables with Office Manager, and initiates wire transfers when needed
• Manages month-end close and preparation of financial statements. Prepares or reviews and approves month-end and year-end journal entries, including shared cost allocation and deferred revenue
• Develops and maintains accounting schedules, including: depreciation schedule, fixed asset schedule, prepaid expenses schedule, shared costs schedule, deferred revenue schedules, etc.
• Coordinates all audit activities, including responding to audit requests, providing audit close reporting to audit committee and Board, and supporting the preparation and filing of informational returns

Leadership and Collaboration

• Serves as staff liaison to the Finance Committee which includes Board Treasurer and Executive Director
• Supports and guides success of Office Manager’s accounting-related duties with effective leadership skills
• Reports to the Leadership Team on the organization's operating, financial, budgeting, and administrative processes with an eye to continuously develop and improve policies and practices
• Contributes expertise to the organization’s strategic planning efforts
• Works closely with the revenue generation (RevGen) and operations teams on policy exceptions and pricing strategy

Required Education, Experience, and Skills

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, accounting, or finance-or equivalent experience
• 10+ years of experience in non-profit financial management and accounting
• Knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)
• 5+ years experience with legal and audit compliance and with developing and managing budgets of $3 million or more
• Tech savvy-comfortable and proficient in using and learning to use and implement new SaaS products including:
  • Quickbooks Online
  • Salesforce
  • Expense reporting software (currently using Tallie)
  • Collaboration and communication tools: Slack, Smartsheet, G-Suite
• Advanced proficiency in Excel, including experience using PivotTables and synthesizing large amounts of data across multiple platforms
• Outstanding people skills, with demonstrated success communicating with and collaborating in a multidisciplinary, diverse, and dynamic team
• Ability to conceptualize and present the big picture and have the capability to think through and manage practical operational application and implementation
• Ability to thrive in an environment of constant change and growth

Preferred Education, Experience, and Skills

• Master’s degree in business, finance or related field
• Certified Public Accountant

Additional Eligibility Qualifications

Must be eligible to work in the United States

Supervisory Responsibility

This position currently has no direct reports, but does train and supervise the accounting-related work of the Office Manager.

Working at Mindful Schools

At Mindful Schools, we believe the most effective way to create meaningful change is by instilling a mindful, heart-centered relationship with ourselves and our community. We strive to connect with our bodies, hearts, and minds and to bring awareness into our interactions so that we can embody the change we wish to see in the world. As part of this work, we are committed to internal learning, and developing an awareness practice of how white supremacy culture and systems of oppression impact our personal lives and the conditions in which we work. Building a movement for deep systems change can be challenging and inspiring work, and we support our team to heal and grow through community building, opportunities to cultivate personal mindfulness competencies, and by practicing our organizational values with intention and integrity.

Mindful Schools is committed to building a team that represents diverse cultures, perspectives, skills, and experiences in order for our employees, our programs, and our community to thrive.

Our Core Values:

We are curious. We ask authentic questions, notice and investigate judgment, seek to understand, and take on a learners’s mindset.

We grow love. We recognize the power of love as a radical tool for personal and community change. It is a catalyst for our collective growth.

We build connections. We work together, nurture relationships, and empower the collective.

We practice kindness. We are honest with ourselves and others. We are clear and compassionate in our communication. We notice where there is suffering and respond with care.

We act bravely. We do what’s right and just, even when it’s hard. We cultivate environments where courage can thrive.

We find joy. Even when things are hard and heavy, we look for moments of wonder, celebration, and gratitude.

We live liberation. We actively practice anti-racism and encourage others to, as well. We hold ourselves accountable in our commitment to an equitable world.

Compensation and Benefits

The starting salary range for this position is $90 - $115k per year.

We offer a generous benefits package that includes:

• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, vision, and life insurance for employee plus a percentage of dependent coverage
• Generous PTO including
  • 10 days of vacation
  • 9 days of sick/personal time
  • 8 floating holidays
  • 19 holidays including week off at Thanksgiving and a winter break in December
• Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for medical expenses and dependent care expenses
• 403(b) retirement plan
• Online training and professional development
• And more!