Director, Workplace Equality Program

Organization Overview

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans. By inspiring and engaging individuals and communities, the Human Rights Campaign strives to end discrimination against LGBTQ people and realize a world that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

HRC envisions a world where every member of the LGBTQ family has the freedom to live their truth without fear, and with equality under the law. HRC empowers its 3 million members and supporters to mobilize against attacks on the most marginalized people in its community. HRC works to ensure that all LGBTQ people, and particularly trans, people of color and HIV+, are treated as full and equal citizens within the movement, across the country and around the world.

Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Workplace Equality Program Overview     

The Foundation seeks to improve the lives of LGBTQ people by making the institutions that govern our lives welcoming and inclusive.

The Foundation’s impact can be felt in schools, on factory floors and corporate suites, and in places of worship ... from childhood through end-of-life ... for people of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities and religious beliefs ... in big cities, small towns and rural areas in the United States and across the globe.

The Foundation identifies the problems and challenges LGBTQ people face, then follows a clear model for effecting change:

• Building understanding of LGBTQ people and shaping the public debate through public education, research and resources.
• Changing policies and practices through technical assistance and pioneering benchmarking tools.
• Empowering strategic partners, community leaders and allies to be stronger advocates for equality through capacity-building, training and innovative tools.
• Leveraging relationships with these partners, advocates and allies to advance LGBTQ policy objectives at the local, state, national and international levels.

The Foundation centers its work through 11 programs and initiatives, including the Workplace Equality Program, HRC’s premier program for advancing LGBTQ-inclusive employment policies, practices and benefits in the United States and around the world.

The Workplace Equality Program advances equality for LGBTQ workers through advocating for the adoption and implementation of inclusive policies, practices, and benefits as well as training, education, and research to support that goal.

Advancing workplace equality for LGBTQ employees means looking far beyond the employee handbook—it means putting policy into practice on the factory floor, in the corporate boardroom and everywhere in between. HRC’s Workplace Equality Program is the nationally recognized voice for advocacy, information and guidance on LGBTQ workplace issues.

The Workplace Equality Program’s work is anchored in the Corporate Equality Index, an annual survey and report benchmarking best practices in LGBTQ diversity and inclusion among the nation’s largest corporations and law firms. The CEI has been a highly influential tool in moving corporate America forward for the past 20 years and paving the way to a landscape where millions of employees can count on LGBTQ fairness in the workplace.

The Workplace Equality Program has a long history of innovation and groundbreaking work. Next year, the program will partner with the Black in Fashion Council to establish an equality index score that will provide benchmarking around corporate policies and practices pertinent to the inclusivity of Black employees in the industry.

Position Summary

The Director of the Workplace Equality Program will play a leading role in helping advance LGBTQ-inclusive employment policies, practices and benefits in the United States and around the world. The Director will leverage corporate commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion to drive change for LGBTQ people in the workplace, especially those who live at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities. 

The Director is responsible for high-level strategy and vision as well as day-to-day management of the research and reports, trainings, and public policy initiatives in the program. This senior role will steward executive relationships, collaborate with movement partners, represent HRC in public forums and the media and manage a high-performing staff of four.

The Director must be a strong strategist and a superb communicator, with an impressive history of forging strong and positive relationships with colleagues and stakeholders. The ideal candidate is a collaborative leader with a track record of success in the corporate sector, experience with employment and benefits issues related to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and a strong understanding of how to advance       social and racial justice in corporate environments.

As the Corporate Equality Index celebrates twenty years of improving the lives of LGBTQ employees, this role is an incredible opportunity for an innovative leader to provide the vision and direction for the next decade of the program’s work.

Key Position Responsibilities

• Oversee advancements and innovations in the Corporate Equality Index.
• Support multi-national corporations and global partners in building LGBTQ-inclusive workplaces.
• Serve as a thoughtful manager, mentor and supporter to a team of four.
• Lead development of virtual, eLearning, on-site and blended education programs.
• Oversee the HRC Business Advisory Council, inspiring and motivating members to provide expert advice and counsel on LGBTQ workplace issues.
• Develop groundbreaking reports and customized trainings to improve the climate for LGBTQ employees in the workplace.
• Collaborate with the Policy and Political Affairs team to build business support for pro-equality initiatives, including federal, state, and municipal-level legislation as well as leveraging business opposition to anti-LGBTQ efforts.
• Develop and oversee the program’s annual budget, including grant-funded projects.
• Lead development and execution of research on workplace diversity best practices.
• Partner with the Global Partnerships  team to expand LGBTQ-inclusive international LGBTQ workplace inclusion efforts, particularly in Latin America.
• Act as a spokesperson on LGBTQ workplace-related issues.
• Hold relationships with multiple external stakeholders, including corporate representatives, organizations and funders in ways that build collaboration and trust.
• Support the development department efforts to secure and strengthen national and local corporate sponsors as well as Foundation funding.

Key Position Qualifications

• 10+ years of leadership and supervisory experience in the corporate sector.
• Expertise regarding employment and benefits issues in the corporate sector related to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.
• Ability to develop strategies to improve the lives LGBTQ employees in the workplace, including at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities.
• Successful track record of managing, coaching and developing high-performing teams.
• Excellent public speaking skills; ability to convey complex information to a variety of audiences.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, with the ability to develop trusting, transparent and positive relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, capable of handling multiple projects simultaneously in a high-volume, fast-paced environment.
• Ability to lead, model and embed, equity diversity and inclusion principles within the team and external relationships.
• Solid knowledge of employment policies, practices and benefits relevant to LGBTQ inclusion, including legal landscape, corporate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion practices and employee resource group engagement.
• Strong interest in and knowledge of the rapidly changing LGBTQ equality movement.
• A Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent work experience.) 
• Must be willing to work evening and weekend hours and travel domestically and internationally. Twenty-five percent of work time may be out of the office.

All positions at the Human Rights Campaign may require travel on a regular basis or periodically. Where the need arises for business travel, appropriate compensation as outlined by the Fair Labor Standards Act will apply.

The person in this role and all staff are employees of the c4, the Human Rights Campaign.

To Apply

HRC strongly encourage people of color, transgender and non-binary people to apply. HRC is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes everyone, including non-LGBTQ people, to join its team.

Submit a cover letter and resume online at: https://grossmansolutions.applytojob.com/apply

The cover letter should be concise, compelling and outline why you are the right person for this position. Only applications submitted through this website will be considered. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.