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What is a founder and executive director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
The average founder and executive director salary is $66,521. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes more than 10 years of experience to become a founder and executive director. Founder and executive directors with a Certified Manager Certification (CM) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 189,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
ScoreFounder And Executive DirectorUS Average
Salary
5.2

Avg. Salary $66,521

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
10.0

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
1.5
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.64%

Asian 7.49%

Black or African American 3.68%

Hispanic or Latino 7.58%

Unknown 3.88%

White 76.73%

Gender

female 53.07%

male 46.93%

Age - 52
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52
Stress level
10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance
3.0

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Founder and executive director career paths

Key steps to become a founder and executive director

  1. Explore founder and executive director education requirements

    Most common founder and executive director degrees

    Bachelor's

    62.2 %

    Master's

    22.0 %

    Associate

    7.5 %
  2. Start to develop specific founder and executive director skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Non-Profit Organization21.56%
    Financial Management7.83%
    Community Outreach7.44%
    Business Plan3.85%
    Website Development3.80%
  3. Research founder and executive director duties and responsibilities

    • Lead the facility in implementing person-centered care/hospitality philosophy, electronic medical records, maximization of Medicare reimbursement, and alternative therapies.
    • Develop and maintain positive alumni relationships resulting in higher retention rate for board service.
    • Perform auditing functions of Medicare and Medicaid for appropriate coding and documentation; conduct educational/training presentations of current Medicare regulations.
    • Lead the facility in implementing person-centered care/hospitality philosophy, electronic medical records, maximization of Medicare reimbursement, and alternative therapies.
  4. Get founder and executive director experience

    Generally, it takes more than 10 years to become a founder and executive director. The most common roles before becoming a founder and executive director include internship, executive director team lead and director.
  5. Prepare your founder and executive director resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your founder and executive director resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a founder and executive director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable founder and executive director resume templates

    Build a professional founder and executive director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your founder and executive director resume.
    Founder And Executive Director Resume
    Founder And Executive Director Resume
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    Founder And Executive Director Resume
    Founder And Executive Director Resume
    Founder And Executive Director Resume
    Founder And Executive Director Resume
    Founder And Executive Director Resume
    Founder And Executive Director Resume
  6. Apply for founder and executive director jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a founder and executive director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first founder and executive director job

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Average founder and executive director salary

The average founder and executive director salary in the United States is $66,521 per year or $32 per hour. Founder and executive director salaries range between $33,000 and $130,000 per year.

Average founder and executive director salary
$66,521 Yearly
$31.98 hourly

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How do founder and executive directors rate their job?

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Founder and executive director reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2022
Pros

It provides me an opportunity to actively employ my passion for a leadership, while taking ideas from other people, above my position and developing leaders that work in my group. I have taught many classes in Customer Service, Communications Skills, Leadership and many others, for the State of NH, Federal Government and colleges and universities, including Entrepreneurship, for SNHU.

Cons

Being restricted to working with a smaller group, than might need Leadership training and coaching.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2020
Cons

Cannot have true friends at work because you are at the top, board members if they don't get your work but insist on being involved, overdemanding funders.

Pros

Working with teams, creating and sustaining service delivery systems, variety of tasks and projects, making it happen.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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