MARBLEHEAD — After helping secure millions of dollars for community development in Lynn, leading fundraising efforts for one of the region’s largest nonprofits, and launching a capital campaign that created new employment opportunities for adults with intellectual disabilities, Jansi Chandler is taking on a new leadership role at Northeast Arc.

The Marblehead resident has been named the nonprofit organization’s chief development officer, where she will oversee fundraising, marketing, public relations and volunteer services in support of Northeast Arc’s mission of helping children and adults with disabilities and autism become full participants in their communities.

The role marks a return to work that Chandler knows well.

While every day looks a little different, Chandler said much of her work centers on helping nonprofit organizations grow their impact.

“It changes every day,” she said. “Mostly it involves managing the development team whose main focus is to fundraise through annual appeals, major gifts and events. But I’ll also be working with the CEO to advance strategic initiatives and play an integral role with the leadership team.”

Before joining Northeast Arc, Chandler spent 14 years as chief development officer at Cardinal Cushing Centers, where she led fundraising and development efforts while helping guide the organization’s strategic planning and growth. During her tenure, the nonprofit grew into a $40 million organization with approximately 600 employees serving people with intellectual disabilities.

One accomplishment stands out among the many projects she has worked on.

“We launched a $10 million capital campaign that was fully funded to build a 20,000-square-foot marketplace building,” Chandler said. “It was unique because it had retail stores on the ground floor where individuals were trained and got experience with employment, and then classrooms on the upper floor where they learned some of the skills they would use in their jobs.”

Prior to her work at Cardinal Cushing Centers, Chandler served as managing director of economic development for the Boston Redevelopment Authority from 1998 to 2006. Since then, she has also worked as a development consultant, assisting nonprofit organizations with organizational development, fundraising, and strategic planning.

Her ties to the North Shore extend even further.

As executive director of the Lynn Department of Community Development, Chandler secured approximately $80 million in federal and state funding for housing, community facilities, and economic development initiatives. She also created the Lynn Community Development Housing Corporation, which built 100 infill homes throughout the city, helped establish Lynn’s Arts and Cultural District — including LynnArts, Raw Art Works and the Community Minority Cultural Center — and oversaw the opening of the Small Business Development Center, the creation of the city’s Small Business Advocate position and the City Hall information booth.

Northeast Arc President and CEO Jo Ann Simons said Chandler’s background made her the right person to lead the organization’s development efforts.

“Jansi is the perfect person to join our team as our new chief development officer,” Simons said. “I have known Jansi for a long time and had the pleasure of working with her when I was president and CEO at Cardinal Cushing Centers. I’m very glad that she was available when this position opened up as her experience aligns perfectly with our goal of continuing to grow our fundraising through philanthropy, individual and corporate donors, and events.”

For Chandler, the opportunity is also a chance to work alongside Simons again while supporting an organization whose mission aligns with her career.

“I’m thrilled to join the leadership team at Northeast Arc,” Chandler said in a statement. “I’m excited to work with Jo Ann again and to deepen my relationships with the staff, board, business partners, donors and, most importantly, the people served by Northeast Arc.”

Founded in 1954, Northeast Arc serves more than 10,000 individuals and families across nearly 200 Massachusetts communities. The nonprofit provides lifelong support, from birth through adulthood, through programs designed to help people with disabilities and autism achieve their goals for living, working, and thriving. It is the largest Arc organization in Massachusetts and one of the largest in the country.

Chandler, who lives in Marblehead, earned a bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College and an MBA from Suffolk University. Throughout her career, she has received numerous honors, including the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network Excellence Award in Collaboration and the Commonwealth Heroines Award. She is also a former board president of Girls Inc. and the Lynn Community Development Corporation and has served on the boards of the Lynn YMCA and Project COPE.