Inkinen is assisting East-West Center with their search for a Chief Advancement Officer (CAO).
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
https://www.eastwestcenter.org/
Founded in 1960, the East-West Center is an independent, public nonprofit institution dedicated to strengthening relationships and advancing mutual understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific. The Center fulfills its mission through cooperative study, research, professional development, and sustained dialogue that brings together current and emerging leaders from across the Indo-Pacific region. In fiscal year 2024 alone, the Center supported participants from 66 countries and 48 U.S. states and territories through degree study, leadership exchanges, and professional programs, reinforcing its long-standing role as a trusted convener of ideas and partnerships at both local and international levels.
The East-West Center operates at a unique intersection of public service, international engagement, and education, with a strong global reputation built over more than six decades. In FY2024, the Center’s operating model reflected a diverse mix of public and private support, including a $22 million U.S. Congressional appropriation and more than $13.5 million in private funders and donor support that enable its broad portfolio of education, professional development, research, and outreach activities across the Indo-Pacific. The organization is supported by a deeply engaged international alumni community and an active foundation and association structure that amplifies the Center’s impact well beyond Hawaiʻi and Washington, D.C.
ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY
The Chief Advancement Officer (CAO) will join the East-West Center at a pivotal moment as the organization advances its 2023–2027 Foundational Strategy, an institution-wide commitment to developing and equipping diverse Indo-Pacific leaders, convening impactful dialogues, deepening partnerships with the Pacific Islands, fostering environmental solutions, and strengthening good governance across the region. Emerging from a period shaped by uncertainty in federal funding and broader geopolitical shifts, the Center is entering a renewed phase of stability and momentum, with strong advocacy for funding at the federal and state levels. The CAO will play a central leadership role in aligning advancement strategy with these institutional priorities, elevating the Center’s external profile, and helping translate strategic clarity into the resources, partnerships, and organizational capacity required to support East-West Center’s mission.
This is a rare opportunity to build and lead a modern, comprehensive advancement function within a globally respected institution. The CAO will be charged with broadening the Center’s funding base beyond its historic reliance on public support, developing private philanthropy, foundation partnerships, corporate engagement, and international relationships into long-term pillars of financial sustainability. With an alumni network of more than 73,000 individuals worldwide, many of whom are positioned to serve as connectors, advocates, and philanthropic partners across Asia and the Pacific, the Center is exceptionally well placed to expand major and principal giving activity, alumni-driven philanthropy, and international funding relationships.
The CAO will inherit both challenges and opportunities in building organizational capacity. The advancement team is in a period of rebuilding following organizational change, creating a unique platform for a leader who is energized by growth, culture-building, and team development. In the near term, the role will blend strategic leadership with hands-on fundraising, campaign planning, and systems development. Success in the first year will be defined by establishing a clear multi-year advancement strategy, rebuilding and stabilizing staffing and infrastructure, strengthening board and leadership engagement in fundraising, and launching a more proactive and diversified pipeline of major, foundation, and international prospects. The CAO will be empowered to shape structure, systems, and partnerships, and build a high-performing, collaborative advancement organization aligned with the East-West Center’s global mission and future ambitions.
Target Annual Base Salary: $240,000 – $260,000
HOW TO APPLY
Please submit the following, addressed to East-West Center Search Committee, c/o Inkinen Executive Search, via email to executives@inkinen.com by Monday, April 4, 2026:
- Cover Letter – expressing the reason for your interest in East-West Center, and how your skills and experience match the CAO role.
- Resume