Senior Vice President, Community & Civic Engagement

Title: Senior Vice President, Community & Civic Engagement

Department: Community & Civic Engagement

Status: Exempt

Reports to: President

Positions Reporting to this Position: Vice President, Building Grassroots Power; Vice President, Civic Engagement; Community & Civic Engagement Associate

Location: Flexible

Union Position: No

Job Classification Level: M-V

Salary Range (depending on experience): $140,000-$250,000

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. The SVP of Community & Civic Engagement (CCE) oversees grassroots community organizing, civic engagement and democracy strategies and ensures that we create a multiplier-effect with other LCV and LCV Education Fund strategies.

Civic Engagement: Over the last twenty years, LCV Education Fund has developed one of the most effective nonpartisan voter participation programs in the nation. We pioneered tools such as membership list enhancement, and we continue to lead in areas such as mobilization, profiling and modeling, issue ID, control group testing and high-end analytics. We are externally recognized for our leadership in the space, such as the most recent Independent Voter Registration Report where LCVEF was ranked the most efficient program in the nation—with an 83 percent rate of successful registrations—for the third consecutive election cycle. Through our national vote-by-mail, voter registration and GOTV efforts, we have become the leading pro-climate group working to encourage under-represented communities to participate in elections. LCV increasingly plays a major role in pro-democracy ballot measures that reduce barriers to voting at the state and local level. Even outside the pro-climate community, we are one of the largest players in the civic engagement space, with a focus on increasing involvement of communities of color and young people in the democratic process. LCV launched a Candidate Recruitment and Training Program, with the ambitious goal of transforming who is a part of our government and making our boards, commissions and elected offices more reflective of the racial and ethnic diversity of our country. We are working to ensure that the people who have been systemically locked out of these roles have the tools and knowledge they need to effectively represent our communities and stand up for all of us.

Community Organizing: Over the last eight years, LCV and LCVEF have expanded our focus on grassroots community organizing, particularly with communities of color who are disproportionately impacted by environmental racism and climate change and excluded by decision makers. Our Chispa program operates in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and Texas to grow grassroots leadership from low-income Latinx families. Chispa’s Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign has pressured local, state and federal decision makers to switch their dirty diesel school buses to electric buses that protect children’s health and improve air quality. Other organizing programs across the Conservation Voter Movement work with Black, indigenous, rural and other communities to ensure that those who are most impacted have the collective voice and power to influence change.

This position requires an intensely creative and strategic thinker who can draw on years of organizing, issue campaign and civic engagement experience and who is focused on building a grassroots base that can urge decision-makers to take unprecedented bold action to expand our democracy and confront climate change. As an Executive Team member, the SVP of Community & Civic Engagement (CCE) contributes to the successful operation of the entire organization. The SVP of CCE is responsible for developing and maintaining a departmental culture that is inclusive, agile, collaborative, modern, transparent, and supportive of staff and partners. The ideal candidate will embrace that LCV has made racial justice and equity a strategic priority and will lead the integration of this work throughout our national and state efforts.

Responsibilities:

• Provide leadership and vision to the CCE department and support the team in meeting the department’s goals and upholding our values.
• Create strategies to develop the leadership skills of the CCE team and provide clear avenues of support in reaching their professional development goals.
• Lead the department in ensuring that its internal operations and programmatic work centers racial justice and equity in all aspects of its work.
• Manage and build a growing team of 20+ professionals; provide ongoing guidance, direction, and motivation; ensure strong internal communication and coordination; evaluate performance; and provide opportunities for personal and professional growth.
• Work closely with the President, the Executive Team, and the department senior leadership and program leaders’ team to establish goals, set strategic priorities, and advise on program development and organization-wide priorities.
• Engage with the organization’s Board of Directors on civic engagement and community organizing priorities, and provide staff support to relevant board committees.
• Support the state affiliates’ civic engagement and community organizing work and search for strategic opportunities that will strengthen the state affiliates.
• Build strong partnerships with other institutions including environmental and environmental justice groups and other allied organizations.
• Oversee and manage the CCE department’s budget which is at least $7 million in 2021.
• Work closely with the Development team to raise resources to fund current and further expand programs in CCE and throughout the organization.
• Represent the organization to an array of groups including the political community, funders, press, and elected officials.

Qualifications:

• Work Experience: Required - At least fifteen years leadership-level experience in community and/or labor organizing, issue campaigns, civic engagement programs; proven experience as an effective manager with interpersonal and communications skills to work effectively across differences and collaborate with a wide range of allies; strong preference for experience working closely with state-level organizations. Proven track record of successful recruitment, cultivation and retention of highly skilled staff and teams with a high level of racial and gender diversity. Preferred - Spanish language skills.
• Skills: Strong leadership skills; proven ability to develop compelling programs and campaigns; successful experience leading and managing teams representing a rich mix of talent, experience, backgrounds, and perspectives; strong writing skills; excellent interpersonal and communications skills; working knowledge of federal election laws; demonstrates initiative, including the ability to seize strategic opportunities; familiarity and interest in climate and racial justice issues; works well in a fast-paced setting and able to meet deadlines without sacrificing quality of work. Ability to consistently integrate an understanding of key racial justice and equity concepts into projects and interactions by addressing structural implications and disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions on race, class and other group identities within the context of job responsibilities and projects. Demonstrated ability to work effectively with, and quickly gain the respect and support of, various constituencies, including a visible chief executive, established management team, active board members, other senior vice presidents, program directors, and donors. Well-developed writing, interpersonal, and organizational skills. A clear understanding of 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit legal issues/structures. Experience as an articulate and persuasive communicator in both the spoken and written word; must be adept at crafting materials and making presentations to a variety of audiences.
• Cultural Competence: Demonstrated awareness of one’s own cultural identity, views about differences, and the ability to learn and build on varying cultural and community norms. A complex understanding of racial justice and the urgency of confronting institutional racism and inequity. Commitment to equity and inclusion as organizational practice and culture. Proven track record of successfully working across lines of race, immigration status, ethnicity, language, class, gender and other identities and experiences. Demonstrated sophisticated understanding of how race dynamics impact supervisory relationships, organizational culture, partnerships, campaigns and coalition work, and can demonstrate a history of successfully intervening in problematic dynamics and deepening a racial justice approach within an organization, team, or campaign.
• Working Conditions: This job operates in a professional office environment, and routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, and audiovisual systems. This position is largely sedentary, often standing or sitting for prolonged periods. The person in this position frequently communicates with partners/elected representatives/journalists/major donors and must be able to exchange accurate information Willingness and ability to travel regularly (up to 2-3 times/month post-pandemic) for meetings, training, affiliate engagement as well as internal staff meetings and LCV events. 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 “SVP CCE” in the subject line by June 7, 2021. No phone calls please.

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