Director of Advocacy, Midwest
- Employer
- Arabella Advisors
- Location
- Illinois, United States
- Salary
- Salary Commensurate with experience
- Closing date
- Dec 14, 2022
View more
- Position Type
- Fundraising, Corporate and Foundation Relations, Direct Marketing, Fundraising Administration, Programs, Grant Administration, Grant Making, Other Programs, Program Administration and Management, Administrative, Public Relations and Communications
- Fields
- Advocacy, For-Profit Companies, Other Fields, Philanthropic Advisors, Social Services
- Employment Type
- Full Time
You need to sign in or create an account to save a job.
Director of Advocacy, Midwest (This role will be reporting
up to the Chicago, IL office, but can be located elsewhere in the
Midwest region) Arabella Advisors
is seeking a mission-driven individual with substantial experience
in social and policy change advocacy and philanthropy. This
position is a core member of the team responsible for growing and
managing Arabella Advisors business in the Midwest region for
institutional foundations, corporations, and individual/family
clients with a central focus on advocacy-related issue areas. The
ideal candidate will have a background in and passion for issue
advocacy, organizing, power-building, and civic engagement and will
apply their expertise and knowledge to engagements with
philanthropic and other social sector clients. The
position will work closely with Arabella’s Managing Director of
Advocacy to support and develop new clients and to assist
Arabella’s fiscal sponsorship and compliance teams.
Essential Responsibilities:
Client Service and Relationship Management (~70%)
Since its founding, Arabella Advisors has partnered with funders of all sizes to develop and implement effective strategies to support issues as diverse as childhood nutrition, early education, gun control, worker’s rights, U.S. democracy, and mental health policy. Arabella’s Advocacy practice helps funders develop and advance their policy priorities and advocacy goals while grappling with questions of power, equity, and privilege. Our team draws on deep experience in issue campaigns, advocacy organizations, organizing groups, and philanthropy to conduct landscape analysis; develop advocacy grantmaking strategies; facilitate partnerships between advocacy-focused funders; shape effective advocacy teams; design and build new advocacy initiatives, and much more. Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Advancing DEI within our firm and in our work with partners is critical to our mission. To be effective partners to philanthropists, nonprofits, and communities impacted by philanthropic dollars, we need to have a highly diverse staff, a workplace where individuals are encouraged to retain their uniqueness and can feel a sense of belonging, and a nuanced understanding of the racial, ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, and other disparities that undergird the issues we engage in and the interactions we have with one another. For us, equity means that our staff members, our clients, and the people they serve can experience the same level of success, no matter their starting place. We expect all our employees to share this commitment, and always seek ways to improve how well we live these values. Click here to learn more about DEI at Arabella and read our official DEI statement. Total Rewards (compensation and benefits) This is a full-time position. We offer a competitive and holistic total rewards package that includes salary, bonus, and benefits. Our base salaries are based on a blend of similar sized organizations from different sectors, including nonprofits, foundations, and professional service firms. They are also based on local market rates and differentiated by geography. All full-time staff are eligible for our generous benefits package on their first day of employment:
Client Service and Relationship Management (~70%)
- Work with new and established clients who either individually or through participation in donor collaboratives are supporting issue campaigns, policy research and development, and movement organizations with an emphasis on excellent service and communication.
- Serve as a central strategist and trusted partner to clients and support project teams so that the activities and outputs result in efficient and effective collaboration that meet/exceed client service standards
- Contribute to professional growth and satisfaction of junior staff by providing direction, support, and guidance on complex project work; also provide education around networks, strategies/tactics, and cultures of issue advocacy
- Facilitate client meetings and produce expert content for clients
- Help negotiate contracts, find expansion opportunities to grow client relationships and troubleshoot engagements as necessary.
- Qualify leads and develop new opportunities with all client types to generate a sustainable multi-year book of business by developing relationships with changemakers across the Midwest
- Design and implement strategies to engage existing and new donors in the Midwest region, helping clients to facilitate policy change across the Midwest and when applicable, help to connect them to national advocacy campaigns and movements.
- In close coordination with the Fiscal Sponsorship team source, structure, and launch fiscally sponsored projects and donor initiatives focused on advocacy
- Stay abreast of developments of the field through attendance at convenings and conferences, and otherwise represent the firm at relevant sector events and meetings
- Contribute to the development, implementation, and management of key components of the team and firm’s strategic plan, annual objectives, and key business performance metrics.
