Elemental Impact

Director of Growth & Giving

Join Elemental Impact as Director of Growth & Giving in San Francisco, New York, or Honolulu. Lead fundraising efforts to mobilize $30M+ annually through innovative philanthropy and blended finance. Collaborate across teams and enjoy a hybrid work model with professional development benefits.
Elemental Impact
Elemental Impact
Hybrid Full time USD 138k–207k yearly UTC-10:00 — UTC-05:00

Elemental Impact

Company Overview

Elemental Excelerator

Hawai'i & San Francisco Bay Area, United States

2009

Approximately 50 employees (source: linkedin.com). No public revenue figures disclosed as it operates as a private nonprofit under Elemental Excelerator, Inc. (EIN 82-1112859), supported by philanthropic backers including the Rockefeller Foundation and Emerson Collective (source: rockefellerfoundation.org).

What They Do

Elemental Excelerator is a nonprofit organization dedicated to scaling climate technologies that have a significant community impact. Founded in 2009 by Dawn Lippert, it has evolved from evaluating over 5,000 startups to investing in more than 150 companies across 50 U.S. states and over 100 countries. The organization provides catalytic capital, coaching, and support to bridge funding gaps for early-stage ventures that address climate change and social equity (source: rockefellerfoundation.org). Its core focus encompasses a wide range of climate technologies, including energy, transportation, agriculture, water, and construction, with investments typically ranging from $1-3 million per company to accelerate adoption in underserved communities (source: investorlist.com).

Projects & Track Record

Elemental Excelerator has a notable track record of successful projects and investments. Among its portfolio, Simple Energy, a utility analytics software firm, sold most of its shares to AES in 2018 and merged into Uplight, now serving 75 top electric and gas utilities worldwide. Another significant investment was in Xos Trucks, an electric van and truck manufacturer that secured a major order from FedEx and went public via a SPAC merger in 2021. The organization has facilitated at least 20 other exits through acquisitions or public markets, showcasing its effectiveness in nurturing startups to maturity (source: trellis.net). Ongoing initiatives include investments in innovative companies such as Forum Mobility, Modulous, and Stem, which are focused on electric trucking, modular construction, and energy storage software, respectively (source: investorlist.com).

Recent Developments

In the past two years, Elemental Excelerator has continued to expand its portfolio, adding about 15 companies annually from a pool of 1,000 reviewed. This growth has been supported by leveraging the Inflation Reduction Act for project readiness. Notably, the organization spun out Earthshot Ventures in September 2021, raising $60 million for early-stage climate tech, backed by prominent figures such as John Doerr and Tom Steyer (source: golden.com). Additionally, it launched the Empowering Diverse Climate Talent (EDICT) internship program to build workforce pipelines in anticipation of 24 million green jobs by 2030, as projected by the International Labor Organization (source: rockefellerfoundation.org).

Working There

Elemental Excelerator offers a variety of roles across sourcing, investment analysis, portfolio management, coaching, policy, and operations within its approximately 50-person team. About half of the staff is dedicated to direct company support, emphasizing racial equity strategies and long-term plans to eliminate race-based disparities in the workplace (source: rockefellerfoundation.org). The organization primarily hires in its Honolulu headquarters and East Palo Alto office, aligning with its operational focus in Hawai'i and the San Francisco Bay Area. The culture is mission-driven, with over 50% of its portfolio companies led by diverse founders, reflecting a commitment to community representation and equity (source: guidestar.org).


Last updated on Feb 23, 2026 | Report an issue

Elemental is seeking a Director of Growth & Giving to join our dynamic Growth team. In this role, you will lead the creative pitch development and technical proposal writing to mobilize $30m+ annually in charitable capital via gifts, grants, recoverable grants, and Program-Related Investments (PRIs). You will also manage the cultivation of a growing pipeline of mission-aligned High Net Worth (HNW) individuals, foundations, family offices, and wealth managers, as well government funding programs.

This is an innovative and high velocity fundraising team that is focused on expanding our community of visionary donors, diversifying our philanthropic funding sources, and driving our ambitious revenue and impact targets. If you want to be a part of a relentless group of development professionals that is driven to make Elemental Impact the most catalytic nonprofit investor in climate, this role is for you.

This position will report to the Chief Growth Officer and manage the Growth Manager on our team. The Director of Growth & Giving will bring deep technical climate expertise, familiarity with the nonprofit capital stack and a collaborative spirit, working across Elemental's different teams of practitioners and partnership builders to create an aligned fundraising story and strategy.

