When I’m referencing things that point to Portland’s way of doing technology differently, I’ll often talk about the open source community, our culture of curiosity, and our vibrant user group communities. But the capper I’ll usually throw in there is, “Heck. We even have a nonprofit in town that helps people become geeks—or at least geekier.”
That nonprofit is Free Geek. And it’s become somewhat of a Portland institution. And now? You could have the chance to lead it.
A letter from Free Geek’s board chair, Dina Dickerson, offers context:
Dear Friends of Free Geek:
For over 16 years Free Geek has served Portlanders with reuse and ethical recycling of their technology while bridging the digital divide through its volunteer and educational programs. What began as a ragtag team of committed environmentalists is today a $1.7 million organization that is in need of an Executive Director who can help the organization reach its potential in a rapidly changing technological world.
Free Geek started out with a Collective management system but as it grew over time it became apparent that Collective structure was not serving the needs of the organization. In 2011, with the assistance of the Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO), the Board conducted an intensive assessment of our management and leadership structures. As a result, Free Geek adopted a three-person shared leadership model to enable more effective decision-making and collaboration between departments, and among management and our bargaining unit and volunteers.
The Board intended the three-person Management team to be a stepping stone from the Collective to an Executive Director structure and that is the stage we are at now. To assist with this transition, we hired a member of the NAO Executive Transition Service’s team as Interim Executive Director in August 2015.
The search for an Executive Director is underway and we expect to complete the search by late Spring 2016. We look forward to working collaboratively with the new Executive Director to facilitate the continued development of Free Geek and the community it serves.
Dina Dickerson
Free Geek Board Chairperson
Sound interesting? Visit Free Geek for more details on the role.
