The Organization
“The work of Thompson Island shows how important learning in the real world can be for young people.”- The Boston Globe, Editorial, November 12, 2012

Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center (TIOBEC) is a not-for-profit organization whose primary purpose is to provide adventurous and challenging experiential learning programs that inspire character development, compassion, community service, environmental responsibility and academic achievement. Our organization principally serves early adolescents from all economic and social communities of greater Boston, and the institutions and adults who support them.

Part of the Outward Bound USA network, which has the goal of “changing lives through challenge and discovery, “our core mission at TIOBEC is “to play a significant role in closing the achievement and opportunity gaps facing Boston public school students – and by doing so, to advance the field of education reform nationally.”

TIOBEC operates one of the largest, most accessible and ecologically diverse islands in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. With 204 acres, two-thirds of which is undeveloped, the Island has mature forests, meadows, freshwater and marine wetlands, salt marshes and a variety of important geological features. Thompson Island also has a formal school campus complete with dormitories, dining hall, classrooms, lab space, library, auditoriums, gymnasium, four challenge courses, and a 60-foot climbing tower. This position is based in our office in the dynamic Seaport District and frequent visits to the island are a wonderful benefit of the job.

Thompson Island has been dedicated to serving disadvantaged youth since 1833 and has been an education center inspired by the Outward Bound movement since 1975. The organization is governed by a 25 member Board of Trustees and 46 members of its Board of Advisors. With an endowment of over $6 million, positive cash flow from operations in every year since 2009, and a successful $8.35 million capital campaign recently completed, TIOBEC is poised to grow in the next 3-5 years in order to expand its impact on young people and the community at large.

The Position
Reporting directly to the President and CEO, the Executive Assistant (EA) provides executive support in a one-on-one working relationship. The EA also plays a vital role in ensuring that our trustees, advisors and donors have an outstanding experience, and therefore also works closely with the Executive Vice President in addition to playing an integral role on the Development team. S/he works closely and confidentially with the organization’s entire executive team and the board of trustees to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their efforts to advance the mission. S/he administers key executive and trustee operations and has the opportunity to work with every part of the organization from operations to hospitality to education to governance.

Qualifications
Highly organized individual with maturity and discretion to work directly with senior executives and interact with major donors on the board and in the community. Strong communications skills – verbal and written. Flexibility to be responsive to the needs of the board and senior staff, which vary from week to week with some predictable periods of higher work load and some periods of lesser work load. Sense of humor strongly recommended. Bachelor’s degree required. Minimum of 3-5 years of professional experience. Complete comfort using Word, PowerPoint and Excel;ability to become a proficient user of the Raiser’s Edge database to maintain and extract constituent information,websites with board development tools, and Delphi tracking system. Commitment to TIOBEC mission of improving education and opportunity for youth through active, outdoor, hands-on learning.