The World’s Borough — home to speakers of 160+ languages and the most ethnically diverse county in the United States. Queens commands a nonprofit sector unlike any other: anchored by immigrant services, world-class healthcare systems, and a cultural institution landscape stretching from Flushing to Far Rockaway.
Workforce development, faith-based organizations, housing nonprofits, and social services anchored by York College and major community development corporations.
Arts organizations, housing advocacy, and workforce development. LIC’s rapid development has created new demand for affordable housing nonprofits and displacement prevention programs.
Coastal resilience, environmental justice, post-Sandy recovery organizations, and poverty-focused human services. Underserved and high-impact executive opportunity.
Community development corporations, small business support nonprofits, arts organizations, and faith-based social services serving a historically working-class corridor.
Depth of Sector: Queens nonprofits span every subsector — healthcare, immigrant services, housing, arts, education, environmental justice, and workforce development — creating year-round executive demand that no other single borough can match.
Cross-Cultural Competency Premium: Organizations in Queens actively recruit executives who can operate across cultures, manage multilingual teams, and build trust with communities that have historically been underserved by mainstream institutions. This specialized skill set commands measurable salary premiums.
Growth Trajectory: As Manhattan rents have pushed organizations and communities into Queens, the borough has absorbed a wave of nonprofit expansion. Organizations that established footholds in Jackson Heights and Flushing in the 2010s are now scaling to full borough operations — creating VP and C-suite roles that did not exist five years ago.
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Queens follows NYC market salary rates, which rank among the highest in the nation. NYC Local Law 32 salary transparency means these ranges reflect actual posted compensation. Organizations in Flushing and LIC trend toward the top of the band; Far Rockaway and community-based organizations toward the lower range.
| Role | Small Org (<$2M) | Mid-Size ($2–$10M) | Large Org ($10M+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Director / CEO↑ +7% YoY — highest demand role in Queens | $85K–$120K | $125K–$175K | $180K–$285K |
| Chief Development Officer↑ Major gifts capacity gap drives demand | $80K–$110K | $115K–$155K | $160K–$215K |
| CFO / VP Finance→ Stable; federal contract compliance a premium | $75K–$105K | $108K–$145K | $148K–$195K |
| VP Programs / COO↑ Immigrant services orgs scaling to borough-wide | $72K–$100K | $102K–$140K | $142K–$185K |
| Development Director↑ Bilingual development directors scarce & premium | $70K–$95K | $98K–$130K | $132K–$168K |
| Communications / Marketing Director↑ Multilingual content capability in demand | $65K–$88K | $90K–$120K | $122K–$155K |
| HR Director→ Labor law compliance & DEI driving steady demand | $65K–$88K | $90K–$118K | $120K–$150K |
| Sources: NYC salary transparency postings (Local Law 32), GuideStar NYC filings, ExecSearches.com placements 1999–2026. Bilingual/multilingual candidates command 15–25% premium at all levels. | |||
No nonprofit sector in the United States has a higher concentration of immigrant-serving executive roles than Queens. Organizations in this sector are complex, multi-funded, and require leaders who can navigate federal contracts, city agency partnerships, and community trust simultaneously.
One of the largest member-led community organizations in the US. Policy, legal, health, and education programs. Executive and VP roles require deep community organizing experience.
Borough-wide social services, workforce development, and community programs. Multiple program director and VP-level openings annually across Jackson Heights, Woodside, and Forest Hills sites.
One of the largest human services organizations in the NYC metro. Executive director, VP operations, and senior program director roles across immigration, housing, and family services.
SACSS serves the Jackson Heights and Flushing South Asian corridor. Executive and program leadership roles with Bangla, Hindi, and Urdu fluency strongly preferred.
Queens hosts three major hospital systems and one of the densest networks of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in New York State. Healthcare executive roles here are distinguished by language access requirements and community health equity mandates.
Major academic medical center affiliate. Foundation, community benefit, and senior health system leadership roles. Strong demand for executives with Mandarin, Korean, or Spanish fluency.
NYC’s public hospital system flagship in Queens. Among the most diverse patient populations of any hospital in the US. VP and director roles in community health, compliance, and operations.
Premier FQHC serving the Flushing Chinese-American community. CEO, CMO, and program director roles with Mandarin and Cantonese preferred. Growing to serve pan-Asian populations.
Multiple federally qualified health centers serve Corona, Jackson Heights, and Southeast Queens. Executive director and medical director roles with community health mission alignment required.
Executive Director — Immigrant Legal Services: Post-2025 federal immigration policy changes have created unprecedented demand for legal services EDs across Jackson Heights, Flushing, and Jamaica. Bilingual Spanish or Mandarin candidates are being recruited nationally with relocation packages.
Chief Development Officer — Community Health Centers: Queens FQHCs are under pressure to diversify away from government grants toward individual donors and foundations. CDOs with experience transitioning health orgs to philanthropic models are in critically short supply.
VP Programs / COO — Scaling Immigrant Services Orgs: Several borough-wide organizations that started as single-site programs are now managing 8–12 sites and desperately need operational leadership. $130K–$160K range, strong benefits, mission-driven culture.
Executive Director — Coastal Resilience / Environmental Justice: Far Rockaway and the Rockaways remain chronically underfunded post-Sandy. New federal climate resilience dollars are creating first-time ED roles in organizations that previously operated with volunteer leadership.
NYC and Queens is our #1 historic market. We have placed nonprofit executives across every Queens neighborhood and subsector since 1999 — from FQHC CEOs in Flushing to immigrant services EDs in Jackson Heights. 27 years in this market.
NYC’s largest nonprofit association with job listings, salary data, and HR consulting specifically for the five boroughs including Queens. Strong network of Queens-based hiring managers.
C-suite and board-level searches for Queens’ largest health systems and community organizations. Strong in hospital system and FQHC executive placements.
HR consulting and executive search with strong NYC presence. Specializes in DEI-focused searches and compensation benchmarking for NYC organizations navigating Local Law 32 compliance.
Queens offers a quality of life that Manhattan salaries can rarely match — real neighborhoods, direct subway access to every part of NYC, and a food and cultural scene that rivals any city in the world. For nonprofit professionals, Queens is one of the few places in NYC where a $110K salary still affords a reasonable quality of life.
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