President and Chief Executive Officer

**Annual cash compensation range of $330,000 to $380,000 will be offered (90% is base salary and 10% incentive tied to meeting organization performance metric), commensurate with experience, plus comprehensive benefits and flexible time-off (FTO) package**

The Position: President and Chief Executive Officer

Reports to: Board of Directors

Location: San Jose, California

Overview

Momentum for Health (“Momentum”) has a long history of addressing behavioral health needs in the community, grounded in core beliefs that emphasize the uniqueness of individuals, the potential for change, and the importance of respect. Today, Momentum is one of the largest providers of behavioral health services, meeting the needs of adults, in Santa Clara County. The organization is committed to innovation, evidence- based treatment, and advocacy to reduce stigma around mental health and substance use treatment, partnering with clients throughout their recovery journeys.

A Compelling Leadership Opportunity

Momentum for Health’s incoming President and CEO will have the opportunity to step into a role where visionary leadership can spark collaboration, transformation, and elevate community well-being.

This CEO role provides an opportunity to advocate for meaningful change and make a lasting impact in behavioral health services locally, statewide, and nationally. At every stage of its history, Momentum has adapted programming to meet community needs and mitigate behavioral health challenges. The incoming President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) will lead Momentum to create innovative solutions to expand upon that legacy. The President and CEO will initiate efforts to maximize Momentum’s impact during a period of unprecedented attention and destigmatization around mental health and substance use challenges by collaborating with the Board of Directors to shape a bold vision and leading the executive team through implementation.

Momentum’s incoming CEO will provide visionary leadership, shape the strategic direction of the organization, and ensure its financial health and sustainability. The CEO will build strong relationships with government agencies, stakeholders, funders, and community partners, and serve as the primary advocate for the agency’s mission and goals.

Local Origins

Founded during a time when mental health treatment primarily occurred in hospitals, Momentum's early efforts aimed to shift care from institutions to community-based settings. In the 1950s, California's state

hospitals housed over 36,000 individuals, often without due process. Research began to highlight the ineffectiveness and potential harm of institutionalization, prompting a change in public opinion and the development of community-focused treatment options, supported by the Short-Doyle Act and the Lanterman- Petris-Short Act (LPS).

In Santa Clara County, three key agencies laid the groundwork for what is now Momentum for Health:

• Avenues to Mental Health (1953): Pioneered behavioral health care with California’s first halfwayhouse and a research-focused residential program.
• Miramonte Mental Health (1962): Developed impactful programs for day treatment and family
• Community Companions (1973): Fostered volunteer relationships with individuals facing serious mental illnesses and offered extensive outpatient services.
  
  

By the late 1990s, the mental health system had become fragmented. In 1997, the three agencies merged to form Alliance for Community Care, enhancing service delivery, cultural competence, and operational efficiency. This organization rebranded to Momentum for Mental Health in 2007, reflecting a focus on clients’ recovery journeys.

In response to changing community needs, Momentum expanded its offerings throughout the 2010s, including programs for co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions. This evolution culminated in a name change to Momentum for Health in 2020, emphasizing a holistic approach to well-being.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The ideal CEO candidate will have a strong background in behavioral health, a proven track record in nonprofit operational leadership, experience in leading, managing, and coaching executive team members, and a penchant for guiding organizations from intention to action. Responsibilities include building a culture that balances a strong focus on mission with operational excellence, diversifying Momentum’s revenue streams, evolving the service portfolio, and forming partnerships that extend impact.

Organizational Leadership

As one of Santa Clara’s largest providers of behavioral health services, Momentum treats individuals through outpatient and residential care, supportive services, and community response. Headquartered in San Jose, the organization has an annual operating budget of $75 million, a staff of 548, and is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors. The executive team members reporting directly to the CEO include: Chief Medical Officer/Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, and General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer. There are three major lines of service that report to the COO: Outpatient, Residential and The La Selva Group.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Vision

• Provides visionary leadership and ongoing strategic planning in partnership with the Board of Directors and executive team members to achieve Momentum’s mission, consistent with its values and responsive to client needs.
• Ensures Momentum’s sustainability with a focus on optimizing Momentum’s impact and results over an intermediate and longer-term horizon.
• Develops strategies for diversifying Momentum’s revenue streams over time and builds a coalition of support necessary to achieve this vision.
• Communicates and embodies the organization’s mission and ensures that policies, practices, and operations are aligned with the organization’s core values.
  
  

Operational Leadership

• Leads the executive team and provides oversight of operational performance consistent with organizational mission, values, strategic plan, clinical framework, work principles, contracts, and regulatory requirements.
• Works with the executive team to review industry developments and trends, identify risks, and allocate resources accordingly to ensure high quality, efficient, and effective programs. Makes changes as appropriate.
• Creates an organizational culture of accountability, using data and metrics to set goals, assess performance, and continually improve Momentum’s impact and outcomes.
• In partnership with the COO, sets the bar high and works with the executive team to ensure meaningful development of annual plans and metrics are established for all departments. Sets the appropriate cadence and participates actively in organization reviews to ensure goals and metrics are met, and outcomes are achieved.
  
