Executive Director - Sacramento, CA, or a major city near an airport within the HSW region
Sterling Search Inc. (SSI) has been exclusively retained to recruit the Executive Director for Head Start WEST: https://www.headstartwest.org/
Head Start WEST works to strengthen and elevate the Head Start and Early Head Start community by supporting children, families, educators, program leaders, and government partners.
Through professional development, peer-to-peer networks, membership services, and communications, Head Start WEST promotes collaboration, builds awareness, and advances strategies that support school readiness, family resilience, and healthy communities.
The organization is committed to creating opportunities for shared learning, professional growth, and collaboration across the Head Start community, helping programs enhance their impact and ensure children and families have the resources and support they need to thrive.
Head Start WEST (HSW) is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to addressing the needs of at-risk families while supporting and representing the interests of Head Start and Early Head Start programs. Its membership consists of organizations funded to provide Head Start, Early Head Start, and Early Head Start Child Care Partnership services.
The Association represents grantee agencies, delegate organizations, and corporate partners across Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Pacific Region. As the largest geographical Head Start region in the United States, it serves more than 120,000 infants, toddlers, preschool-aged children, and families.
Head Start and Early Head Start programs across the region employ or contract with more than 37,000 individuals, including thousands of current and former Head Start parents and program participants. Membership is held by grantee and delegate organizations and extends throughout their staff, child care partners, and contractors. Head Start WEST also offers membership opportunities to individuals and corporate partners through its Friends and Corporate Membership programs.
With its long-time Executive Director retiring, HSW is seeking a dynamic and visionary leader to guide the organization through its next chapter of growth and impact. HSW operates with an annual budget of $1.3 million, a dedicated staff of four, and approximately 160 members. The organization also benefits from a highly engaged and committed Board of Directors. Through its active committee structure, the Board provides strategic guidance, valuable expertise, and responsive support, serving as a significant resource and thought partner to the Executive Director.
HSW is well-positioned to expand its influence and strengthen its service to the Head Start community. As the Head Start landscape continues to evolve through changes in funding, compliance requirements, and community needs, the next Executive Director will be an innovative and strategic leader who embraces change and identifies opportunities for growth. The successful candidate will be skilled in adult learning and professional development, community building, stakeholder engagement, and revenue generation. This leader will strengthen HSW's value to its members while positioning the organization to respond proactively to emerging challenges and opportunities across the Head Start sector.
The Executive Director serves as the chief executive of Head Start WEST and is responsible for the overall leadership, management, and strategic direction of the organization. Working closely with the Board of Directors, the Executive Director sets the organization’s vision, drives strategic priorities, and ensures operational excellence.
The Executive Director leads staff, stewards organizational resources, expands partnerships, and elevates the voice and impact of Head Start programs across the Western region. The role is responsible for ensuring strong operations, high-impact services, financial sustainability, and meaningful engagement with the organization’s members.
Head Start WEST supports more than 150 Head Start and early childhood programs, their staff, and the children and families they serve. The Executive Director represents and advances the organization’s work to connect, strengthen, and advocate for Head Start and early childhood programs across the region.
The Executive Director will also have opportunities to collaborate with professional networks within the Head Start community, including national and state Head Start associations. As a multi-state organization aligned with the Western Regional Office of Head Start, the position requires regional travel.
R9HSA/Head Start WEST is grounded in a simple but powerful belief: every child and family deserves the opportunity to thrive in school and in life. This purpose drives our work and the partnerships we build across the western region.
The Head Start community is navigating a period of significant change. Shifting political landscapes, workforce pressures, evolving family needs, and increased public scrutiny have created new challenges and new opportunities for early childhood leaders.
At the same time, resilience, innovation, and commitment within the Head Start community have never been stronger.
The next Executive Director will play a critical role in helping the organization respond strategically to this moment by:
This role calls for a visionary and collaborative leader who can navigate complexity, inspire partnerships, and help shape the future of Head Start across the region.
Sterling Search is a boutique talent acquisition firm that specializes in finding select talent for those “hard to fill” positions. Headquartered in Costa Mesa /Orange County, Sterling Search conducts national searches and has its team of professionals covering both Eastern and Pacific time zones.
By using creative sourcing techniques, we are able to identify a pool and a network of talent within a two to three week period and “sizzle” them with the idea of looking at the next step in their career.
Most of the candidates that Sterling Search hires for non-profit and healthcare companies are passive candidates (executives and professionals who are successful in their careers, and too busy to be looking for their next job on the job boards or by posting a resume on the web). Sterling Search conducts full search activities - from name generation, through to offer and negotiation. Sterling Search unbundles the process to use as much or as little of the search process as needed, thereby complementing the internal recruiting team a client may already have. We at Sterling Search are proud to say that all of our clients are either repeat clients or have been referred to us by existing clients.