- 8 to 10 years of experience in issue advocacy, social change, or philanthropic organizations
- A strong understanding of how philanthropy can support advocacy, policy change, and community power-building efforts.
- Strong research and analysis skills across issues, including the ability to get up to speed quickly on many different issues and domains, work through complexity, and deliver informed support and recommendations
- Proven ability to work with diverse audiences and stakeholders, facilitate meetings, convenings, and strategic processes that bring groups to decisions
- Ability to manage and lead multiple complex projects, to oversee and delegate to team members, and to meet deadlines, while creating a positive and inclusive team environment
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Prior experience in philanthropy, including program design and grantmaking
- Some understanding of nonprofit lobbying law, including the definitions of lobbying and what is allowable for philanthropies of different legal statuses preferred
- The ability to provide excellent service, including being able to effectively manage resources, create and implement enhancements across the firm to efficiently achieve service standards, and to coach junior teammates on how to address complex service challenges
- The ability to oversee and advise on multiple complex projects, ensure support and deliverables are high-quality and meet clients’ needs
- The ability to coach colleagues in how to understand stakeholders’ perspectives and to handle high-level stakeholder challenges
- The ability to effectively communicate complex and difficult messages, to represent the firm to external audiences, and to mentor colleagues in how to adapt style, tone, and content to various audiences
- The ability to help teams overcome collaboration challenges and promote compromise, inclusion, and openness; promote and lead activities that support an open, safe, and inclusive organization; understand the context in which we work and build critical cross-team connections; and share useful knowledge firm wide
- The ability to regularly integrate learnings to improve team operations, to lead learning opportunities that enhance team performance, and to be a mentor to others
- The ability to empower teammates to solve problems and provide guidance only when necessary; to solve complex challenges without clear owners or solutions by identifying innovative approaches; and to facilitating coordination with others and to coach colleagues in thinking through solutions
- The ability to create space for and/or facilitate conversations about DEI, bring diverse networks and relationships to the firm, and model leading through one’s own learning edges
Since its founding, Arabella Advisors has partnered with funders of all sizes to develop and implement effective strategies to support issues as diverse as childhood nutrition, early education, gun control, worker’s rights, U.S. democracy, and mental health policy. Arabella’s Advocacy practice helps funders develop and advance their policy priorities and advocacy goals while grappling with questions of power, equity, and privilege. Our team draws on deep experience in issue campaigns, advocacy organizations, organizing groups, and philanthropy to conduct landscape analysis; develop advocacy grantmaking strategies; facilitate partnerships between advocacy-focused funders; shape effective advocacy teams; design and build new advocacy initiatives, and much more. Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Advancing DEI within our firm and in our work with partners is critical to our mission. To be effective partners to philanthropists, nonprofits, and communities impacted by philanthropic dollars, we need to have a highly diverse staff, a workplace where individuals are encouraged to retain their uniqueness and can feel a sense of belonging, and a nuanced understanding of the racial, ethnic, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, and other disparities that undergird the issues we engage in and the interactions we have with one another. For us, equity means that our staff members, our clients, and the people they serve can experience the same level of success, no matter their starting place. We expect all our employees to share this commitment, and always seek ways to improve how well we live these values. Click here to learn more about DEI at Arabella and read our official DEI statement. Total Rewards (compensation and benefits) This is a full-time position. We offer a competitive and holistic total rewards package that includes salary, bonus, and benefits. Our base salaries are based on a blend of similar sized organizations from different sectors, including nonprofits, foundations, and professional service firms. They are also based on local market rates and differentiated by geography. All full-time staff are eligible for our generous benefits package on their first day of employment:
- Health insurance- On average Arabella pays 86% of the medical premium, 80% of the dental premium, and 100% of the vision premium
- Paid time off- 16 days’ vacation, 10 personal days, 11 company holidays (7 federal and 4 more from a list of inclusive cultural and religious holidays and your birthday), 20 hours’ volunteer leave, 8 weeks’ parental leave
- 401(k) retirement plan- We offer a 4% employer match on a dollar-per-dollar basis, and there is no waiting or vesting period; all funds contributed by you and Arabella are yours to keep on day 1
- Reimbursements for your personal cell phone plan and fitness
- Pre-tax withholding for transportation and parking
- Bonus incentive opportunities
- Access to professional development opportunities
You need to sign in or create an account to save a job.
Get job alerts
Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox.
Create alert