Ezra Tenenbaum

Operations director & systems builder

Resume

Operations director and systems builder with 14+ years of experience running administration, finances, compliance and technology for mission-driven organizations.Download PDF ↓

Experience

2020–present

Operations Director

Found Sound Nation
  • Direct administrative and financial operations for a $1M+ annual budget, including budget tracking, expense management and compliance across U.S. federal awards
  • Work with the Executive Director and Board Treasurer on bookkeeping and audits; helped move the organization from fiscal sponsorship to an independent 501(c)(3) with its own payroll and benefits
  • Manage vendor relationships, contracts and software subscriptions; process invoices and expenses, and support the team's bookkeeping in QuickBooks
  • Support development through extensive grant writing and research; help manage the partner and donor CRM and online donation platforms
  • Co-lead the two-person Culture Committee that serves in place of an HR department, covering personnel policy, benefits and leave; hire, onboard and supervise staff, interns and contractors
  • Maintain a custom CRM and application system handling 70,000+ registrations, with evaluation and reporting workflows built to federal grant requirements
  • Oversee all technology: automation, web hosting, security and third-party integrations, a custom CMS for non-technical staff and a 14+ year media archive across cloud and on-site storage
  • Lead organizational AI adoption, including workflow design, usage standards and staff training
  • Led the build of Found Sound Commons, a learning space and community for 800+ OneBeat alumni in 80 countries, using AI coding tools: a Next.js site integrated with Stripe, Resend, Mux and other APIs; developed an admin panel so non-technical staff can run it
2021–2024

Program Director

OneBeat Abroad
  • Managed end-to-end operations and administration of a multi-country residency program with the U.S. State Department, U.S. Embassies and local cultural organizations in Taiwan, Ghana, Indonesia, Algeria and Lebanon
  • Led OneBeat Sahara (Algeria, 2022), which the U.S. Ambassador to Algeria called “the best public diplomacy program” she had seen in her 35-year career
  • Oversaw budgets, logistics, scheduling and partner communications across five countries simultaneously
  • Hired and onboarded project staff and third-party contractors, and managed their contracts and invoicing
  • Helped run fellowship and microgrant awards, reviewing applications and tracking grantee progress; oversaw program reporting, evaluation, impact measurement and documentation
  • Directed onsite operations for 28 international performances, festivals, youth workshops and university events
2012–2020

Administrator & Production Manager

Found Sound Nation
  • Oversaw a year-round competitive selection process of 23,000+ total applications, covering intake, review panels, scoring, award notifications, records and federal reporting
  • Designed the organization's website and managed its digital audio-visual archive
  • Ran event operations and logistics for 150+ OneBeat concerts, workshops and events across 37 cities
  • Managed an annual international Make Music Day collaboration sponsored by Samsung: hired production staff, secured rentals and ran logistics
  • Coordinated audio and video post-production, and managed social media accounts and email marketing campaigns

Skills

Grants & finance
Grant writing & research · Federal grant compliance & reporting · Budget tracking · Contracts, invoicing & expense systems · QuickBooks · Audit preparation · Application & review systems · Donor CRM & online giving
Operations & technology
Advanced Excel & Google Sheets · Google Workspace · Slack · CRM & database systems · Airtable, Asana, Monday.com · Process documentation · SQL (basic)
Web & AI development
Claude Code · Next.js · Vercel · API integrations · Web infrastructure
AI adoption
Daily workflow automation with Claude · Organizational AI adoption (workflow design, usage standards, staff training)
People operations
Personnel policy & employee handbooks · Leave & PTO administration · Hiring, onboarding & offboarding · Performance reviews

Education

NYU Tisch School of the Arts
BFA, Recorded Music (graduated with honors)