  

Financial Management

• In collaboration with the Board and the CFO, ensures that financial plans support strategic priorities and achieve financial stability, including annual budgets, investments, and operating reserves.
• With the CFO, ensures that sound financial practices are established, and builds a culture of prudent financial management in accordance with current laws, regulations, and accounting practices and
• In partnership with the CFO, reviews and approves financial plans and budgets prior to Board Provides appropriate transparency to the Board about strategic choices, tradeoffs, performance, and actions.
  
  

Fundraising

• Works with the Chief Administrative Officer and the Director of Development in providing leadership in building and maintaining donor relationships that will enable Momentum’s future success.
• Partners with the Board, Executive Team, and fundraising staff to represent Momentum to key decision makers and institutions that are necessary for success including institutional funders (foundations, corporations), government, and individual donors.
  
  

External Relations

• Cultivates and maintains relationships with state, county, and local government officials, county executives, other executives in our field, the media, and community advocates.
• Serves as the primary spokesperson and “face” of Momentum in the field and among the broader community, elevating and amplifying the organization’s brand and influence.
• Provides leadership which impacts public policy and service system development consistent with Momentum’s mission and clinical framework.
• Leads efforts to educate key stakeholders and service providers to maximize the impact of Momentum’s policy victories, programming, and research in the understanding of behavioral health issues and needs.
  
  

People Management

• Leads, inspires, manages, develops, and retains executive team members and all staff. Provides opportunities to increase impact, feedback, mentoring, and professional development.
• Fosters an environment of growth and continuous learning, and inspires Momentum’s culture of promoting effectiveness, client-centered services, continuous quality improvement, and cultural competence, and maximizes individual potential.
• Continues and enhances Momentum’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and
  
  

Board Relations

• Builds a strong relationship with the Board of Directors, optimizing its effectiveness through structural planning and drawing on its talents, leadership, resources, and dedication, as well as recruiting new
• Partners with the Board of Directors, ensuring appropriate two-way communications and governance, transparency, and collaboration.
  
  

Education: Bachelor’s degree required; a Master’s degree in Public Health Administration, Psychology, Social Work or Business Administration preferred.

Qualifications/Experience

Prior experience as a CEO, ED or as a member of a senior leadership team in a large behavioral health organization or health care provider and/or complex nonprofit organization with experience working with governmental funders at the State and/or County levels.

Prior experience leading organizations to greater levels of financial health and sustainability. Experience in P&L management similar in scope to Momentum for Health and involving governmental funding.

Experience leading an organization through a time of organizational growth, professionalization, and transformation, including building the systems and capabilities needed to operate at scale (e.g., strengthening technological capabilities, internal systems and procedures, and communications).

Experience working in partnership with and providing effective officer leadership to a board of directors, including leading strategic planning and implementation.

Experience managing multi-layered teams, i.e., managing seasoned, experienced managers in multiple locations.

COMPETENCIES/ATTRIBUTES

The successful candidate will be:

• A strategic thinker with a vision for the future of behavioral health care;
• A leader with business acumen and financial savvy;
• Skilled at government relations, navigating political situations and fostering productive relationships with elected officials and government agencies;
• A proactive and responsive leader;
• A skilled negotiator;
• Highly effective and well-honed in verbal and written communication and presentation skills in English;
• Knowledgeable of best practices in the operation of behavioral health clinics, residential settings, or hospitals and a strength-based, harm reduction, social rehabilitation model;
• Able to work effectively with Momentum for Health’s target populations;
• Knowledgeable of the use of government funding resources in a managed care CalAIM setting, as well as Knox-Keene Act; HIPAA: 42 CFR Part 2; and other patient-protective legislation.
  
  

The successful candidate will possess:

• Relationship building and deft interpersonal skills;
• Passion for Momentum for Health’s mission, its record of achievement and excellence;
• A visionary leadership style, one who will mentor, inspire, and motivate all levels of staff; one who actively fosters a culture of openness, transparency, empathy, kindness and support. Embodies Momentum’s values and sets expectations for how the team works together every day.
• An ability to balance competing demands and satisfy the conflicting needs of a multi-stakeholder- based constituency with tact and diplomacy;
• Sensitivity to, and respect for, the diverse world views and different communication styles of individuals of diverse ethnic, linguistic and/or cultures which nurture and shape an organization that celebrates and promotes diversity in its workforce;
• An ability to identify trends, assess risk, define problems, collect data, establish facts and make recommendations which support the strategic direction of the organization;
• Flexibility and adaptability to a changing work environment and work priorities; and
• Exhibit exemplary customer service, compassion, and care in the execution of all duties and
  
  

It is not necessary to meet all the criteria above to apply and be considered for this critical position.

Compensation

A total annual cash compensation range of $330,000 to $380,000 will be offered (90% is base salary and 10% incentive tied to meeting organization performance metric), commensurate with experience, plus comprehensive benefits and flexible time-off (FTO) package.

How To Apply

To initiate consideration for this opportunity, please submit a resume and cover letter, speaking to your qualifications as per this Position Specification, to the Carlson Beck representatives below. For additional information regarding this opportunity, please contact:

Sally Carlson, Managing Partner Heidi Holzhauer, Partner

415.203.5259 mobile 707.963.1250 direct

[email protected] [email protected]