Key Responsibilities Include

PITCH DEVELOPMENT & PROPOSAL WRITING

  • Craft sophisticated, one-of-a-kind funding pitches (both written concepts and beautiful decks) that are tailored to the unique interests of philanthropic prospects
  • Write technical, data-driven proposals that incorporate the measurable impact of new climate technologies, while also capturing the imagination of donors
  • Design protocols, systems and processes to efficiently solicit data, stories and programmatic updates from across different teams - and then translate that information into multi-million dollar concepts
  • Develop modeling for new capital recycling programs, ie recoverable grants and PRIs, and articulate the value proposition for a blended finance approach to scale climate innovation

PIPELINE CULTIVATION & PROSPECT MANAGEMENT

  • Collaborate closely with the Chief Growth Officer and CEO to expertly manage their high volume inbound of new philanthropic, institutional, corporate and other funder prospects
  • Build a robust and segmented database of funder pipeline, own the sales cycle, and design white glove cultivation strategies for consistent engagement and donor conversion

CROSS-TEAM COLLABORATION

  • Partner closely and humbly with the Communications, Events and Creative teams to integrate new donor messaging into public facing materials, ie website, Annual Report, blogs, event signage and talking points, etc.
  • Once new funding is secured, work directly with your Growth Team to ensure a seamless "handoff" for ongoing donor stewardship, compliance and grant reporting
  • Collaborate with the Investment and Finance teams to build traditional grant budgets and also structure recoverable grants and PRIs that support existing catalytic capital and recycling strategies, eg D-SAFE

About You

You could be a great addition to our Growth Team if you are an experienced fundraiser who understands both nonprofit philanthropy and blended finance. You have spent a significant portion of your career in climate, technology and impact investing and have tested unique strategies to bring philanthropy closer to innovation and market transformation. You love both the art and the science of resource mobilization - you are someone who has a pulse on catalytic capital and climate finance and also brings impeccable writing, visual creativity and fundraising mastery.

Foundational Skills & Experience

  • Sales savviness - demonstrated and consistent success in pitch development and proposal writing for both small gifts and large seven- and eight- figure grants
  • Technical fluidity - deep experience and knowledge of climate technology, impact investing, and/or the environment sector
  • Systems wizardry - you can build deal pipelines in Hubspot, detailed budgets in Excel, and beautiful presentations in Google Slides

What will set you apart

  • Purpose-driven, business-minded - Experience in both nonprofit and for-profit / management consulting
  • Innovative financing - Familiarity structuring recoverable grants and Program-Related Investments with foundations and DAFs
  • Creative flair - If you are able to mix technical rigor and subject matter mastery with an eye for design and an innate desire to surprise and delight, we want to meet you

Compensation & Benefits

This is a full-time "at-will" position working at least 40 hours per week. You will be asked to travel for work periodically.

The salary range for this role is $138,100 - $207,200 which is based on market data and the organization's compensation philosophy. Also, please note that while we strive to benchmark against for-profit companies and try to be as competitive as possible, we are a non-profit. Our offer will be within the range as required by certain state laws and individual salary offers will vary within the range depending on location, relevant education, knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer comprehensive employee benefits, including a professional development stipend and three weeks paid time off.

Location

We strongly prefer candidates located near one of our headquarters: Honolulu, San Francisco, and New York, but will consider remote options for the right candidate. Elemental has a hybrid working model and if you are within a reasonable distance to one of our offices in New York, Bay Area, or Honolulu, we invite you to build community with team members in person at least once a week.

Other Application Details

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa.

We will accept and review applications on a rolling basis. Although all applications will be considered, we may be unable to respond to all inquiries. Please note that we do read cover letters, so we advise spending time on them to share your relevant stories and experiences with us. We ask that you keep the cover letter to 1-2 pages long.

Elemental is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Elemental is also committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, activities, programs, and employment opportunities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other applicable laws.

Apply now

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About the role

June 9, 2026

Full time

Non-profit

June 9, 2026

Hybrid

USD 138k–207k yearly

Solar Energy , Wind Energy , Hydropower , Bioenergy , Energy Storage , Tidal and Wave Energy , Geothermal Energy , Hydrogen

Elemental Impact

elementalimpact.com

  •  San Francisco, California, United States
  •  New York, NY, United States
  •  Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Experienced fundraiser with significant background in climate and impact investing

UTC-10:00 — UTC-05:00