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National Association for Interpretation
The National Association for Interpretation (NAI) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to advancing the profession of heritage interpretation, currently serving about 5,000 members in the United States and over thirty other nations. Individual members include those who work at parks, museums, nature centers, zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, historical and cultural sites, commercial tour companies, and theme parks.
Chief Executive Officer (Remote)
Interested candidates are encouraged to review the full Position Prospectus at https://www.coopercoleman.com/current-searches for complete details regarding the role, organization, compensation, and benefits.
About The National Association for Interpretation
The National Association for Interpretation (NAI) is a 501(c)(3) professional association dedicated to advancing the field of heritage interpretation. The organization serves approximately 5,000 members across the United States and more than thirty countries, representing a wide range of roles and settings, including parks, museums, nature centers, zoos, aquariums, historic sites, and commercial tour operations.
NAI was formed in 1988 through the merger of the Association of Interpretive Naturalists (founded in 1954) and the Western Interpreters Association (founded in 1969). The organization is headquartered in Fort Collins, CO, with staff located across the US. Its membership includes interpreters, naturalists, historians, rangers, educators, guides, academics, and volunteers, as well as institutions that support the field.
NAI's core offerings include training and certification programs, conferences, regional workshops, publications, and digital resources. These include The Journal of Interpretation Research, a peer-reviewed publication advancing scholarship in the field, as well as other member communications. The organization also maintains a publishing imprint, InterpPress, along with an online store and additional member services.
For more than five decades, NAI and its predecessor organizations have supported the profession by encouraging collaboration, advancing standards of practice, and promoting leadership in heritage interpretation.
What is Interpretation?
NAI defines interpretation as a purposeful approach to communication that creates meaningful, relevant experiences that deepen understanding and inspire engagement.
In practice, interpretation is not about language translation. It is about how people connect to ideas, places, and stories. It takes place in parks, museums, zoos, aquariums, historic sites, and cultural institutions, where professionals use storytelling, exhibits, guided experiences, signage, and digital media to help audiences understand and care about natural, cultural, and historic resources.
At its best, interpretation shapes how people understand, experience, and value the world around them. It is often present in everyday experiences, even when it goes unnoticed.
The Opportunity
NAI is a respected organization with a clear mission, strong credibility in the field, and a set of meaningful assets to build upon. It is also at a point where a focus on infrastructure and strategic improvements to its operating model will position the organization for its next phase of growth.
The organization's primary value driver is its training and certification portfolio. These programs are central to both mission delivery and revenue generation and continue to hold strong relevance in the field. At the same time, there is an opportunity to further strengthen their impact through a more defined and forward-looking strategy, particularly around delivery models, pricing, ownership, and long-term positioning.
Membership, as seen across many associations, has declined from pre-pandemic levels and has since stabilized. The annual conference remains an important component of community and engagement, though participation patterns have evolved. Across the field, expectations for flexible, high-quality, and accessible professional development continue to increase, particularly in digital and hybrid formats, creating opportunities for thoughtful expansion and innovation.
NAI places emphasis on broadening inclusion, accessibility, and representation within the interpretation profession and the communities it serves. The organization recognizes that interpretation shapes how people understand stories, places, cultures, and histories, and believes the field is strongest when a diversity of perspectives and lived experiences are reflected in that work. Its next leader will be expected to continue advancing these efforts thoughtfully, credibly, and in alignment with NAI's mission and professional standards.
Internally, NAI operates with a lean and deeply committed team, though organizational systems, role clarity, and operational infrastructure will require continued strengthening to support the organization's next phase.
NAI is at a meaningful inflection point. The organization enters this next chapter with a strong mission, respected reputation, and deeply committed community, while also recognizing the need for greater operational clarity, financial resilience, organizational alignment, and long-term strategic focus. The next CEO will inherit an organization with significant strengths and opportunities for modernization, prioritization, and sustainable growth.
This is a leadership role defined less by organizational scale and more by judgment, influence, and the opportunity to shape how a respected national organization evolves to meet the changing needs of its field.
The next leader will also play an important role in strengthening NAI's long-term financial sustainability through partnership development, philanthropic strategy, sponsorship cultivation, and board engagement. Fundraising and partnership development capabilities remain relatively early-stage, and the organization sees significant opportunity to strengthen long-term revenue diversification and external engagement.
The Board recognizes that the organization's next phase will require disciplined focus, thoughtful pacing, and strong partnership between board and staff leadership. The Board is seeking a leader who can help shape organizational direction while also engaging the Board more actively in governance, fundraising, and long-term stewardship responsibilities.
Position Summary
NAI seeks a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) responsible for leading the organization through a period of organizational focus, modernization, and long-term strategic evolution in partnership with the Board of Directors.
This is a hands-on role in a national professional association where the CEO will operate across strategy, operations, revenue, and external engagement. Success will depend on the ability to assess the organization's current model, make clear decisions about priorities, and lead implementation in a resource-constrained environment with steadiness and discipline.
A central responsibility of the role is establishing direction and strategy for NAI's training and certification portfolio as its primary value driver. This includes evaluating how programs are developed, delivered, positioned, and priced to ensure alignment with both market demand and long-term sustainability.
The CEO will also improve financial visibility and organizational decision-making across a revenue model that would benefit from greater diversification and long-term resilience, including training, membership, conferences, and philanthropic support. This includes creating greater clarity, accountability, and transparency around how financial realities, tradeoffs, and organizational priorities are understood across the organization.
The role requires a candid, productive, and steady partnership with the Board of Directors. This includes building trust, clarifying roles, improving governance effectiveness, and engaging the Board more consistently in strategic and fundraising responsibilities while maintaining appropriate boundaries between governance and management. Over the next several years, key areas of focus will include:
Defining and advancing a clear strategy for training and certification as the organization's primary value driver.
Improving financial sustainability and diversification across all revenue streams.
Activating a more consistent and shared approach to fundraising, including greater board engagement.
Aligning organizational structure, staffing, and priorities to support execution.
Establishing a more proactive and rigorous approach to planning, prioritization, and decision-making.
Strengthening the board-staff partnership and improving governance effectiveness.
Progress in these areas will position the organization to make more intentional decisions about growth, partnerships, and its role within the broader field.
Location & Travel Expectations
This is a full-time, remote position based in the United States. NAI's headquarters is located in Fort Collins, CO; however, its building has been listed for sale in anticipation of the organization moving to a fully remote operating model.
Regular national travel is expected, including conferences, board meetings, partner engagement, and organizational events.
Experience Required
Qualifications The ideal candidate will bring senior leadership experience in a nonprofit, association, or similarly complex organization, along with demonstrated success leading through change, complexity, and organizational transformation. Experience in membership-based organizations, associations, or network-driven environments is preferred. Familiarity with interpretation or adjacent sectors such as museums, parks, education, environmental organizations, or cultural institutions is helpful but not required.
Salary
$120,000 - $130,000
How to Apply
Submission Instructions (read carefully)
Cooper Coleman is leading this search on behalf of the National Association for Interpretation. To apply, please visit this link (www.coopercoleman.com/current-searches). All expressions of interest should be made only through the online application, and all inquiries will be held in confidence.
A cover letter is not required with your initial application but is welcome to help us understand your fitness for and interest in this role during our initial evaluation. Candidates invited for interviews will be asked to provide a thoughtful letter of interest indicating their specific qualifications for the opportunity, desire to join NAI, and connection to its mission.
Cooper Coleman LLC is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and will refer candidates without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or identity, age, ability, veteran status, or any legally protected basis.
National Association for Interpretation
Fort Collins, CO
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