Vice President, State Racial Justice and Equity

Title: Vice President, State Racial Justice and Equity

Department: State Capacity Building

Status: Exempt

Reports To: Senior Vice President, State Capacity Building

Positions Reporting To This Position: Director, State Partnerships

Location: Flexible

General Description:

LCV believes our earth is worth fighting for because everyone has a right to clean air, water, and a safe, healthy community. To ensure those rights are protected, we help people use their power to shape policy, hold politicians and polluters accountable, and influence elections.

Our over 2 million members, our volunteers and staff, and our more than 30 state affiliates (together, the Conservation Voter Movement) work for a more just and equitable democracy, where people—not polluters—determine our future. This movement is an influential national network with unparalleled influence in Washington, DC, in state capitals, and in communities around the country. We are unmatched in our ability to ensure meaningful action on our key issues. We aim to bring people and communities together across racial, geographic, political, religious, economic and other differences toward collective goals instead of dividing us from one another.

LCV is seeking a Vice President, State Racial Justice and Equity who will provide organizational development expertise to the 30+ Conservation Voter Movement (CVM) state affiliates to embed racial justice and equity values throughout their internal operations including policies, practices, culture; organizational change processes; and external programmatic work, which includes legislative advocacy, electoral and community organizing programs. The Vice President supports organizational change efforts to clarify racial justice and equity goals within each state organization’s unique political context, identify priorities, and craft and implement practices and actions to achieve annual goals toward our collective long-term vision for a powerful, inclusive Conservation Voter Movement (CVM). The Vice President will work closely with and provide counsel to senior leaders across the CVM. The ideal candidate is an experienced and effective leader for structural change, grounded in principles of racial equity and social justice; a creative thinker; and an effective collaborator and coach.

Responsibilities:

• Support the Senior Vice President (SVP) of State Capacity Building and work as a member of the State Capacity Building team to craft a multi-year vision and plans for building the Conservation Voter Movement’s capacity on racial justice and equity. Work closely with the Vice President, National Racial Justice and Equity, to align CVM efforts in the states with national LCV, share lessons learned, and identify opportunities for economies of scale. Support the SVP to develop and manage the organization’s budget for this work.
• Provide independent state affiliates a comprehensive array of organizational and leadership development services and resources on racial justice and equity, including strategy planning, education and learning, skills training, conflict resolution, and coaching.
• In partnership with state affiliates, clarify racial justice and equity competency goals of individual state organizations’ staff and board members, and, via shared agreements, set mutual expectations of the CVM network’s staff and board members more generally. Create and manage plans that clarify multi-year learning and competency building, annual learning priorities, and ongoing education.
• Facilitate education and learning opportunities to cultivate racial justice and equity competencies, including specific skills and behaviors, and coordinate the work of consultants supporting educating and learning across the CVM.
• Create tools for supporting the integration of racial justice and equity into daily practices and train and coach CVM leaders on using them.
• Collaborate with state affiliate partners to design and support how they track success measures and share lessons learned on integrating racial justice and equity into internal policies and external programming – as organizations and as a Conservation Voter Movement.
• Engage and support efforts to embed racial justice and equity across the environmental field, including engagement with environmental funders and with allies in other movements, in partnership with leaders across the Conservation Voter Movement.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Work Experience: Required - At least 10 years organizational development experience working with executive leaders with an explicit focus on helping them build racial justice and equity programs, including:
  • Analyzing organizational programs, policies, and practices with ongoing collaboration, planning, and coaching of organizational leaders to translate racial justice and equity values into practice and measure progress toward organizational goals;
  • Designing and supporting implementation of organizational change processes;
  • Developing tools to support employees at all levels to embed equity within their daily work and to guide and assess equity integration in projects;
  • Designing and facilitating education and learning – including multi-day intensives, in-person and online workshops, dialogues and reading groups, group identity caucuses, and affinity group opportunities;
  • Coaching leaders, managers, and staff at all levels on leading for equity, cultural competencies, giving and receiving feedback, and conflict resolution; and,
  • Planning and implementing ongoing efforts to create a thriving organizational and workplace culture and promote behaviors, accordingly.

Must have demonstrated experience successfully managing high performing teams that are diverse by race, gender, and age. Preferred - Experience working with environmental justice or local/state environmental organizations working in low-income communities or communities of color a plus.

• Skills: Deep justice analysis and understanding of structural and institutional inequity and interpersonal power dynamics and proven ability to analyze situations to engage and address them. Excellent written and verbal communication, facilitation, and public speaking skills. Outstanding administrative skills, including the ability to produce, track, and manage multiple deliverables with overlapping deadlines in a high-performing environment. Emotional intelligence, strong interpersonal skills, humor, humility, and compassion. Demonstrated ability to develop collaborative, productive, respectful relationships with leaders and organizations representing grassroots, community-based organizations that integrate a culture of feedback and accountability.
• Cultural Competence: Commitment to environmental and climate protection and understanding of how complex structural and institutional inequities historically and currently play out in the conservation and environmental movements. Demonstrated awareness of one’s own cultural identity, views about difference, and the ability to learn and build on varying cultural and community norms. A commitment to the complex understanding of racial justice and the urgency of confronting institutional racism and inequity within our political system. Commitment to equity and inclusion as organizational practice and culture. Understanding of the ways in which principles of racial justice and equity are vital to addressing climate change effectively.
• Conditions: Ability and willingness to travel nationally up to 30% of the time (currently paused due to COVID-19). The location of this position is flexible. Please note that all LCV staff are currently working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To Apply: Send cover letter and resume to hr@lcv.org with “VP, State Racial Justice and Equity” in the subject line by August 4, 2020. No phone calls please.

LCV is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a racially just, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

https://www.lcv.org/careers/lcv-job-openings/vice-president-state-racial-justice-equity/