Colorado Mass Timber Coalition Seeks an Inaugural Director

Throughout 2023, Gates Family Foundation has been working with a broad coalition of partners to convene a discussion with far-reaching implications for three of the challenges we care about deeply in Colorado: sustainable development, climate change, and forest health.

It began with a research project into a series of questions: What if small-diameter trees harvested from Colorado forests for fire mitigation and through sustainable planting and harvesting could be turned into new, beautiful construction materials that provide extraordinary strength, stability, fire resistance, and carbon mitigation? And what if, instead of importing this material — known as mass timber — from thousands of miles away, Colorado cultivated its own manufacturing ecosystem, to create new local jobs and reduce the carbon footprint of construction?

The mission of the Colorado Mass Timber Coalition (CMTC) is to accelerate the adoption of mass timber products and technology in Colorado’s next generation of buildings, and to create a future for mass timber products that are made in Colorado, using local timbers, including timber from efforts to improve forests and watersheds.

Coalition members — numbering nearly 30 as of August 2023 — have been meeting all year to examine efforts across the U.S. and worldwide; conduct and review a feasibility analysis for a Colorado initiative; and coalesce the talent and expertise that exists in Colorado and beyond in the fields of forestry and forest management, forest products, manufacturing, design, engineering, finance, construction, and real estate development. The group received a grant from the National Forest Service in June 2023, and in September the Gates Family Foundation board approved a multi-year grant to support the coalition.

The National Forest Foundation, a coalition member that works with communities and organizations to conserve and enhance watersheds, wildlife habitat, wild places, and recreational opportunities across the 193-million-acre National Forest System, will serve as the CMTC’s fiscal sponsor, providing a home base for its first staff member.

Below is a summary of the job description for the Colorado Mass Timber Coalition Director. You can read the full position description and apply to the National Forest Foundation here.

Employer: National Forest Foundation
Job Type: Full-time, Temporary
Job Location: Denver, work-from-home flexible
Salary Range: $89,438 to $126,108

National Forest Foundation (NFF) is pleased to offer a regular, full-time, exempt, term (2 years) position that will lead a coalition of stakeholders to catalyze mass timber use broadly and sourcing of material from Colorado specifically as a solution to Colorado’s climate forest health and fire risk challenges. This position is currently funded through 2025, with an opportunity for long-term extension.

Position Function: The National Forest Foundation is working in collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders representing the entire value chain of mass timber, from the forest to construction site, to catalyze the emergence of a climate smart forest economy that can make use of some of the forest fiber produced through forest restoration treatments.

The Director is the first full-time operating role for the Coalition. While the position will initially serve in a programmatic context given the start-up nature of the coalition, the Director’s ability to build a strategic plan, take action to catalyze Coalition action, and attract additional capital may position the Coalition to incorporate as a separate institution. If and as such, the Director role could morph into that more akin to an Executive Director.

The Colorado Mass Timber Coalition Director reports internally to NFF’s Senior Advisor, Wildfire Resilience, and will closely collaborate externally with an advisory Executive Committee composed of a broad cross-section of experts, to oversee strategy and operations of the Colorado Mass Timber Coalition (CMTC). The Director may supervise up to one staff person, who will assist in leading the operations of the Coalition.

Position Duties and Responsibilities: The CMTC Director will:

• Strategy: Work closely with NFF’s Senior Advisor for Wildfire Resilience and the CMTC Executive Committee to set strategic direction for the Coalition, including but not limited to: synthesizing the findings from Coalition research in the areas of Forest Supply for Mass Timber Products, Activating Demand for Mass Timber Products, and Affordable Housing Applications of Mass Timber; charting a course for nonprofit, government, and for-profit actors to accelerate and adopt the use of mass timber products; and creating a cross-sector action plan for the Coalition to catalyze exponentially growth in the use of mass timber products.
• Coalition Advancement: Alongside coalition members, develop and execute an advancement strategy that incorporates learning from CMTC research and catalyzes the use of mass timber products in commercial and residential construction; continue to expand the breadth and depth of the Coalition’s membership; build relationships and a community of practice with other relevant sectors including mass timber, forestry, and land use in North America and beyond; and develop and execute a communications strategy to further the knowledge and use of mass timber products.
• Fundraising: Alongside the CMTC Executive Committee, develop an organizational budget to achieve the Coalition’s mission and strategy; create a fundraising plan to attract additional capital; and explore and develop options for more permanently institutionalizing the Coalition’s long-term role.
• Operations: Organize multiple workstreams and associated Coalition working groups to ensure progress in core areas of interest; manage program and project budgets and reporting associated with grants from federal, state, and local government sources, as well as philanthropic support from corporations, foundations, and individuals; and lead the advertisement, negotiation, and awarding of multiple contracts and grants for services related to the Coalition’s strategies.