Executive Director Transition

After years of dedicated service, Rick Henning is retiring as Executive Director of BCBS. In a heartfelt letter, BCBS Board Chair Sue McGilvray reflects on Rick’s impact and shares details about this leadership transition. Read the letter >

Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (BCBS) is seeking an energetic, collaborative, and community-focused Executive Director to lead our thriving retreat center located in Barre, Massachusetts. BCBS is an internationally respected Dharma center that offers both residential and virtual programming in Buddhist study and practice.

The successful applicant will be a mature professional with extensive experience leading small organizations. They will also be a student and practitioner of the Dharma with an appreciation and understanding of BCBS’s values and culture.

BCBS’s small size calls for a visionary leader with an expansive range of skills who can wear many hats and perform many functions. The ideal candidate will have exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, fundraising experience for a mission-driven organization, and a strong background in managing teams and overseeing budgets.

Download the Executive Director Profile

Organization Profile

About BCBS

Founded in 1990 by Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg, BCBS offers programs that integrate study and practice in exploring the many streams of teaching and expression that flow from the sources of early Buddhism. Our residential and online programs combine contemplative and relational elements supportive of personal transformation.


BCBS currently employs 14 full-time staff and several part-time staff to support its operation. The Center’s finances are strong; it has a $2MM operating budget for FY25, a significant endowment, and owns its campus. This position requires a full-time presence at the Center.

The Opportunity

Our new Executive Director will have the opportunity to lead a well-established, financially stable 501(c)(3) organization. Reporting to BCBS’s Board of Directors, the Executive Director has overall fiscal, strategic, and operational responsibility and will partner with the Board to develop a new long-term plan to leverage BCBS’s 35-year legacy of success. The Executive Director will support, manage, and inspire staff to ensure the organization realizes its mission and vision. They will collaborate closely with the Director of Studies, who is responsible for developing the Center’s programs. There is an existing donor base to cultivate, a vibrant community to engage and serve, and the opportunity to steward the current and future well-being of the Center.

It is an exciting time for a new leader to join the BCBS Board and staff in realizing these opportunities.

Our Ideal Candidate

While we recognize that candidates may not possess all of the following key attributes, skills, and professional experiences, the ideal candidate will exemplify a great number of them. They will have the ability to oversee an organization of BCBS’s size and scope with effectiveness, passion, integrity, and dedication, and will be a student and practitioner of the Dharma. At BCBS we are committed to recruiting, supporting, and fostering a diverse community of staff and participants in our programs. We encourage applications from qualified applicants regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, etc.

Visionary and Strategic Leadership
  • The capacity to cultivate close, collaborative, and productive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders (staff, Board, volunteers, students, donors, visiting teachers, and the larger BCBS community)

  • Experience balancing the big picture and the details of running a small non-profit organization

  • Excellent supervisory and management skills; an ability to create a supportive work environment that attracts, retains, motivates, and develops staff members

  • Commitment to clear, transparent, consistent communication with BCBS staff, board, and other constituents

  • Experience recruiting, working with, and sustaining a strong Board of Directors; able to collaborate in developing and implementing a strategic organizational vision
  • Oversees the daily operation of the Center and BCBS as an organization; supports and empowers managers; provides adequate resources and effective guidance for the management team, staff, and consultants to deliver on BCBS’s goals

  • Supports the Director of Studies and other staff in the creation and delivery of high-quality programming that is consistent

  • Brings strong project management skills and the ability to develop and implement clear and efficient systems and processes

  • Ensures an effective communications plan that uses current technology to inform and engage constituents and increases BCBS’s visibility

  • Has strong financial acumen and experience with sound non-profit business, financial oversight, and risk-management practices

  • Able to design, implement, and oversee a budget that maximizes resources and provides for both short-term needs and long-term sustainability

  • Together with the Finance Committee, responsibly stewards the endowment

  • Ensures best practices in human resource management
  • Experience with donor identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship

  • Success in the discipline of fundraising: database management, appeals, capital campaigns, etc.

  • Capacity to develop a fundraising strategy in collaboration with the Board

  • Excellent communication and listening skills, with the passion and presence to articulate a vision and serve as the primary spokesperson for BCBS
  • Emotional integrity and maturity; open-minded with the ability to listen deeply, honor multiple points of view, hold an independent voice, and make effective decisions

  • Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to cultivate trust and build strong relationships with diverse internal and external stakeholders

  • Commitment to being a compassionate, fair, approachable, and supportive leader who brings enthusiasm, kindness, and a sense of humor to work; comfortable championing staff

  • Skill in de-escalating and resolving conflict

  • Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to creating a collaborative environment in which all members of the community can feel valued and respected

  • Willingness to work at all levels of the organization, as appropriate

  • Ability to provide clear, constructive, and effective feedback to staff and others, and to receive feedback in a professional manner

Application Guidelines

Candidates must include a resume and a cover letter that describes how their qualifications and experience match the needs and mission of BCBS.

All submissions are confidential.

The BCBS Search Committee will begin to review applications on April 1, 2025, and the position will remain open until the right candidate is identified.

Send required documents to:

EDsearch@buddhistinquiry.org

Download the Executive Director Profile

This is a full-time, salaried, exempt position. Salary is commensurate with experience, with a range of $95-$125k (negotiable). Excellent benefits include 100% employer-paid health care, dental coverage, 401K match, 38 days of paid time off annually, on-campus housing option, and no-cost access to all BCBS programs.

BCBS is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer and is committed to an inclusive hiring process.

Candidates who are selected to move forward in the hiring process will be notified. Initial interviews will be conducted via Zoom; finalists will be invited to an on-campus interview.

Questions may be submitted to:

EDsearch@buddhistinquiry.org

Deepening Practice,
Building Community.

Deepening Practice,
Building Community.

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