Southern Workers Opportunity Fund Director

About the Role (remote)

The LIFT Fund seeks a Director to manage the strategic, programmatic and operational aspects of the Southern Workers Opportunity Fund, a new initiative that aims to build worker power in the US South. The ideal candidate would be someone who shares LIFT’s deep commitment to equity and worker power, and is both a strategic thinker and operator. The Director will report to LIFT’s Executive Director and serve as a part of a growing team. A key part of this role is leading SWO’s strategy and learning activities, along with the Executive Director, and supporting the grantees in increasing their influence, resources, and impact, requiring the Director to be gifted at building and maintaining trusting relationships with grantees. The Director would ideally feel equally at home analyzing grantee data in relation to current developments in the field or managing a community meeting with directly impacted workers and leaders. As a growing initiative, all staff members must be comfortable with change and actively seek to support each other.

About the LIFT Fund

The LIFT Fund, or Labor Innovations for the 21st Century Fund (LIFT) Fund, is a unique collaborative fund dedicated to supporting new forms of worker organizing and coalition building between philanthropy and the labor movement. By pooling scarce resources to build a common agenda and investing those resources into new forms of organizing, LIFT supports unconventional approaches that energize community-labor alliances to meet the challenges of the future. While LIFT has historically funded partnerships on a national level, it recently launched a new funding opportunity, called the Southern Workers Opportunity Fund, that will focus specifically in the U.S. South. The LIFT Fund is fiscally-sponsored by Neighborhood Funders Group, which employs LIFT Fund staff.

Southern Workers Opportunity Fund

The Southern Workers Opportunity Fund aims to be a first-of-its-kind fund dedicated to: (1) increasing philanthropic and labor investment and understanding of workers’ rights in the US South and to helping funders better coordinate, share information, and elevate key organizations, labor partners and networks in the american South, and (2) supporting game-changing strategies, capacities, and campaigns that build on labor, community, and worker center collaboration and fortify community and worker infrastructure, increase worker power, and improve the lives of workers and their families in the South. With a goal of raising a total of $20 million and initial contributions from both philanthropy and labor organizations, the Fund has already raised more than half of its fundraising goal.

Responsibilities 

Co-lead the formation and ongoing evaluation of the SWO Fund’s strategy and theory of change along with the Executive Director and co-funders. Manage the SWO Fund grants program. Working with the Executive Director, source grantee candidates, scope potential grants, make grants, and then support grantees to be successful and achieve their goals, including increasing their influence and resources.  Serve as the LIFT Fund’s internal thought leader on the worker and labor movement in the South, stewarding continued strategy and partnership development and staying current on the latest developments. This may include opportunities for external thought leadership as well. Co-design and manage an internal program to engage leaders and other directly impacted workers ensuring that their voices and lived experiences influence our grantmaking and the field, and that the participation is meaningful and useful for them—and never tokenizing.  Present program updates and results at Steering Committee meetings. Work closely with our co-funders and engage them in the learning and grant making activities.  Represent the SWO Fund, as part of the LIFT Fund, at external events and meetings, including occasionally speaking on panels or making presentations.  

 Qualifications

At least five years of experience in a relevant field, including at least one leading your own portfolio or large-scale project on worker and labor issues.  Subject matter knowledge in one or multiple of these issue areas: worker voice and power; economic opportunity and/or justice; racial and gender equity and justice; workforce development. Experience managing multi-stakeholder partnerships; it’s a plus if that experience includes philanthropic and labor partners. Experienced in and committed to bringing an equity lens to your work, including racial and gender analysis. Brings a “get it done” mentality and intellectual curiosity to your work, enjoying learning new things or pinch hitting for team members when needed. Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written. Team player, highly collaborative, and strong interpersonal skills. Proficiency with research, data collection, review, analysis, and reporting. Strong skills in PowerPoint, Excel, and Word; knowledge of Google Apps, SurveyMonkey, and virtual meeting tools is also desirable. Preferred but not necessary: lived experience in the US South.

Salary, Benefits, Location, and Eligibility

$100,000-125,000, depending on experience. Generous benefits, including health insurance, vacation days, and retirement options, comparable to large nonprofit organizations and philanthropies. This position is employed by Neighborhood Funders Group, which is the LIFT Fund’s fiscal sponsor. Start date in April 2022. Remote job open to all candidates eligible to work in the United States and who reside anywhere in the United States, tribal nations, and U.S. territories. Preferences for those residing in the US South, where the work will be focused, or the East Coast, where most funders and staff are located.  Once it is safe and feasible to do so, staff members will aim to work together in-person at least once per month in Washington DC or New York City. 

Anticipated Travel Requirements

Once it is safe and feasible to do so, the Director will travel roughly ten times per year to visit grantees and other partners and/or represent the SWO Fund, as part of the LIFT Fund, at key conferences and events (these activities will be conducted virtually for the time being). Please note that we can typically be flexible in how we structure and time the travel, and we strive to accommodate work-life balance needs.

NFG is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion or belief, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by law. Women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people from working-class backgrounds or with lived experiences with the issues that the SWO Fund works on are especially encouraged to apply.

To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter to info@theliftfund.org by February 23, 2022. We will review applications on a rolling basis.